As part of your revision for the last three weeks before the exam, this post gives you some practice questions and exercises you can do as part of your revision.
How does the poet present the idea of life in her poem?
The Summer Day
by Mary Oliver
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
Last of all, we all need a slice of luck in exams so prepare well and make your own luck.I wish you all the best!
First of all if you are struggling with analysis here is a post which talks you through the key stages. See this post before you move on.
If you are unsure about the requirements of the exam then you should take a look at the two posts below:
In addition there is a great 2hr 40 minute Youtube video that covers each of the poems in detail. You can skip through for poems you are unsure of:
The link is HERE if you would rather watch in Youtube.
So what else do you need to consider?
You need to ensure you have the accurate skills and content to access your top band marks:
Content
Points that answer the question
Choose an effective poem to compare to
3-4 Quotations per poem
Comparative connectives (Both similarities and differences)
Appropriate terminology and devices (don't get hung up on these though - your analysis is worth more marks.
Skills
Paraphrasing Quotations
Analysing Quotations
Evaluating Quotations
Effective Linking to the Question
Written Accuracy
A lot of the differences between the top bands come down to how your writing sounds so ensure you have.
A Formal Academic Register
Accurate Sentence Structures
Accurate Punctuation of Sentences
Accurate Spelling
Wide use of Language of the Expert (Terminology and Sophistication of Expression)
See HERE for tips on sounding like an expert.
Things you should be familiar with:
Forms of Poems
Dramatic Monologue
Elegy
Sonnet
Structural Terms
Stanza
Rhythm (Syllabic Pattern)
Rhyme
Enjambment
Caesura
Juxtaposition of Ideas
Devices
Simile
Metaphor
Alliteration
Extended Metaphor
Personification
Sibilance
Imagery
You should also have prepared poems that you think link well - see HERE for a sheet.
Then comes actually sitting down to revise - how much, how often and what.
This post should help you with exam stress and revision:
Top candidates will be able to access their quotations quickly so they don't have to waste time searching and can get into the nuts and bolts of writing very quickly developing more points overall.
Create a list of 5 key quotations for each poem. These quotations should fit most questions.
Each year the examiner produces a report on how students performed in the exam. The post below summarises what the examiner says makes successful answers. Read this and make notes on what you should do.
Then practice writing.
I'd recommend an exam question each week for both papers. You can try any of the ones below.
How does the poet present the idea of isolation in 'The Hunchback in the Park' and another poem of your choice?
How does the poet present desperation in 'Give' and another poem of your choice?
How does the poet present identity in 'Singh Song' and another poem of your choice?
How does the poet present power in 'My Last Duchess and another poem of your choice?
How does the poet present the idea of characters who have choices in the poem Give and another poem of your choice?
Here is an unseen poem for you to tackle:
What is the poet's attitude to different classes and how does she present that attitude to the reader?
I want a peek at the back
Where it’s rough and untended and hungry weed grows.
A girl gets sick of a rose.
I want to go in the back yard now
And maybe down the alley,
To where the charity children play.
I want a good time today.
They do some wonderful things.
They have some wonderful fun.
My mother sneers, but I say it’s fine
How they don’t have to go in at quarter to nine.
My mother, she tells me that Johnnie Mae
Will grow up to be a bad woman.
That George’ll be taken to Jail soon or late
(On account of last winter he sold our back gate).
But I say it’s fine. Honest, I do.
And I’d like to be a bad woman, too,
And wear the brave stockings of night-black lace
And strut down the streets with paint on my face.
How does the poet present desperation in 'Give' and another poem of your choice?
How does the poet present identity in 'Singh Song' and another poem of your choice?
How does the poet present power in 'My Last Duchess and another poem of your choice?
How does the poet present the idea of characters who have choices in the poem Give and another poem of your choice?
Here is an unseen poem for you to tackle:
What is the poet's attitude to different classes and how does she present that attitude to the reader?
a song in the front yard
I’ve stayed in the front yard all my life.I want a peek at the back
Where it’s rough and untended and hungry weed grows.
A girl gets sick of a rose.
I want to go in the back yard now
And maybe down the alley,
To where the charity children play.
I want a good time today.
They do some wonderful things.
They have some wonderful fun.
My mother sneers, but I say it’s fine
How they don’t have to go in at quarter to nine.
My mother, she tells me that Johnnie Mae
Will grow up to be a bad woman.
That George’ll be taken to Jail soon or late
(On account of last winter he sold our back gate).
But I say it’s fine. Honest, I do.
And I’d like to be a bad woman, too,
And wear the brave stockings of night-black lace
And strut down the streets with paint on my face.
Gwendolyn Brooks
How does the poet present the idea of life in her poem?
The Summer Day
by Mary Oliver
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
