Revision notes written to the specification, with examiner tips and the required practicals. Every point here has flashcards in the Stickwise app.
Reading an unseen poem
The first step is to read the title for any clues it offers, then read the whole poem through once without panicking over every unfamiliar word, in order to get an overall sense of its subject and mood before analysing any detail.
The next step is to notice the voice of the poem: who is speaking, who they seem to be speaking to, and their attitude or tone towards the subject. The speaker is a created voice, called a persona, and should not be assumed to be the poet themselves describing their own real life.
It is also worth noticing form and structure: whether the stanzas and lines are regular or irregular in length, what rhyme scheme is used, if any, and where the mood, argument or focus of the poem shifts. These choices are never accidental, and they always affect the poem's meaning.
🎯 Examiner tip: Naming a technique such as a metaphor or alliteration is not enough on its own. Examiners reward analysis of the effect a technique creates for the reader, not simply the spotting of it.
Literary techniques & terminology
The following techniques appear regularly in unseen poems and are useful for describing how a poet creates meaning.
EnjambmentEnjambment is when a line of poetry runs on into the next line without a pause or end punctuation, carrying the sense straight over. In an invented line such as 'the river moved / without stopping to rest', the break in the middle of the sentence can speed up the pace or mirror continuous movement.
CaesuraA caesura is a pause placed in the middle of a line, usually marked by punctuation such as a comma, dash or full stop. In an invented line such as 'She waited. The clock ticked on.', the full stop mid-line slows the rhythm and can create emphasis or mirror a moment of hesitation.
SibilanceSibilance is the repetition of an 's' sound, or other soft consonant sounds, close together within a line. In an invented phrase such as 'the soft snow settled', the repeated 's' sounds can create a hissing, soft or sinister effect, depending on the surrounding context.
VoltaA volta is a turn or shift in argument, tone or mood within a poem, often placed near the end, or, in a sonnet, around the ninth line. An invented poem might spend its opening lines describing a calm, tidy garden before a volta introduces sudden doubt about who tends it now.
Iambic pentameterIambic pentameter is a line of ten syllables arranged in five unstressed-stressed pairs, producing a rhythm close to natural English speech and often used for serious or elevated moments. An invented line such as 'the sun goes down behind the empty hill' can be read as five such pairs.
Dramatic monologueA dramatic monologue is a poem in which a single speaker, a persona rather than the poet, addresses a silent listener and reveals their own character through their own words. An invented example might be written as if spoken by a lighthouse keeper explaining years of solitude to a visitor who never replies.
Extended metaphorAn extended metaphor is a single comparison that is developed and sustained across several lines, or a whole poem, rather than used only once. An invented poem might return again and again to the idea of a journey, describing worry as a suitcase carried from stanza to stanza.
🎯 Examiner tip: The strongest analysis embeds a short quotation inside a sentence, rather than introducing it with a separate phrase such as 'the poet writes'. Folding a word or two directly into the point being made, for example noting that a poem's short, clipped verbs speed up its closing lines, reads more fluently than quoting a whole line and explaining it afterwards.
Structuring an answer
The unseen poetry section contains two questions. Question 1 asks for detailed analysis of the first poem alone and is worth 24 marks, while Question 2 asks for a comparison between the second poem and the first, focusing on a stated idea or feeling, and is worth 8 marks.
A strong comparison discusses similarities and differences in theme, attitude, form and language, linking ideas with comparative connectives such as 'similarly', 'whereas' and 'in contrast'. Both poems should be discussed together throughout the answer, rather than analysed one after the other in two separate halves.
Unlike other Literature answers, unseen poetry does not require context, since the poems are unfamiliar and no background information is provided. Marks instead come entirely from personal interpretation and from the analysis of language, form and structure and their effect on the reader.
🎯 Examiner tip: The best answers focus throughout on what the poet does and why, analysing their methods and choices, rather than retelling what the poem describes or simply narrating its content in order.
🎯 Examiner tip: A comparison answer is strongest when it moves point by point between both poems from the very first paragraph, rather than writing a complete analysis of the first poem followed by a separate analysis of the second.
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