Unseen Poetry
Unseen Poetry
Unseen Poetry
T.S.Eliot 1888-1965
Unseen Poetry
will be a poem you have probably never seen before You are being tested on your ability to read and respond thoughtfully You are thinking about what the writer is trying to say Every word of the poem will count
The Question
You may wish to include some or all of these points: The poems content what it is about The ideas the poet may have wanted us to think about The mood or atmosphere of a poem How it is written words or phrases you find interesting, the way the poem is structured or organised Your response to the poem
Content
What
its about What happens in each section Is there an order or sequence? Whos speaking? Story or idea?
Ideas
What
Is
there a message?
is the tone of the poem? How does it make you feel as you read it? Think about the 5 senses Think about the setting
How it is written
Dont
just list or spot techniques Pick out words or phrases that you find effective and try to say why Think about the sound and rhythm of the poem. Does it have a beat? Or is it disjointed? Look at repetition of sounds or words
How it is written 2
Think
about the structure or form Is it regular, uneven, awkward or easy to read. Does that tie in with the content? Look at the first line of each stanza to see how the meaning develops Look at the title and last line to give you a clue as to what the writer intended
Your Response
Its perfectly acceptable to say you find a poem confusing or misleading if you can explain why Try to be positive about some aspect of the poem or explain how you relate to an idea or event in it Uses phrases to show your sadness, surprise, enjoyment, anger, frustration, empathy The examiner basically wants to know you have read and thought about this poem
TRAMP
By William Marshall
He liked he said rainbows and the sky and children who passed him in the street without staring. And he liked he said the ordinary things
like roses in snow and the way he remembered the first time the first time he really smelt the rain on a green hillside back home just before the sun died
And he liked he said thinking about who slept beneath the red brick roofs he walked by in the early part of the day from Lands End to John OGroats. but he said as a full time tramp with no other place to go he was worried where he would die Lands End or John OGroats.
Start by annotating .
Tramp
Like a child a simple treat
Any tramp no name The speaker is someone reporting The tramps opinions
He liked he said rainbows and the sky and children who passed him in the street without staring.
Using P-E-E
Making
How to score
sustained
response to situation/ideas or author's purposes effective use of details to support answer explanation of features of language interest explanation of effects achieved/authors' purposes
How to score
qualified, developed response, exploring writers' ideas or methods details from poem linked to authors' intentions and purposes exploration of effects achieved/authors' purposes qualified/exploratory response to writers' ideas or methods
you explained? Have you used details? Is your writing on the poem sustained? Are you beginning to explore? Do you evaluate the writers techniques?
Remember:
Read
the poem carefully more than once Annotate the poem quickly In the exam, you have 45 minutes in total Spend 5 mins reading the poem and annotating Think about the poem.
P-E-E-L throughout Dont panic if you dont get it all it is not a trick!