English Poetry

Pala!

How many poems per poet would I need to know?

I should really know by now, but meh.

PurpleFistMixer

I would say 4 or 5. I learned 5 for most poets when I did my LC, but for Plath and Rich, iirc, I only did 4, as I could get enough out of their poetry that having another poem to discuss would make the answer far too long.

Piste

You need to answer on at least 4 poems per essay, according to my English teacher.

Pala!

Feck, was planning on doing three. :P

I'll get four done, and milk them.

Gavin "shels"

Always name the 6 poems, and talk about 4.

PurpleFistMixer

What's the point in naming a poem you're not going to treat in your essay? o.O What relevance does it have? Why not name every other poem the poet has written, too?

ironictoaster

I reckon you could lose marks for not using a poem you said you wore going to discuss.

Fad

Well on my mock I had an essay on (Id imagine most people are done English by now but I'll spoiler it anyway)

Emotional Intensity

,

Now Ive done The Filling Station, The Fish, First Death In Nova Scotia (lessthanthree), Sestina, and The Prodigal.

Not a whole lot relating to the essay title in The Filling Station or The Fish, so I didnt deal with them. I know its only three poems, but can you still get a high mark if you only do three in the exam?

Gavin "shels"

PurpleFistMixer wrote: »

What's the point in naming a poem you're not going to treat in your essay? o.O What relevance does it have? Why not name every other poem the poet has written, too?

creggy wrote: »

I reckon you could lose marks for not using a poem you said you wore going to discuss.

My teacher told us you always should right the names of the 6 poems.

PurpleFistMixer

Gavin shels wrote: »

My teacher told us you always should right the names of the 6 poems.

Ask your teacher why. I once briefly mentioned a poem and didn't give it a proper treatment and my teacher told me off for it.

Des23

Gavin shels wrote: »

My teacher told us you always should right the names of the 6 poems.

I can't see what purpose it would fulfill, also it might just look to the corrector that you had grand plans to answer 6 got caught for time halfway through and only answered 4, that is how I would interpret it anyway, were I a corrector. I couldn't see it adding anything to an answer anyway

brianthebard

Gavin shels wrote: »

My teacher told us you always should right the names of the 6 poems.

PurpleFistMixer wrote: »

Ask your teacher why. I once briefly mentioned a poem and didn't give it a proper treatment and my teacher told me off for it.

I think one of your teachers hasn't corrected exam papers before tbh....

ironictoaster

You could write all 6 poems down in the introduction and if you don't use a certain poem at all in the question, just scribble it out back in the introduction.

There's no set number of poems that have to be dealt with. You could theoretically answer on just two and get full marks, but, you'd want to have one hell of a good answer. The truth is, 99.9% of people wouldn't have the skill to answer on just two, or even three, it's safer to go with at least four. I personally answer using four poems, without mentioning others, and I've never had any problems.

Daemos

We've been told to know 4 in very good detail, and 2 in good detail.

And link them with different points, obviously.

QueenOfLeon

for an essay on michael longley, what 4 poems would you advise writing an essay on? we studied poteen, wreaths, last requests, self heal, and an amish rug. ive only ever written essays on 3 poems, and ive always done poteen, wreaths and last requests because theyre similiar enough, but i cant find a way to link in either of the other 2 with those...should i learn "wounds" by myself as it seems to be based around the troubles and violence etc aswel?

p1akuw47h5r3it

Anne-Marie!! wrote: »

for an essay on michael longley, what 4 poems would you advise writing an essay on? we studied poteen, wreaths, last requests, self heal, and an amish rug. ive only ever written essays on 3 poems, and ive always done poteen, wreaths and last requests because theyre similiar enough, but i cant find a way to link in either of the other 2 with those...should i learn "wounds" by myself as it seems to be based around the troubles and violence etc aswel?

I studied Wounds, Wreaths, Last Requests, Self Heal and An Amish Rug.

With wounds and wreaths I talk about war and how it affects ordinary people.

Last Requests and Self heal I talk about how they are poems based around regret (Longly wishes he had had a better relationship with his dad/the girl wishes she didn't tell on the boy as he was curious and didn't know consequence of his actions etc. and say how you can relate to the theme of regret)

An Amish rug I either take alone or if need to fill up pages take wounds also and talk about the brilliant descriptive writing etc.

I haven't studied Poteen but you should prob. study wounds as it's very similar to wreaths and there's good descriptions used in it which u can talk about.

Hope this helps

QueenOfLeon

Yup thats great thanks a mil!! *wanders off to learn wounds....
:rolleyes:

p1akuw47h5r3it

Anne-Marie!! wrote: »

Yup thats great thanks a mil!! *wanders off to learn wounds....
:rolleyes:

alri no prob

cautioner

I usually do 3 or 4 and get good marks; teacher's a lazy fúcktard though so now I'm getting slightly worried...

Delta Kilo

Anybody doing Walcott?
Apparently he is highly likely to come up because he is new and Obama quoted him.

We started studying him last week.
I don't really know what to think of him and it resulted in me having a row with my english teacher about him. One part of me really likes his poetry because he is a genius at writing it. He can stick to really strict poetic forms and almost all of his poetry follows some pattern. He's kinda the opposite to Rich in a lot of ways. His poem Omeros is 7,000 lines long and he won a nobel prize for it.

However the other side of me really hates the guy and I would find it hard to write about him without having a negative view of him which I think would make it more difficult to write about him. His biographical note in poetry now is ten pages long but worth reading. The guy is a stubborn, arrogant, wife-beating, alcohol abusing, unhappy, depressed, anti-social, b*stard.

The row I had with my teacher centred around the poem "The Young Wife". She said that the poem is a very genuine and sympathetic poem to help his friend deal with losing his wife. I said that how could it be genuine because he is being a hypocrite as he spent his time beating his wives and having affairs on them, yet here he is trying to help a friend with the loss of his wife?

Just to clarify, I really dislike the poet as a person but like certain aspects of his poetry. What does everyone else think?

p1akuw47h5r3it

Delta Kilo wrote: »

Anybody doing Walcott?
Apparently he is highly likely to come up because he is new and Obama quoted him.

We started studying him last week.
I don't really know what to think of him and it resulted in me having a row with my english teacher about him. One part of me really likes his poetry because he is a genius at writing it. He can stick to really strict poetic forms and almost all of his poetry follows some pattern. He's kinda the opposite to Rich in a lot of ways. His poem Omeros is 7,000 lines long and he won a nobel prize for it.

However the other side of me really hates the guy and I would find it hard to write about him without having a negative view of him which I think would make it more difficult to write about him. His biographical note in poetry now is ten pages long but worth reading. The guy is a stubborn, arrogant, wife-beating, alcohol abusing, unhappy, depressed, anti-social, b*stard.

The row I had with my teacher centred around the poem "The Young Wife". She said that the poem is a very genuine and sympathetic poem to help his friend deal with losing his wife. I said that how could it be genuine because he is being a hypocrite as he spent his time beating his wives and having affairs on them, yet here he is trying to help a friend with the loss of his wife?

Just to clarify, I really dislike the poet as a person but like certain aspects of his poetry. What does everyone else think?

Say exactly that...that you think he's a hypocrit... the idea of poetry is to say what you feel about the poetry and in some respects the poet... don't think you just have to be positive all the time and saying he's a hypocrit is prob very original.

Daemos

Delta Kilo wrote: »

Anybody doing Walcott?
Apparently he is highly likely to come up because he is new and Obama quoted him.

We started studying him last week.
I don't really know what to think of him and it resulted in me having a row with my english teacher about him. One part of me really likes his poetry because he is a genius at writing it. He can stick to really strict poetic forms and almost all of his poetry follows some pattern. He's kinda the opposite to Rich in a lot of ways. His poem Omeros is 7,000 lines long and he won a nobel prize for it.

However the other side of me really hates the guy and I would find it hard to write about him without having a negative view of him which I think would make it more difficult to write about him. His biographical note in poetry now is ten pages long but worth reading. The guy is a stubborn, arrogant, wife-beating, alcohol abusing, unhappy, depressed, anti-social, b*stard.

The row I had with my teacher centred around the poem "The Young Wife". She said that the poem is a very genuine and sympathetic poem to help his friend deal with losing his wife. I said that how could it be genuine because he is being a hypocrite as he spent his time beating his wives and having affairs on them, yet here he is trying to help a friend with the loss of his wife?

Just to clarify, I really dislike the poet as a person but like certain aspects of his poetry. What does everyone else think?

I think that it's good that you don't like him, and disagree with your teacher. It means you have your own opinions, which are equally valid.

The person correcting your test doesn't have to agree with your point-of-view. If you make a point and back it up with good evidence they have no choice but to reward you.

I say ignore your teacher, draw your own conclusions giving sufficient evidence in favour of your opinions, and you'll be fine.

cill-bill

if ur looking for the best result do 5 in great detail and on the hardest poet, at my christmas test( we got an old mock) i done a q on John Keats and had 36 quotes, still only got 80% for the q tough

Fringe

My teacher has a huge reputation for being a hard marker but is getting 24% actually possible for a 5 page Walcott essay?

Reilly616

Fringe wrote: »

My teacher has a huge reputation for being a hard marker but is getting 24% actually possible for a 5 page Walcott essay?

Only if you never referenced the question, never quoted, didn't talk about 4 poems and mention a fifth, and didn't give your opinion.

t0mm

With your answer don't write about each poem seperately. Deal with the themes and issues seperately, and with the relivant material from each poem. Get a pattern going, intro on theme, then poems 1, 2 and 3 in very good detail with poems 4 and 5 in lesser detail, in fact just to briefly mention when they are relivant is enough. Then move on to theme/issue 2, and mentions poems 1, 2 and 3 in the same order in good detail, then the other two in lesser detail.

By keeping an orderly structure like this you help to structure your essay more, which will leave a better impression on the teacher/marker.

And to answer your question, three in high detail, two in basic knowledge, more than three in detail and you won't have time to get deep enough which is the whole point.

Insect Overlord

cill-bill wrote: »

if ur looking for the best result do 5 in great detail and on the hardest poet, at my christmas test( we got an old mock) i done a q on John Keats and had 36 quotes, still only got 80% for the q tough

You'd get crucified in an exam for having that many quotes. How you express your knowledge and understanding of what the poet says in his/her writing is what is being examined, not the poet's work. By filling up the essay with large quotes/ proliferation of irrelevent quotes, you risk giving the examiner the impression that you are going for quantity over quality.

ak51535

well in my pre's i answered on walcott and talked about 'For Adrian', 'A Letter From Brooklyn', 'A Sailor Sings Back To The Casaurina's' (mouthful) 'St Lucia's First Communion' and 'Endings'.
It seemed easy to relate the topics and themes. For each one i mentioned an everage of 5 quotes, but thats just me, it really depends on how much info you know.

Teferi

A little tip I picked up when doing my LC was to pick very generic quotes to learn from the poets that you could fit into and use in a variety of topics and themes.

Jam-Fly

Four is plenty I think. Like, I'd know 3 really well, and talk mainly about them. Then I may throw in one or two more poems in one paragraph.

Depends on the poet and their poems as well though.

QueenOfLeon

For a general question like do you like/dislike this persons poetry, should you go through each poem one by one and say what you like about it or should you mention a theme etc per paragraph and reference each of the poems in that paragraph?

shockhorror27

you have to make mention of six poems, that are what the markers are told. make of that what you will.

Fringe

Reilly616 wrote: »

Only if you never referenced the question, never quoted, didn't talk about 4 poems and mention a fifth, and didn't give your opinion.

That's where I don't get what I did wrong. I talked about why I liked Walcott and had 3 general points, his dissatisfaction with the church, the warm personal imagery and techniques and how he deals with loss. I mentioned 6 poems and quoted every now and then.

Fad

Fringe wrote: »

That's where I don't get what I did wrong. I talked about why I liked Walcott and had 3 general points, his dissatisfaction with the church, the warm personal imagery and techniques and how he deals with loss. I mentioned 6 poems and quoted every now and then.

I was told in the Institute to have at least 5 points in your poetry essay.

p1akuw47h5r3it

shockhorror27 wrote: »

you have to make mention of six poems, that are what the markers are told. make of that what you will.

No we didnt even study 6... max u NEED is 6... u only have to write on at least 4 or some people are tol d 3 is sufficent

degausserxo

An File wrote: »

You'd get crucified in an exam for having that many quotes. How you express your knowledge and understanding of what the poet says in his/her writing is what is being examined, not the poet's work. By filling up the essay with large quotes/ proliferation of irrelevent quotes, you risk giving the examiner the impression that you are going for quantity over quality.

Hardly. Once you make relevent statements and can back them up with reference to the poems then use as many as you need if it proves what you're saying.

p1akuw47h5r3it

degausserxo wrote: »

Hardly. Once you make relevent statements and can back them up with reference to the poems then use as many as you need if it proves what you're saying.

No not necessarily... Yes quotes should be used to back up points but or two max should be used to back up a point, not several. Quotes are best used when they flow with your answer (can't propely explain what I mean by that)

Mr Maroon

I'm considering only studying Rich and Bishop. One of the female poets will surely come up.
Too risky?

p1akuw47h5r3it

Mr Maroon wrote: »

I'm considering only studying Rich and Bishop. One of the female poets will surely come up.
Too risky?

I'm sorta bankin on Bishop and Longly... Tis risky but a female poet comes up every year, and bishop didn't come up last year so...

Insect Overlord

degausserxo wrote: »

Hardly. Once you make relevent statements and can back them up with reference to the poems then use as many as you need if it proves what you're saying.

Anyone who spends the time needed to write 30 quotes, as well as the fully structured essay around them, will suffer in other areas of the exam paper.

The best writers are the ones who can say a lot in very few words.

xOxSinéadxOx

Mr Maroon wrote: »

I'm considering only studying Rich and Bishop. One of the female poets will surely come up.
Too risky?

I think that's too risky, I'm only planning on doing 3 poets and I'm not going to do any women

p1akuw47h5r3it

xOxSinéadxOx wrote: »

I think that's too risky, I'm only planning on doing 3 poets and I'm not going to do any women

Ye prob better off doin 3 poets but I'm pretty sure a female poet comes up every year.

Mr Maroon

Mr Maroon wrote: »

I'm considering only studying Rich and Bishop. One of the female poets will surely come up.
Too risky?

I might expand that to include Longley aswell. No more than that though.

TEA!

Teferi wrote: »

A little tip I picked up when doing my LC was to pick very generic quotes to learn from the poets that you could fit into and use in a variety of topics and themes.

that's not a bad idea - how did you get on in english??

getz

xOxSinéadxOx wrote: »

I think that's too risky, I'm only planning on doing 3 poets and I'm not going to do any women

are the poems do are set down by teachers or can you pck your own ?-because i am thinking if you can pick you own it wouldent do any harm to study one of the bronte poems, there is a good chance your teachers wont know them ,and they are easy to learn they were writen from the heart. like; no coward soul is mine ;[emily bronte] a english girl with a irish dad

Fringe

You can't do that. On the syllabus, there's prescribed poems that you can only do. You can't just do other poems by the poets.