HL English Poetry

Coeurdepirate

How do I study for it? My English teacher is very good for pretty much everything apart from poetry. What do I need to know for each poem? What questions most commonly come up on them? :S

nommm

Most of the questions are 'What does the poet say and how do they say it?' But they'll word it slightly differently.

J_E

Know some quotes from the poem, but avoid overquoting. Avoid retelling the poem, assume the examiner has a basic knowledge of the poem, and instead talk about the techniques the poet uses and how they add to the poem. For example, The Pomegranate by Eavan Boland, many people tend to explain the myth of Ceres and Persephone as a paragraph of its own, but I wouldn't go over one or two with that. Talk about how she can relate to the myth, the images she uses, the shift from past to present, the symbolism of the pomegranate, the "beautiful rifts in time" she intends to give her daughter.

...I'm not being very clear am I? :S

Dr.Evil

Try to learn quotes that are integral to the central message of the poem, or the theme, and explore the techniques used that make them effective.
Flick through the exam papers for ideas of what types of questions can come up. Make sure to read the question too, I've been caught a few times not focusing on what the question tells you too. It might say refer to theme, or language, or imagery, and if so, you should explore the use of that in the poems.

You'd want to know around 4 poems very well, and be able to bring in 2 more poems just to link in with others.

If I was a betting man, I'd put money on Dickinson to come up, with three of Frost, Boland, Hopkins and Wordsworth coming up too.

J_E

Also remember to relate to the question, keep coming back to it, show that you're doing more than just regurgitating revision sheets.

Seaner1878

My English teacher said hes puttin a 10er on Boland,Frost,Wordsworth and Dickinson coming up

J_E

Don't put all your chickens in one basket though because it could easily have Yeats, Rich, or Kavanagh too. I'm reckoning it could definitely be Boland/Dickinson/Wordsworth but prepare for the worst always. I'm sure the Boland fiasco is a good example of being careful about predictions.

aranciata

Hopkins hasn't come up in a while and he would be, by far, the least answered poet so I think he's definitely possible.

i'm covering Hopkins, Dickinson, Wordsworth & Frost OR Boland