How many poems to study for English?

Closet Monkey · 28-10-2011 05:56PM #1

How many poems is it recommended to study for each poet? And how many poems have you studied for each poet?

I currently plan to learn 4 poems for each poet because the workload is just too much for English. Also how many novels do you have to study apart from Wuthering Heights or is that it? I heard that you have to compare 3 novels that you studied in the novel question which sounds really hard!

I will be doing the 2013 exam.

Canard · 28-10-2011 06:08PM

I'm pretty sure you have to do 6 poems by each poet, or at least it's very sensible. You'll have the time, dont worry. You have to do one movie and two books, and you dont have to do Wuthering Heights, though a lot of teachers seem to pick it. It takes a few weeks to do each novel/the movie and we're moving onto our third soon, and it does sound hard but your teacher will explain it all

Closet Monkey · 28-10-2011 07:10PM

Our teacher only made us learn 5 from Sylvia Plath and now we are doing Thomas Kinsella. I don't see why you would study 6 if you can study 4 poems well and the English exam only needs you to refer to 3 poems. Even if the poem is not suitable for the question you are always able to pick a different poet which would be suitable for the poems you studied. I think I will study 4 poems and study some qoutes from a 5th poem. Has anyone considered doing this for the exam and how did you get on in tests.

Bbbbolger · 28-10-2011 08:05PM

Just because you may only be required to do 3 doesn't mean you should. You need to remember that the L.C is, for all intents and purposes, a competition. Your essay with 4 poems is going to be compared against essay after essay of 6 poems per poet. Even with a very good level of English and well worked ideas your already at a disadvantage. English is one of the most subjective subjects and for the sake of learning 12 extra poems (presuming you're doing 6 poets) it's really worth it. You don't have to learn them to the same level of detail as the others. As long as you can throw out a quote or two you'll be fine.

Canard · 28-10-2011 10:20PM

I could have sworn I heard somewhere the course was "6 poems by 8 poets". Yeah you can get away with 3 poems maybe...but you can also get away with 5 poets. Its just a very bad idea. Youd be better off cutting out 2 poets and doing 12 more poems in total. It would take 2 days at most per poem, hardly too much work.

Closet Monkey · 28-10-2011 10:49PM

Yes, it's easy learning of poems but I amn't doing that. Instead I am learning of a 2 page essay on each poem which outlines all the key points: atmoshpere, themes etc.

I am also learning a 4 page essay on a personal response question on each poet. This might sound like a bad idea but that's my best way of doing well in the poem question. I once had an english test which lasted 50 minutes and I used the essays I learned and got a B. However, I only wrote 2 pages and I didn't look over the essays I learned so I forgot most of the words. If I revise the essays I will be more likely to get an A.

J_E · 28-10-2011 11:42PM

Bbbbolger wrote: »

Just because you may only be required to do 3 doesn't mean you should. You need to remember that the L.C is, for all intents and purposes, a competition. Your essay with 4 poems is going to be compared against essay after essay of 6 poems per poet. Even with a very good level of English and well worked ideas your already at a disadvantage. English is one of the most subjective subjects and for the sake of learning 12 extra poems (presuming you're doing 6 poets) it's really worth it. You don't have to learn them to the same level of detail as the others. As long as you can throw out a quote or two you'll be fine.

You're wrong. An answer with 3 logically chosen and well discussed poems will always score higher than 6 poems that appear to have been picked just-because and learned off, with little understanding. Don't put yourself under that sort of pressure. Learn 4 poems per poet, but at the same time try pick poems that can be explained under different themes. Your teacher should do this for you. Know 4 poets well, 1-2 perhaps not as well but well enough to pull an answer on in the unlikely case that all 4 of your well-known poets don't come up. Chances are one will come up.
Remember, you're not looking to explain the poem line by line, you're answering the question with the assumption they know the general idea of the poem already, just tackle what they ask with revelant quoting and reference and feel free to bring up your own stance on aspects of a poem.

(I got an A1, wrote on Dickinson, 4 poems for the record)

I am also learning a 4 page essay on a personal response question on each poet.

Be warned that learning off essays will put you in the trap of being stuck if an unfamiliar question is asked. Also, would you not be better off giving your own opinions as opposed to just learning someone elses (and if they are your own, why not just simply write them on the day in your own words?)

Superbus · 28-10-2011 11:50PM

Closet Monkey wrote: »

I am also learning a 4 page essay on a personal response question on each poet. This might sound like a bad idea but that's my best way of doing well in the poem question. I once had an english test which lasted 50 minutes and I used the essays I learned and got a B. However, I only wrote 2 pages and I didn't look over the essays I learned so I forgot most of the words. If I revise the essays I will be more likely to get an A.

They don't really ask them any more because people were giving regurgitated answers...

Chuchoter · 29-10-2011 01:33AM

4 poems is far too few if you want any sort of decent mark. You need 6 ideally, but 5 is more practical. The hard part isn't knowing the poems, its writing about them all fast enough thats difficult.

Learning off an essay is a total waste of time, for all the good it will do you go learn a few pages of Hebrew by heart. You will never get an A like that. Just do the work and stop looking for the easy way out.

jawn · 29-10-2011 10:47AM

Chuchoter wrote: »

4 poems is far too few if you want any sort of decent mark.

In this year's LC, I took on Dickinson, dealt with 4 poems and got 50/50 in the prescribed poetry section.
It's quality not quantity. You could mention every poem on the course, but still miss the point of the question by miles.

Chuchoter wrote: »

Learning off an essay is a total waste of time

This I agree with. You're better off learning quotes and a general synopsis of each poem; then structuring your answer to suit the question.

Bbbbolger · 29-10-2011 08:16PM

Obviously there are going to be exceptions to the rule. Some people are going to be able to write on 4 poems only and get full marks. However, for the majority of people (in my opinion) it's easier to do the answer on 6 poems. I learn my poets by doing 4 poems in detail and knowing a few quotes from other poems that will fit into most answers. It adds that little something extra to my answers and gives the impression I really know what I'm talking about, even when I dont :rolleyes:.

Closet Monkey · 30-10-2011 04:14PM

Thanks for the advice. I am still learning 4 poems but now I will consider learning qoutes from a 5th poem to backup the other poems. Also I have taken into consideration to not learn the essays and will just learn important points that I can remember on the exam.

Bottleopener · 02-11-2011 02:08PM

4 related poems per poet is plenty for a poetry essay. If you're shoving 6 in, often the analysis won't be in depth enough - remember guys, time is finite. Don't learn off essays, learn off quotes. Learning off essays makes you lazy and often means you won't answer the question properly on the day of the exam.

As for the comparative, yes you have to compare 3 texts, but don't worry, (in my opinion) that is the easiest part of the exam! It's a lovely straightforward style of question.

Kieran Lad · 02-11-2011 05:09PM

Our teacher said you can be sure an Irish poet and a female poet will be on the paper, we are learning 6 from each..... just for the record Patrick Kavanagh WRECKS MY HEAD!!

How many poems to study for English?

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