Poetry

• Engels
• Upper Secondary (Key Stage 4)
• GCSE

Goals for today 

Feedback on your poetry presentation 

How to approach an unseen poem 

How do contract a introduction for guided textual analysis 

How to construct a conclusion for guided textual analysis (paper 1) 

Example response and examiner's comments 

Word of the day

Fac  = is a root from the Latin word facio which means "to do or make"

Our key word to remember this root is factory 

I hear Smithson's are opening a new factory in Shanghai

Rate the word 1 to 4

1. I do not know the word, and I have never seen it before. 

2. I've heard or seen the word before, but I'm not sure what it means. 

3. I know the word and can recognise and understand it while reading, but I probably wouldn't feel comfortable using it in writing or speech. 

4. I know the word well and can use it correctly in writing or speech. 

Facsimile

Word of the day

Facsimile (n) - an exact copy, especially of a document

Fun fact: The word 'fax machine" comes from the phrase "facsimile transmission" which was first used in 1948. Fac = make, simile = similar 

Johnson published a fine facsimile of the volume in 1936

criminal, scoundrel, knave, cad, reprobate, desperado, scalawag

In your examination (paper 1 and paper 2) you will be given 5 minutes reading time. You may not annotate or write anything during that time. 

How to focus that time: 

1. Read 'around' the text - introductory information from the IB, the source, the date, the context, the author etc.
   
2. Read the guiding question
   
3. Read the title. 
   
4. Read the text closely keeping your focus on what you discovered in steps 1 - 3.
   
5. Mentally start to determine who the speaker is (poetic persona) and what the subject of the poem is. 
   

Goals for today 

Using an acronym to focus our annotations and analysis 

Constructing a response to an unseen poem 

When you are working at your desk, this is the scene you see out of the window. 

What do you see happening? 

Write down what you see as the day progresses. 

In your examination (paper 1 and paper 2) you will be given 5 minutes reading time. You may not annotate or write anything during that time. 

How to focus that time: 

1. Read 'around' the text - introductory information from the IB, the source, the date, the context, the author etc.
   
2. Read the guiding question
   
3. Read the title. 
   
4. Read the text closely keeping your focus on what you discovered in steps 1 - 3.
   
5. Mentally start to determine who the speaker is (poetic persona) and what the subject of the poem is. 
   

Speaker 

1. Who is the speaker (poetic persona)? 
2. How do you know? Find some evidence. Do not look outside the text to define the speaker. 

Purpose

• Why has the author written this poem? 
  
• What message (theme) does he want to convey? 
  
• Take notes - (do not annotate for technique yet)
  
• Write on the left of the poem topics, concepts, ideas, interesting words that encapsulate some of the big ideas in the poem. 
  

Emotions 

1. What tone and mood do you perceive from the poem? 
   
2. Be as specific as possible in naming the tone and/or mood of the poem. Use the tone and mood vocabulary provided. 
   
3. Do you see a tonal shift? If so, name the different tones. 
   

Authorial choices 

1. Figurative language = Figurative language is a type of communication that does not use a word’s strict or realistic meaning. Comparisons (similes, metaphors, analogies) and exaggerations are the most common. 
   
2.  Imagery - visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile, gustatory, kinaesthetic (movement) 
   

Authorial choices 

1. Language - connotations, denotations, diction choice, register, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronoun usage, semantic field, alliteration, assonance, sibilance etc. 
   
2. Rhythm and sound - alliteration, assonance, sibilance etc. Half rhyme, end rhyme, internal rhyme, eye rhyme, 
3. Structure - enjambment, end stop lines, stanzas, punctuation to help rhythm. 

Thesis statement 

• Topic sentences (3 body paragraphs - extra time students 2 body paragraphs) 
  
• Quotations to support all points. Do not repeat your point or use more than one quotation to support the same idea. 
  

The author insightfully explores the process of poetry writing and inspiration through the use of visceral imagery, precise language choices and tonal shifts.

Goals for today 

Constructing thesis statements 

Constructing topic sentences 

What should be in an introduction and a conclusion for guided textual analysis 

Example body paragraph 

Rate the word 1 to 4

1. I do not know the word, and I have never seen it before. 

2. I've heard or seen the word before, but I'm not sure what it means. 

3. I know the word and can recognise and understand it while reading, but I probably wouldn't feel comfortable using it in writing or speech. 

4. I know the word well and can use it correctly in writing or speech. 

Facticious 

Word of the day

Factitious (adj) - not spontaneous or natural; artificial; contrived or made or manufactured.

What is the difference between factitious and fictitious? Write down your answer

The skilled sculptor crafted a factitious marble statue that appeared almost lifelike

Fictitious: created, taken, or assumed for the sake of concealment; not genuine; false, for example, fictitious names 

relating to, or consisting of fiction; imaginatively produced or set forth; created by the imagination: a fictitious hero.

Thesis statement 

•  Carefully read the Guiding Question and determine the focus and key words that must be implemented in the thesis statement. The key words will typically be the literary or linguistic element from the Guiding Question.
  
• Look for the “insightful ideas” from your (left margin) annotations while also considering the key words of the Guiding Question.
  

Bob Orr insightfully explores the process of poetry writing and how inspiration can be discovered in the everyday and familiar through the use of visceral imagery, precise language choices and tonal shifts.

Thesis statement 

•  Formulate your “insightful idea”. This will not be given in the guiding question but will be your own. Typically the theme or main message of the text.
  
• Flip the Guiding Question into a thesis statement using your insightful idea and the literary, linguistic or stylistic authorial choices you will focus on.
  
• Use evaluative language in your thesis statement.
  

The author insightfully explores the process of poetry writing and inspiration through the use of visceral imagery, precise language choices and tonal shifts.

Evaluative language examples

Topic sentence 

Highlighting

Read the response and as you read highlight the following aspects of this work: 

1. Literary or Stylistic Features 

2. Textual references (quotes or references)

3. Author/ reader (audience) relationship (effect on reader) 

4. Line of Inquiry/ insightful idea

5. Transitions 

The name of the extract is stated

The author or originating source is given

The text type is clearly identified without elaboration

where the text appeared is stated (if known)

When it was produced is stated (if known)

The content is discussed: what does the text actually say (briefly)

The intended audience/reader is stated (if definable) 

The purpose(s) is stated

The social, cultural and temporal context is addressed (if available)

The thesis: what you find most important about the text (without elaboration) (main idea/main theme)

The structure of your analysis is stated 

Introduction

Hook	Inspiration is everywhere if only you can see it.
The name of the extract	"The Tyre Shop"
Author or source	Bob Orr
Text type	Poem
where appeared	New Zealand Poems
when produced	2001
content discussed	The poem considers, from the poetic persona of a poet, the process of finding inspiration in everyday people and events and developing that inspiration into a poetic description.
intended audience	Readers who know Bob Orr's work. Readers who enjoy contemporary poetry. Readers interested in author's from New Zealand
purpose	entertain, inform
social cultural & temporal context	New Zealand, Australasia, Oceania, English speaking
Thesis statement
Plan of development

Conclusion 

A literary essay should analyze and evaluate a work of literature or an aspect of a work of literature. A strong conclusion will restate the thesis statement and broaden the scope of the essay in four to six sentences. You should also have an effective last sentence in the essay so you can wrap it up on a high note.

Rephrase your thesis statement

Rephrase your thesis statement. Avoid repeating your thesis statement as it appears in your introduction. Change the language and word choice in the original thesis statement so that it reflects the analysis that you have shown in your literary essay.

Another option is to revise your thesis statement to be more clear, making  edits to it. Go back to your introduction and read your thesis statement again. Then, keep your thesis statement in mind as you read over your body paragraphs. Consider whether your thesis statement still feels relevant to your essay, or if it could be revised. 

Rephrase but do not repeat

Start with your revised/ rephrased thesis statement. The middle section of your conclusion should be three to five sentences long. It should broaden the scope of your essay. 

• Important themes or ideas 
• summarize your most important findings 
• No new information in your conclusion 

Answer the question 'so what?'

Think about why someone would care about what you are addressing in your essay and why the focus of your essay is important. Answering the question “so what?” can help you generate interesting things to finish your essay within the conclusion. Possible final sentences: 

• Finish with a powerful image or detail from the text
• End with a simple sentence straightforward sentence
• Set your findings in a larger context

Orr’s exploration of visceral imagery reflects the struggle for inspiration and the creativity unleashed through the “neighbour” and “accomplice”, the tyre shop man. Initially the speaker is unsure about their abilities and inspiration appears difficult to grasp. Modals are used to express this uncertainty: they “might” roll a cigarette and they “guess that you could say ” that the tyre shop man is a neighbour. These opening lines are prosaic and contain little imagery.  However, as the day progresses and words start to “align”, this uncertainty makes way for visceral imagery. The “tyres” are described as “stacked up like black donuts”. This gustatory imagery is a surprising descriptor for tyres inviting the reader to consider this curious relationship . The visual image of “dark rings of invisible planets” reflects the struggle to make visible the feelings inspired by the poet’s “muse”. As the “sun subsides” the image of a “wild orb of redness tearing itself apart” signals the introduction of an  imaginative poetic passage inspired by the everyday events at the tyre shop. References are made to the work earlier in the day of the “stranger and neighbour” mechanic. An “axle break[s] open the branches” and the moon becomes a “wheel cut from crystal”. These visual and kinaesthetic images powerfully allow the reader to experience the release of poetic inspiration at the end of the poem and experience the artistic satisfaction engendered through the commonplace tyre shop. 

Body paragraph 

CRITERION A: UNDERSTANDING AND INTERPRETATION

• How well does the candidate demonstrate an understanding of the text and draw reasoned conclusions from implications in it? 
  
• How well are ideas supported by references to the text?
  
• 3 out of 5
• There is just about enough detail for a mark of 3 here, but only just. The candidate makes a range of points about the presentation of the tyre shop man, the feelings of the speaker towards him and some sense of poem's atmopshere. However, not much is said about the poem's exploration of the act of writing and the analogy the speaker draws betwen his work and that of the man. The discussion is far less sure in reference to the second half of the poem. 
  

Example response "The Tyre Shop" 

CRITERION B: ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION

• To what extent does the candidate analyse and evaluate how textual features and/or authorial choices shape meaning?
  
• 3 out of 5
  
• Again, just about enough to merit a 3. The candidate explores word choice, imagery, juxtaposition and some of the figurative comparisons. However, analysis is fairly limited and it is a pity s/he did not really do justice to the shift into more figurative expression in the second half. Tone is also notably absent.  
  

Example response "The Tyre Shop" 

CRITERION C: FOCUS AND ORGANIsATION

• How well organised, coherent and focused is the presentation of ideas?
  
• 3 out of 5
  
• The essay is adequately organised - points categorised meaningfully into paragraphs and there is some sense of development.  
  

Example response "The Tyre Shop" 

CRITERION D: LANGUAGE

• How clear, varied and accurate is the language? 
  
• How appropriate is the choice of register and style?
  
• 4 out of 5
• The response is accurately written and language appropriate and clear. Some of it e.g. the repeated references to 'mystery' betray a lack of sophisticated or breadth in word choice, but it is just about cogent enough for the 4.  
  

Example response "The Tyre Shop" 

Thomas insightfully employs recurring symbols, motifs, imagery and specific structural choices to convey the realisation and trauma associated with the loss of fellow soldiers and the survivor's guilt connected to being saved. 

Example thesis statement

Recurring motifs and symbols are used throughout the poem to highlight and emphasise the comfort of survival and the trauma of that same survival when others have perished. The poem is titled "The Owl", and it is this symbolic creature who invites a realisation in the poetic persona of the negative repercussions of his survival. The "owl's cry, a most melancholy cry" introduces the reader in the second stanza to the conscience of the speaker. The cry is described as being "shaken out long and clear" creating a visual image which allows the cry to reach the dead soldiers who "lay under the stars". The symbol of the owl tells the speaker "plain" of "what [he] escaped". The motifs of hunger, "cold" and rest are seen throughout the poem and represent the essential life-giving elements needed for the living. In the first stanza these essentials are needed and in the second stanza they are relieved; however, in the last stanza they are not enough and are "salted", or tainted due to the death of those "unable to rejoice". This destruction of comfort mirrors the guilt experienced by the survivor. 

Furthermore, imagery and repetition contribute further to the message of survivor's guilt. Auditory imagery is used in the "owl's melancholy cry" to remind the speaker to the trauma of survival. "cold" and "heat" as tactile imagery give the reader the sensory feeling of the exhaustion of the speaker and the relief of the "fire" found at the inn. As the speaker comes to a realisation of the guilt associated with his survival, gustatory imagery is used in the references to "salted" "food" and the "salted and sobered" repose. This image refers to both the tears cried by the speaker for his lost comrades and the fact that his sustenance and rest has been tainted by his sorrow and guilt. Strong, emotive adjectives are used to aid the emphasis of emotion. This is paired with repetition to further highlight the emotional impact of the poem, "no merry note, nor cause of merriment" and "an owl's cry, a most melancholy cry" additionally, the repetition of "food" all combine to give connection between the changing emotions throughout the poem. 

Additionally, Thomas structures both his stanzas as his lines to emphasise the changing understanding that the speaker has to his comfort and survival. The first stanza focuses on what the speaker does not have and how his physical needs should be met. The speaker is "hungry" but not starved, he is "cold", but there is "heat" and he is "tired" but can "rest". This establishes that he has survived and in the second stanza he is given the support in the "inn" to service and recover. However, the "owl's cry" intrudes on this rest. In the third stanza the call to his conscience becomes aware that he has survived. The fourth stanza illustrates his sorrow and ongoing guilt for not surviving. These main concepts are aided through the use of rhyme throughout the poem. The structure is ABCB throughout and inversion and enjambment are employed to keep a consistent rhythm and musicality throughout the poem. Enjambment allows emphasis to fall on the rhymed words and the enjambment across the stanzas two and three throw a spotlight on the importance of the "owl's cry" to reverse the tone of the poem. 

Goals for today 

Re-visiting the poem "An Advancement of Learning" 

Reconsidering the characters in our novels and plays 

I took the embankment path

(As always, deferring

The bridge). The river nosed past,

Pliable, oil-skinned, wearing

A transfer of gables and sky.

Hunched over the railing,

Well away from the road now, I

Considered the dirty-keeled swans.

Something slobbered curtly, close,

Smudging the silence: a rat

Slimed out of the water and

My throat sickened so quickly that

I turned down the path in cold sweat

But God, another was nimbling

Up the far bank, tracing its wet

Arcs on the stones. Incredibly then

I established a dreaded

Bridgehead. I turned to stare

With deliberate, thrilled care

At my hitherto snubbed rodent.

He clockworked aimlessly a while,

Stopped, back bunched and glistening,

Ears plastered down on his knobbed skull,

Insidiously listening.

The tapered tail that followed him,

The raindrop eye, the old snout:

One by one I took all in.

He trained on me. I stared him out

Forgetting how I used to panic

When his grey brothers scraped and fed

Behind the hen-coop in our yard,

On ceiling boards above my bed.

This terror, cold, wet-furred, small-clawed,

Retreated up a pipe for sewage.

I stared a minute after him.

Then I walked on and crossed the bridge.

Exploring 

In your groups, look at the extracts 

Make notes on 

Language, literary style, content and purpose.

Text type 

• What are the text types? How do you know? 
  
• Don Paterson - poetry 
  
• Fergal Keane - journalism - non-fiction prose (literary) 
  
• Leslie Marmon Silko - prose fiction 
  
• Scattered Black and Whites - Elbow - song lyrics 
  

Comparison text types 

1. Which extract do you like best? Why?
   
2. What elements of language and style make each unique?
   
3. What can they say about narrative voice and point of view?
   
4. Are there any points of cross over in terms of content - i.e. what the extracts are 'about'?
   
5. How would they describe the overall aim and the overall impact of each?
   

Poetry 

1. Consider the notes on the poem "The Voice".

2. Turn over and answer the questions for "An Advancement of Learning". 

3. Look at the answer ideas. 

4. Choose a guiding questions for this poem. 

Q 1 & 2  ideas 

Q1: An advancement' is a somewhat clinical, detached phrase - perhaps reflective of the speaker's distance (in time) from the memory.

Q2: Clearly the use of the first person pronoun 'I' helps to create this, but the use of techniques such as parenthesis also contributes; it is as if the speaker is talking to us in an informal manner. This sense of informality is also generated through the mixture of end stopped and run on lines.

Q 3 & 4  ideas 

Q3: Nosed' and 'wearing' personify the river, lending it a sense of life and autonomy that is a motif throughout the poem. Visual imagery in 'oil skinned' and 'transfer of gables and sky' suggests the river's reflectivity - and the kind of remembered detail that is repeated throughout the poem. 

Q4: There is extensive sibilance, which announces the rat as something physical and repulsive. 'Slimed' and 'sickened' depict the speaker's instinctive, visceral reaction to its appearance.

Q5 & 6   ideas 

Q5: This is another example of the way the speaker registers an informal tone, but at this point in the poem, the effect is exclamatory as he communicates his remembered fear and dread at the appearance of a second rat. Through techniques like these, Heaney creates a sense that the memory is happening now, in the present.

Q6: The speaker is both terrified and yet enthralled by the rat; he runs from it and yet turns to face it. 'Thrilled' communicates this ambiguous response - he watches it in a 'deliberate' manner having previously 'snubbed' it.

Q7 ideas 

Q7: Sounds in particular realise the poem's interest in physical experience. Plosive sounds in 'back bunched', 'plastered' and 'knobbed' are very physical and actual - a sense that is furthered in the imagery of 'ears plastered down', 'knobbed skull' and 'tapered tail.'

Q8 ideas 

Q8: There is a fairly consistent iambic rhythm established here. In addition, lines 1 and 3, and 2 and 4 mirror each other in their syntactic structure - e.g. through the mid line caesurae in 2 and 4. There is a sense of forward momentum and an increase in intensity as the rat and the speaker momentarily stare at each other. This is an important moment, as if the rat is briefly as interested in the speaker as he is in it.

Q9 ideas 

Q9: Here, as elsewhere in the poem, Heaney makes use of compound nouns, which capture significant visual detail. There is, in addition, a use of synecdoche, as the speaker refers to the rat through its particular parts. The 'terror' he describes is communicated, as before, through visceral, instinctive response.

Q10: There is a strong degree of development at the end. The speaker relays a sense of something having been overcome - a childhood fear, perhaps even childhood itself. This is made clear by the simple, abrupt statements inthe final two lines - as if to register the speaker's new-found confidence.

Q10 ideas 

Q10: There is a strong degree of development at the end. The speaker relays a sense of something having been overcome - a childhood fear, perhaps even childhood itself. This is made clear by the simple, abrupt statements in the final two lines - as if to register the speaker's new-found confidence.

 1. How is imagery used in this poem to portray (the subject)?

2. How does the poem’s form contribute to its changing moods and the development of ideas?

3. How does the poem portray the development of the speaker’s attitude towards (the subject)?

4. How does the poem use compressed/concentrated language to express complex ideas and/or feelings?

5. How does the poem use contrasts and/or parallels, and what effects are created?

6. How does the poem use metaphors and/or similes and how do these contribute to the overall meaning of the poem?

7. How does the poem convey the passing of time and what effects are achieved?

8. How is the tone of the poem established and how does this develop? 

9. How does the poem use sounds to enhance its meaning? 

10. How does the speaker impact and shape the reader’s response to this poem?

Choose a guiding question for this poem 

Explore this question by annotating your poem accordingly.