[Section 2a. Based in the experience of marking the A level in 2017, what are some of the
general reflections of the way the students have dealt with the collection?]
[Tom] I think as always seems to happen, the most important things that you should be doing
students is spending the first few minutes carefully reading and reflecting on what you’ve
been asked to study. The unseen poem and the other poems as well. And the first thing I
think I’d say to you is just look at that unseen poem. What can you see, never mind
the words, but what does the way that it is put together, like bricks in a wall if you
like, in a structure, that tells you something about what's going on? Is it divided up, for
example, into two, where you might then, you might be thinking “are there two voices
speaking to me there?” or is there a change in the story or something? That will already
get you reflecting on an important aspect of the poem, which is the structure that you’re
going to be writing about. Only when you’ve done that I suggest you go and have a look
at the anthology poems, so that you can start reflecting how they might link to this and
make your choice. [Section 2b. What about the importance of
the question?] [Tom] Well of course you need to read the
questions just as carefully as the unseen and anthology poems, because you’ve got
to make sure you’ve fully understood what they're asking of you. For example, in last
year's paper it talked about the bonds between parents and children, and emotional responses
to birth and death. Those bonds and emotional responses are really important, so make those
the focus of what you're thinking and planning about when you're going to write your answer.
You’re not going to say everything there is to say about either of the poems. But you
are going to need to focus on those particular key words of the question.
[Section 2c. What about using quotations from the poems?]
[Tom] Well of course if you want to get particularly a high level answer, putting in lots of detail
from the text is important, but it's got to be well chosen. So in your initial reading
be thinking about what are the key bits of this poem that really summarise what it's
about, or perhaps where things change, where there's a sudden shift. And if that's perhaps
a couple of lines, make sure when you're writing it out that you set the lines out exactly
as they are printed in front of you. It shows you know this is poetry. In fact, just writing
it out will help you see how it's been put together when the poet did the same thing
themselves. [Section 2d. How important is the technical
vocabulary?] [Tom] Well of course that's just the kind
of thing that you’re learning during the course of your A level, isn’t it, and these
technical terms are very useful as shorthand for the ways that poems are constructed. However,
it's not good enough just to spot it, and put the name down, for example “Genetics”
is a villanelle, and good if you remember that in the exam, it will help you think about
it. But you need to show me or your examiner why that's significant, what difference does
that make to your reading of the poem, how you listen to it, the voices you hear, how
it might change during the course of the poem. [Section 2e. In summary]
[Tom] OK, so I think there are three things I’d like you to be thinking about. First
of all, am I confident enough about my own reading strategies? Secondly, am I able to
identify key features in a poem and say why they're important? And thirdly, do I know
the anthology poems well enough?