‘Section B
Poetry Comparison’ – The Task
Essay Title: “Compare and contrast the different moods and themes created in ‘Poem 1’ and ‘Poem 2’.”
The Task:
Stage 1 |
Produce a detailed plan of your coursework essay |
1.5 weeks |
Stage 2 |
Produce the first draft of your essay |
1 week’s homework |
Stage 3 |
Mark a partner’s essay and give them feedback |
1 homework and 1 lesson |
Stage 4 |
Redraft your essay into a final second draft |
1 week’s homework |
Things to remember:
Focus on the
Question!
·
You must talk about mood –
i.e. the feelings, emotions and atmosphere evoked by the poets
·
You must also talk about
themes – i.e. the messages / comments on the human condition / observations of
life made by the poets
·
Remember that each poem
raises more than one theme and that the mood is not necessarily the same all
the way through the poem. Noticing these different themes and how the mood
changes and progresses as we move through the poem is one of the ways in which
you can get a good mark.
Quotations,
quotations, quotations!
·
To get a good grade on this piece of coursework you must really focus
on the moods and themes that the poets have created. Importantly, however, you
shouldn’t just describe the moods and themes you must take care to really
analyse in detail how the poets have created them and really made us feel the
feelings / consider the ideas that they wish to convey. You will need to pick
out lots of quotations and explain exactly how they support your points.
·
By analyse I mean showing how specific, small, precise elements of the
text work to create a certain effect. There will often be a key word that
really does the work in quotation – point out the power of that one word and
examine it’s connotations
·
The smaller and more precise your quotations, the better!
·
Bear in mind that some quotations may be ambiguous. That is, they may
be interpreted in a number of ways depending on how you look at them. In this
case the best thing to do is not to force a quotation to mean one thing when it
really means two. Instead, you should point out that two possible
interpretations exist, give reasons to support both interpretations and then
choose the one you think is true, again giving reasons why you think the
evidence for that interpretation is stronger.
Variety of
features!
·
You need to pick out specific small quotations and comment on the
effect they have. You should consider:
·
You should point out how all of these different features work together
to create an overall effect
·
Remember to use the correct technical term to refer to each feature
Cultural
Context
·
You need to show an awareness of the relevant cultural context
surrounding the poems. This is particularly relevant when considering ‘An
Unknown Girl’ and the fact that Moniza Alvi is of mixed descent and wrote her
poem after one of her visits to
·
The simplest way to include contextual information is in a big lump
at the start of your essay in the introduction. However, the best
way to use contextual information is to include it in the main body of your
essay when it becomes relevant.
Evaluation
·
The best essays will not just point out which different themes and
moods have been created. In addition, A and A*
candidates will begin to consider how effectively / successfully / powerfully these
ideas or feelings have been evoked. This requires you to have a personal
opinion about the poems, although you should avoid using the word ‘I’ or
obvious phrases like ‘In my opinion’. Instead just talk about your opinions as
if they were fact. An example of a well balanced and personal evaluation would
be: ‘While Owen does successfully evoke sympathy for the boy-soldier who has
suffered horribly as a result of war in ‘Disabled’, Frost’s ‘Out Out’ is a far
more powerful poem as it confronts us mercilessly with the brutally indifferent
nature of the world to our suffering and our fundamental insignificance in the
grander scheme of things.’