© 2008 Steve Campsall

First, what really needs to be in your writing?

Poetry
Poetry has, as has been said above, been called the art of 'saying the unsayable'. Undoubtedly some poems can seem to create meanings and emotions that seem well beyond the words on the page - language can be a very mysterious and wonderful thing!

Hopefully you will come to enjoy at least some of the poems you read on your course but, to be realistic, some poems will, initially at least, appear worryingly difficult. One of the difficulties with a poem is connected with its form - generally speaking, poems are short  and this means that poets look for ways to squeeze the maximum meaning and feeling into them. Unlocking these multi-layered meanings requires patience and skill. But it can be very satisfying - a poem can be like a riddle, fun to crack!

The englishbiz guide will help you 'unpick' a poem and enable you to work out just what the poet is trying to say, how the poem is 'working' and why this is being done - the poet's purpose. Oh, and finally, you find out what gains most marks - and how you can get them!

• Click here to read a poem that many people feel has magical qualities; and here is for another! Of course, individuals react differently to such poems but many students seem to enjoy these!

• Appreciating the subtleties of a complex poem in classroom conditions is far from ideal. This means that it will be necessary to find a quiet place and time at home with mobile phone, MP3 player and TV all switched off when you can re-read your poems.

• Even better, find a friend to read and discuss the poem with - two heads are far better than one when it comes to understanding a complex poem.

• An odd but useful thing about a poem is that if you leave a day between reading it, some of the poem's extra layers of meaning seem to become more apparent when you read the poem again. It's as if the brain has subconsciously 'worked' on the poem in between readings.

Reading for Meaning
Quite a useful thing to do when you first begin your work on analysing a poem is to... forget it's a poem! Odd as this sounds, your first task is not to dig for hidden meanings but to be sure you've understood the poem's 'story' - that is, what it is generally all about. This can be called the poem's 'big picture'. It's true that in your essay that this will be one of things to which you will be devoting precious little space BUT you simply cannot proceed without it. So, when you first read any poem, first of all, read it for meaning. These questions will get you on your way:

• Make a note of who is doing the speaking in the poem - what kind of person and in what kind of state or mood? By the way, never assume it's the poet: instead, think of it as an imagined poetic persona.

• Now work out who is being spoken to or addressed? (Yes - it could be you, the poem's reader, or it might be an imaginary person. Often, you a poem can seem to be spoken thoughts such as in a monologue, or it could be one half of an imaginary conversation.

• Think about just what is being spoken about? (What is the subject matter being discussed?).

• Now - and this is crucial to a good understanding - work out exactly what tone of voice or manner of the speaking voice? (Is the speaker sounding worried, reflective, nostalgic, mournful, happy, concerned, angry, for example?). Importantly, does the tone of voice change during the poem? Make a note of where this occurs.

• Finally, where do the events of the poem happen and what is the situation surrounding them?

Try this:

• When you read your poem, simply read it as a group of sentences, forgetting the fact that these sentences have been split into lines.

• At the end of each sentence (i.e. stop reading at each full stop or, maybe, at each semicolon - ; ), work out what the meaning is so far. Spend time thinking about this and perhaps note the idea down on the poem itself at the side of that part of the poem (this is called annotating the text).

• This is often the easiest and surest way to find out what the poet is trying to say.

• You can consider the effects of other poetic devices the poet has used, such as the way the lines cut up the sentences, the use of rhythm and rhyme, alliteration and so on later.

• Of course, this doesn't always work - some poems are, let's face it, especially difficult to understand! They might even lack any punctuation so have no apparent sentences. If you find this to be the case, try searching for a study guide to your poem by clicking here, here, or here - or, of course, ask your teacher or a friend for help.
   

• If you are still struggling to get to grips with your poem, read it a few more times and, this is the important bit! - leave time between readings (of course, in an exam, this is not possible).

• A useful tip: Most people race through poems using a dull voice. Try reading your poems quite S-L-O-W-L-Y. Even better (in fact, far better!) is to read the poem aloud?

  • Oh yes, you really should! Find a quiet place, or read with a friend. Put embarrassment to one side for the sake of a higher grade!

  • Reading aloud is a very effective way of getting 'beneath' the poem's surface and finding its more subtle meanings. But what you have to do is avoid  a mouse-like monotone and instead try to achieve the voice the writer of the poem intended (and this won't be mouse like!!).

  • Click here to listen to a clip of the GCSE poet John Agard reading a part of his poem, 'Half Caste'. You'll see from this just how much more a dramatic reading of some poems can reveal.
     

• Always avoid reading the poem in an overly stylised way, i.e. in a non-conversational voice! Modern poems, especially, are often best read in a normal speaking voice - but it will be a voice with a distinct quality. Do always try to capture this distinctiveness.

  • Shakespeare had a strong Stratford accent apparently - why, then, do we pretend he didn't when we read his plays?
     

• Can you work out the method, effects and purpose of the various ideas and images the words of the poem create?

  • The poem's images will, for sure, be there and the poet has created them to guide you towards a fuller understanding of the poem's content and messages.
     

• Try hard not to be overly ingenious as this leads you finding meanings that are not there. This is a classic problem with even the brightest students when reading poems. Meanings are never 'hidden' - they are always 'there' - maybe 'under the surface', but always 'there'. And they are always consistent with the whole poem.

  • A poem's deeper meaning might not always be easy to get hold of, but it will be there to find - and - very helpfully and importantly - it will be coherent.

  • Coherence is an important quality of all literature, poems included. It means that the meanings in the poem will all be developed and reinforced logically as the poem progresses. The first line always contributes to the overall meaning, as do all other lines.

  • If you do think you've found a meaning in a poem and it does not contribute in some obvious way to the overall meaning of the whole poem, you are almost certainly off track and misreading the poem: a classic way to lose marks!

Click here to listen to John Agard reading a part of his poem, Half-Caste. Notice the slow and emphatic nature of his voice. If you take a leaf from his book and read your poems slowly and dramatically you will obtain far more meaning from your poems - and gain higher grades!

Writing your essay
Writing an essay about a poem needs the same skills that apply to all essay writing. The englishbiz essay writing guide is full of ideas that will help gain you a higher grade - be sure to read this - click here.

• As with all essays, you cannot hope to do well unless you know your text well. Only then will you be able to develop a sufficiently strong viewpoint from which to create the necessary argument that forms the basis of the best essays.

• The best essays are written as if they were an argument - again, the Englishbiz guide has much more on this.

What is your teacher or examiner actually looking for in your essays?
Whatever the essay question or title, marks are always awarded according to how well you show your abilities in three key areas:

How to do this to gain high marks...

• Read the essay question or title very carefully.

  • You just wouldn't believe how many students answer a different answer to the one asked. Yes - they do, every year!
     

• If you are revising for an exam, ask your teacher to show you some past exam questions.

  • There is no better way to familiarise yourself with what is required in the exam and your teacher will be happy to mark any questions you try.

  • Some exam boards now post downloadable past exam papers on their web sites - click here to go to the AQA website if that is your exam board.
     

• Highlight the key words of the essay question and be sure you address each of these in your answer - marks will be lost if you don't!

  • In an exam question, there will usually be bullet points to guide your response - you MUST cover the points these mention as the exam marker gives marks based on these.

  • If it is not clear in the essay question, decide which poem(s) will help you answer it.

  • Work out exactly what is required of you.

    • Discussing the poet's life and times, i.e. their context, rarely gains marks. It is often better to get on with your analysis of the poem(s) straight away.

    • It is best to avoid generalised discussion of any kind in essays - always be clear, be precise and be succinct!

• Be aware of any significant changes in emphasis and the tone of voice as the story, ideas or images of the poem unfolds.

  • Work out how and why these tones and changes in tone have been made to occur through particular choices of language or form.

    • What does it seem to suggest?

    • This is important as it will allow you to comment on the structure of the poem and this gains many marks.
       

  • Be especially alert to the use of an ironic tone of voice.

    • Irony is an important and frequent poetic device used by poets.

    • Irony is an effective means of engaging the reader.

    • Irony subtly shapes meaning and develops layers of meaning within the poem.

     

• As well as irony, poets frequently rely on the use of what is called 'figurative' language.

  • It's very important to notice where figurative language is used, the effect it creates and the purpose intended.

  • Figurative language creates 'figures' or images in the mind's eye.

  • It is the use of description, metaphor, simile or personification.

    • This common poetic device helps the poet to create and shape meaning.

    • It also works to develop an emotional response in you, the reader.

    • Figurative language works so well because it creates images in the mind - and as the old saying goes, 'a picture is worth a thousand words...'.

    • Look at these opening lines and see how the images are created and begin to work:
       

  I’ve known rivers: I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins. My soul has grown deep like the rivers. from 'The Negro Sings of Rivers' by Langston Hughes

• Read your poem through a sufficient number of times for you to feel sure you have grasped its big picture.
   

• Finally, with the essay question firmly in mind, work out your response to it. This is your own point of view on which you will base your essay.

  • See the englishbiz guide to essay writing for more on this important technique - click here.

Some more ways to unlock the meaning of a poem

• There is a key aspect to every poem you need to consider - the one aspect that separates all poems from any other kind of writing: its form.

  • You need to work out why the poet wrote it in lines!

  • Writing in lines means the poem is composed in verse.

    • This means it is made up of metrical lines and stanzas.

  • Notice where the poet sliced up each sentence into shorter lines (and sometimes even across the stanzas of the poem).

  • Think about what this 'slicing up' achieves.

    • Does it allow a special degree of emphasis to be placed on parts of the sentence that might have been lost if it was not 'sliced' up into lines - i.e. if it had been written as a piece of continuous prose?
       

• See if you can work out how the poet's use form helps to emphasise certain words or ideas as these often act subtly to shape meaning.

  • Remember that only poetry allows this 'playfulness' with form. Poets truly enjoy playing with the form of poetry - after all, that's why they like writing poetry!

• As well as choosing where to end a line or a verse (i.e. properly called a stanza), or whether to use rhythm or rhyme, there are many other ways in which a poet can play around with the form of language to add to the meaning:

  • Some lines might seem to end quite abruptly - even without using a full stop.

    • These are called end-stopped lines.

    • This can be used to create subtle effects. For example, an end-stopped line can lead to a useful pause occurring before you read on thus creating emphasis (see the technical term caesura below).

  • Some lines might 'run on' into the next line or even the next stanza.

    • This effect is called enjambment.

  • Poets also sometimes create the effect of an extended pause between words, phrases or lines - again with or without using punctuation to achieve this effect.

    • This enforced mini-pause is called a caesura.

    • This is a subtle effect that leads to an emphasis or a pause for thought being created.

Some Important 'Poetic Devices'

• Alliteration is the repeating of initial sounds as in William Blake's poem The Tyger: 'Tyger! Tyger! Burning bright!'.

  • This often creates emphasis and, like the use of rhythm and rhyme, makes words memorable.

  • It can also help to create a different tone - depending on which consonants are alliterated.

    • Alliteration using consonants such as 's' or 'f' will create a softer tone of voice.

    • Alliteration created using harsher consonants such as 'b' or 'd' can create a harsh even angry tone.

  • Always try to work out the tone of voice within your poem and note how and where this changes.
     

• Assonance is the term used for the repetition of vowel sounds within consecutive words as in, 'rags of green weed hung down...'.

  • Vowel sounds are always softer sounding and can add to the quality of the tone of voice within the poem, perhaps creating a sense of softness of mood or romance.

  • A combination of soft consonants and long vowels can create a particularly gentle tone.
     

• Rhyme is when the final sounds of words are the same and are repeated either within a line (this is called internal rhyme, as in 'I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers') or at the end of two lines (this is called end rhyme).

  • Work our the effect rhyme creates. Does it make the poem more memorable? Does it add to the 'feel', the meaning or the tone in a useful way? Does it create a happy sense that 'all is well with the world'?

  • Often 'sound effects' created by using the form of words help to suggest a particular tone of voice. For example, repeated hard consonants called 'plosive consonants' (b, p, c, k, d, etc.) can suggest harshness or anger, whereas soft consonants (sh, ch, s, f, m, etc.) or 'long' internal vowels (e.g. the soon the showers of autumn') can suggest a calm or romantic quality.

  • Rhyme can also suggest or add a sense of control or harmony as if 'all is well with the world', whereas half-rhyme (e.g. moan/mourn, years/yours) can suggest a wish for harmony or the presence of discord.
     

• Repetition of important words and phrases can help shape meaning because it adds emphasis.
   

• Are the stanzas (i.e. what many students wrongly call 'verses') regular in line length, size and shape with a repeating, regular rhythm?

  • This is typical of older more traditional British poetry and hints at that sense of 'control' and 'harmony' that seemed to exist in earlier days before the great loss of religious faith or questioning of values of today.

  • Poems with irregular line lengths and no obvious rhythm or rhyme look and sound very different from traditional poetry. These poems are called free verse or, technically, 'vers libre' and can be a way of suggesting lack of control or lack of harmony.
     

• Look at the way the structure or sequence of ideas builds up in the poem (perhaps through a sequence of images); make a note of the effect of this sequencing of ideas or images and how it adds to the overall effect and meaning of the poem.
   

• Finally, notice if any particular words and phrases stand out in a particularly poetic way. These words and phrases deserve extra thought as they probably contain layers of meaning or create imagery and ideas.

  • Maybe the words are ironic or metaphorical? Perhaps they create a vivid image, for example.

  • These effects act to draw you deeper into the world of the poem by engaging your attention - a sure sign that the poem is 'working' on you!

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MORE ON POETIC DEVICES AND TERMINOLOGY

COMPARING POEMS

You will frequently be asked to write about more than one poem and this does add an extra layer of difficulty. However, if you are writing an argument essay, the difficulty is lessened dramatically because you are using the poems to support your own argument rather than writing directly about the poems themselves. Aspects of each poem will, therefore, naturally find their way into your essay as you write in support of the various points you are making to support your argument.

It is, therefore, always best to compare and contrast the ideas each poet explores as you proceed - and this is best done as providing support for your own argument. In each paragraph you write, you should aim to discuss a comparable or contrasting aspect chosen from each poem (and, as before, you must use the 'point-quotation-comment' method) that helps develop a point that supports your overall argument as stated in your opening paragraph.

FIVE TOP TIPS FOR SUCCESS

1. Know your poems well
Most exams allow you to write about poems you have studied in class. Never leave your class until you are sure you know the poems well - ask your teacher for help if you don't. It's their job to help you and they will.

2. Analyse closely analysis and develop subtle insights
Only a close analysis of the poem will allow you to develop subtle insights into the poet's reasons and methods. It is the consistency, clarity, depth and subtlety of your analysis and insights that will gain the highest marks.

3. Use the P.E.E. method of analysis
Using the POINT - EXAMPLE - EXPLAIN method will make sure you support your point with a quotation then follow this with an explanation of the EFFECT of the quotation and the PURPOSE intended - always making sure you comment on the qualities of the poet's choices of language in the quotation and the relevance this has to the overall purpose or theme:

4. Never look for and find what isn't there!
Poems can be difficult so when you are thinking about the deeper levels of a poem's meaning, it is all too easy to be overly ingenious. Do not find meanings that are not really there.

5. Be yourself
The examiner wants to read the writing of a sixteen-year-old, not a sixteen-year-old pretending to be some kind of middle-aged professor of English!