Choose two out of the three poems:

Mother, Any Distance by Simon Armitage, To a Daughter Leaving Home, by Linda Pastan, and Dear Mama by Tupac Shakur.

Compare and contrast two of the poems in terms of how the form and structure help to express the emotions of the narrator.

See you next week,

Clare

See if you can identify some of the techniques he uses to achieve his effects.

Question: In The Richest Poor Man in the Valley, how does McCrae present ideas about living a happy and contented life?

Here are the Chat Notes from today:

shepherd

You 4:22 PM
1) contrast between his weather-beaten face and the sun inside him - literal and metaphor?
2) Shows how and where Harry works and his seasonal routines
3) Tells us what isn't important to Harry - things like money, houses, etc.
4) Suggests that his wealth (diamonds) were in what his friends felt for him

You 4:32 PM
flowing, natural style and tone of the poem, apart from the disruptive caesura in line 17, when the poet is talking about the things that Harry doesn't care about.
She uses the phrase 'thin silver path' with connotations of wealth when describing where Harry works.
Later the tears of his friends are called 'diamonds', again suggesting a source of wealth.

You 4:50 PM
stream of consciousness - when a writer writes about something as if in real time

The most important thing is to have a PROCESS for understanding poetry:

Who is the poet? What kind of era did they live in?

Look at the narrative point of view

The structure of the stanzas - do they suggest order or disorder?

Is there a particular use of end stops, enjambment or caesura? What does this tell us about the poet's message?

Is there a meter or a rhyme scheme? What does this tell us about the poet's message?

Now look more closely at the imagery, the sound effects etc.

Here are the Chat Notes from today:

Hawk sees itself as god-like
It sees itself as being the top of the food chain
with the power of death
killing and violence are seen as natural and its right
animals only kills for food and defence; humans kill for many reasons apart from these
1) stanza structure?
orderly - suggesting natural order and the hawk in control

You 7:25 PM
the power of its instinct expressed in the verse form
meter and rhyme
No rhyme or meter: the hawk operates outside human parameters/ standards
alliteration used to show the hawk's nature
hooked = clearly designed for hunting
'locked' suggests weapon
'allotment of death'

To answer this or any GCSE literature question you need to combine 2 x clear step-by-step processes for dealing with an unseen poetry question. The key to a good GCSE answer is to start with total clarity about the writer's purpose and then follow it up with enough detail.

1) Look at layout and structure: are there stanzas? Are they even or uneven in length? What about enjambment/caesura? Remember that the default structure of a poem is predictable, with punctuation at the ends of lines. So, if the lines are broken or interrupted in any way, this must mean something.

2) Is there meter and rhyme? If so what does this mean? If not, what does this mean?

3) Now read the poem and look at the imagery, sound effects, etc.

4) Now ask yourself WHY the writer chose these techniques to express his/her message.

Now we are ready to construct a written response to the question:

1) Make a short list of the main techniques you want to discuss in your answer.

2) Then write a ONE SENTENCE introduction stating what the poet's main message is and which techniques you are going to discuss.

3) Finally, start a fresh paragraph and go through your list of techniques, quoting examples and explaining why they work.

4) After you have discussed your details, sum up your answer in one concluding sentence or two.

Try to formulate this response in one or two sentences in your introduction, focusing as closely as possible on the exact wording of the question, then work through your detailed response. It is important to use relevant quotations.

Don't worry about timing at this stage - it takes careful practice to master a process. You can always speed up later as you become more confident. See you tomorrow!

1) The author is building tension in a mystery story.
2) Important to create atmosphere.
3) Jamie gripped: touch
4) hinges squealing - hearing

You 4:41 PM
5) the imagery in 'squealing hinges' - makes them seem alive.
6) 'in protest' - personification
7) vivid verb: 'clawed' - metaphor/personification
8) catching and tugging: imagery -metaphor/personification
sibilance: creates a sinister/spooky atmosphere; vivid verb

Things to improve:
1) vivid adjectives missing
2) add another sense, such as touch - e.g. for the fog
3) more responses from the children - maybe in the form of dialogue?
4) more information about the inside of the house

Rebecca 5:22 PM
The abandoned, horrifically large house, which they could glimpse through the fog, stood over them like a big grizzly bear.

Zhenhao Xu
in front of a majestic house. The ancient house loomed over them powerfully like a horrific evil monster

What happens when we are scared?
1) heart racing, pounding
2) breathing - fast - or hold their breath ('freeze')
3) coldness, chill, shivering, trembling

Chat Notes:

1) The author is building tension in a mystery story.
2) Important to create atmosphere.
3) Jamie gripped: touch
4) hinges squealing - hearing

You 4:41 PM
5) the imagery in 'squealing hinges' - makes them seem alive.
6) 'in protest' - personification
7) vivid verb: 'clawed' - metaphor/personification
8) catching and tugging: imagery -metaphor/personification
sibilance: creates a sinister/spooky atmosphere; vivid verb

You 5:15 PM
Things to improve:
1) vivid adjectives missing
2) add another sense, such as touch - e.g. for the fog
3) more responses from the children - maybe in the form of dialogue?
4) more information about the inside of the house

Rebecca 5:22 PM
The abandoned, horrifically large house, which they could glimpse through the fog, stood over them like a big grizzly bear.

Zhenhao Xu 5:24 PM
in front of a majestic house. The ancient house loomed over them powerfully like a horrific evil monster

You 5:28 PM
What happens when we are scared?
1) heart racing, pounding
2) breathing - fast - or hold their breath ('freeze')
3) coldness, chill, shivering, trembling

https://www.yorknotes.com/gcse/english-literature/macbeth-gcse-2017/sample-answers/examiners-notes/30_candidate2

See you next week! Clare

Clare

1. Give a summary of the story in 50 words or fewer.

2. Why is the story called News of the Engagement?

3. What emotions does the central character, Philip, go through in the story?

4. What is the effect of the story being written in first person?

Fancy an extra challenge? Try answering this question: what genre is Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. How do you know?

The rhododendrons stood fifty feet high, twisted and entwined with bracken, and they had entered into alien marriage with a

host of nameless shrubs, poor, bastard things that clung about their roots

as though conscious of their spurious origin. A lilac had mated with a

copper beech, and to bind them yet more closely to one another the

malevolent ivy, always an enemy to grace, had thrown her tendrils about

the pair and made them prisoners. Ivy held prior place in this lost garden,

the long strands crept across the lawns, and soon would encroach upon

the house itself. There was another plant too, some half-breed from the

woods, whose seed had been scattered long ago beneath the trees and then

forgotten, and now, marching in unison with the ivy, thrust its ugly form

like a giant rhubarb towards the soft grass where the daffodils had blown.