Paper 2 Unseen Poetry: Reading a Poem Closely
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Lesson notes
What Paper 2 asks
- You read one poem (or extract) you have never seen and answer two compulsory questions, 15 marks each, in 1 hour 15 minutes.
- The poem may be written in English or be in English translation; there are no set texts.
- The rubric suggests spending about 20 minutes reading and planning before writing.
- Both questions test all four AOs: detail and quotation (AO1), meaning (AO2), the poet's methods (AO3) and personal response (AO4).
- The printed introduction to the poem is a clue — read it carefully (e.g.×"the poem describes the morning newspaper being delivered to the poet's apartment"×).
A reading routine
- Read 1 — for sense: who is speaking, to whom, where, about what? What happens from start to end?
- Read 2 — for shape: stanzas, line lengths, rhyme, repetitions, where the poem turns.
- Read 3 — with the questions: underline everything that helps answer (a), then (b).
- Note shifts in tone or perspective — words such as×but×,×yet×,×now×,×then×often mark a turn.
- Always ask of any detail: what does it make me feel or think, and why did the poet choose it?
Speaker, voice and tone
- The speaker (persona) is the voice of the poem; it may not be the poet.
- Tone is the speaker's attitude — bitter, tender, playful, ironic, wistful, anxious.
- Mood is the atmosphere the reader feels.
- Direct address ("you") draws the reader in or speaks to a person; apostrophe addresses something absent or abstract.
- Tone can shift: tracing that shift is often the heart of a good answer.
Imagery and figurative language
- Simile: a comparison with×like×or×as×—×"as if knee-deep in water"×makes the delivery man's walk slow and effortful.
- Metaphor: saying one thing×is×another, which transfers its associations.
- Personification: giving human qualities to non-human things.
- Symbol: an object that stands for a larger idea (a door, a season, a bird).
- Semantic field: a group of related words (violence, light, water) that builds an idea across the poem.
- Unexpected comparisons matter most — a newspaper set down "as if it were a newborn" and then "like a bomb" jolts the reader.
Sound and rhythm
- Rhyme can bind ideas together, give closure, or feel forced and ironic; note when a rhyme scheme breaks.
- Rhythm/metre: regular beats can suggest calm or routine; broken rhythm suggests disturbance.
- Alliteration (repeated initial consonants), assonance (repeated vowel sounds) and sibilance (repeated×s×sounds) shape how lines feel.
- Onomatopoeia: words that imitate sounds.
- Only discuss a sound effect if you can say what it adds — and take care with sound in translated poems.
Structure and form
- Enjambment: a sentence runs over a line break, creating momentum or suspense.
- Caesura: a pause within a line, often for emphasis or hesitation.
- Volta: a turn in thought or feeling.
- Refrain: a repeated line; each return can change its meaning.
- Know common forms: sonnet (14 lines), villanelle (19 lines with two refrains), ballad, dramatic monologue, free verse (no regular rhyme or metre).
- The ending deserves special attention: does it resolve, twist or leave things open?
From feature to effect
- Spotting a device is AO1 at best; examiners reward what you say about its effect (AO3) and meaning (AO2).
- A useful pattern: what the poet does → how it works on the reader → why it matters to the poem's ideas.
- Zoom in on single words: connotations of a verb or adjective often carry the poem's attitude.
- Personal response (AO4) is a judgement:×"The final line is unsettling because…"×
Slides
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Practice questions
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1.How many questions do you answer in Paper 2?
Easy- ATwo, both compulsory
- BOne from a choice of three
- CFour short questions
- DTwo from a choice of four
2.Roughly how long does the rubric suggest spending on reading and planning?
Easy- AAbout 5 minutes
- BAbout 45 minutes
- CNo time — start writing at once
- DAbout 20 minutes
3."The fog comes / on little cat feet." (Carl Sandburg) Which technique is this?
Easy- AOnomatopoeia
- BRefrain
- CMetaphor
- DSimile
4."I wandered lonely as a cloud" (Wordsworth) uses which technique?
Easy- ACaesura
- BSimile
- CMetaphor
- DAlliteration
5.What is a volta?
Easy- AA turn in thought or feeling
- BA repeated line
- CA pause within a line
- DA rhyme at the end of a line
6.What is enjambment?
Easy- AA pause in the middle of a line
- BRepeated vowel sounds
- CA fourteen-line poem
- DA sentence running over a line break
7.What is a caesura?
Easy- AA type of rhyme
- BThe title of a poem
- CA pause within a line
- DA line break
8.What is the difference between tone and mood?
Medium- ATone is the title; mood is the ending
- BTone is the speaker's attitude; mood is the atmosphere the reader feels
- CThey mean exactly the same
- DTone is rhythm; mood is rhyme
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