How to Approach the Unseen Poetry Anthology Question (WJEC Eduqas GCSE English Literature)

How to Approach the Unseen Poetry Question

In Section C of your Eduqas GCSE English Literature exam, you need to write one 15-mark and one 25-mark essay exploring the meaning and effects created in two unseen poems. The poems will be printed on the exam paper.

You can approach the question in Section C with confidence by learning more about the exam question:

• Section C: Unseen poetry question overview

• Understanding the exam question

• Understanding the assessment objectives

• Top tips for a Grade 9

Section C: Unseen poetry question overview

In Section C you will be presented with two unseen poems from the 20th and/or 21st centuries. In the first question you will be asked to write about a previously unseen poem. In the second question, you will be asked to write about a second previously unseen poem and compare it to the first. This means that both poems will be completely new to you, but you can use the same skills you have developed while studying the poetry anthology when tackling the questions.

There will be two questions on the unseen poems which you must answer. There is no choice.

Here is an overview:

Approaching unseen poems can seem very intimidating. However, examiners just want to see that you can demonstrate your ability to “notice” things in the poems. They do not expect you to know and understand everything about two poems you have just read for the first time, so try not to be anxious about this. Indeed, examiners often comment that students generally excel in this section, as it is an opportunity for you to write about your own ideas and interpretations of the poems.

Here are some of the poems used in previous past papers.

Sometimes the title of a poem can be overlooked, but it can be key to understanding the poem’s meaning, so make sure you use it as “evidence” in your response if it is relevant.

Look at the titles of the poems above. What predictions can you make about the poems from their titles? What do you think the meaning of each title is? Why do you think the poet chose this particular title for their poem?

Understanding the exam question

You will have two questions to answer about the poems, with bullet points to support you. In the table, you’ll find some recent examples of exam questions from Eduqas GCSE English Literature past papers. Look at the wording of the questions and the question structure and themes. Are there any exam questions that you might struggle to answer?

For this question, you will always be asked to write a response that explores how the poets convey their message in their poems, focusing on a specific aspect or theme. Pay close attention to the questions to improve your exam performance. The most common mistake students make is not carefully reading and understanding the questions.

Remember, the bullet points in each of the exam questions are given as a guide for you, so try to address each one in your answer.

Understanding the assessment objectives

In Section C, there are two assessment objectives which are all equally weighted:

AO2 is assessed through the command words “explore” and “how”. Analysing language, structure and form means that you need to consider the deliberate choices the poet has made so you need to look more deeply into the poem and identify any interesting examples of language, form or structural features. This is very much about noticing things and considering why they stand out. Can you spot any patterns emerging or make connections between the ideas to see how they are working together to make meaning?

Top tips for a Grade 9

• Try not to worry about understanding what the poems mean the first time you read them:

  • Read each poem two or three times and think carefully about what they could be about

• First, look for the obvious surface meaning and write down what the poems are about:

  • If there are layers of meaning, explore these too

  • This is known as the subtext

  • You can explore a poem’s subtext by using sentence starters such as “The phrase… could also mean…” or “The writer could be using the colour… to suggest…”

• A good starting point after reading the poems is to write about what they are about:

  • Use the statement at the top of the printed poem as this will sometimes explain what the poems are about

  • At the very least, it will give you a good clue about the focus, or theme, of the poem

  • The title is often a way “into” the poem and often gives clues as to its content 

• Show that you understand the main ideas and explicit meanings in the poem, as well as the implied or hidden meanings:

  • A surface reading tells you what is happening in the poem

  • An inferential reading tells you what the poem means, i.e. its message

• As well as asking you to explore what the poem is about on a basic level, the question will guide you to consider the ideas the poets may have wanted the reader to think about:

  • You may like to think of these as the deeper themes and wider ideas around the poem

  • So for example, if you know that a poem is about someone looking at old photographs, the wider ideas explored might include memory, nostalgia, the passage of time, etc.

• Aim to engage with the broader ideas presented in the poems and their overall meanings:

  • For the highest marks, the examiner wants to see what you think the poems mean, not what the poems say

• Analyse, in detail, the choices the poets have made in terms of their use of language, structure and form to convey their message and ideas

• Demonstrate your knowledge of the poems through the use of accurate, relevant reference and quotations:

  • Use short quotations to support your ideas (never quote large sections of the poem)

Find out more about how you can write a Grade 9 answer.