How would I analyse an unseen poem in an exam?

What is the poem actually about? - what is the subject/content? - first impressions/surface-level ideas - then second thoughts/ is there a subtext? Is the poem what you initially thought it was about? Is there more than meets the eye? - Is it an emotional response to an event/ a political message etc? - Does it fall into an obvious genre/ meet obvious conventions? (e.g. elegy/ ballad etc.) (these ideas can make for a good introduction) 2. Narrative voice: - Who is speaking? - Are the narrator and author the same or different? - Who is the narrator speaking to? - What is the tone of the poem and how does it affect your interpretation of it? 3. Identify key themes and the message of the poem: - Why do you think the poet wrote this poem? - What are they trying to express? 4. HOW does the poet express their intended message? - Poetic devices: metaphors, similes, caesura, enjambment, alliteration, juxtaposition, personification. etc - Form and structure: rhyme, rhythm, line length, stanza length, metre, stresses etc. (I would probably devise a 'noticing' checklist for students - I think it's really useful to have something mechanical to follow in the stress of an exam situation, but would also place emphasis on an individual personal response) 5. Personal response: - How does the poem make you feel? - What impact does the poem have on the reader? strong/weak? successful/unsuccessful? emotive? - What is the mood/atmosphere of the poem? (happy/sad/celebratory/tragic?)

Answered by Emily G. • English Literature tutor

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