How can I revise for unseen poetry?

No one can predict which poem will appear in the Unseen Poetry section of your GCSE, but becoming more comfortable with identifying poetic techniques and why poets might use these to achieve a particular effect on the reader will help you approach any poem. Ensure you're familiar with language and structure techniques alike in poetry (such as enjambment, caesura, alliteration, metaphor, etc.), but its most important not to just "feature-spot" (a.k.a just label the techniques that you can see). Try practicing on other poems you've never read before: why has the writer chosen this metaphor to compare a feeling or experience for their audience? What sounds or other effects does the enjambment create, by making the lines flow into one another?Another helpful starting point is to consider WILSON. When you look at a poem for the first time, note down comments on the following questions. What is the poem about and who is speaking? Ideas: what are the overall ideas or themes explored by the poet? Language: are there any specific language techniques that are used, and to what effect? Structure: how is the poem laid out and organised on the page? Opinion: why do you think the poet wrote it, and what would their message be? Now plan! Use these notes to plan out your answer so it's clear and organised.