How can I prepare for an unseen poetry question?

Preparing to write an essay on an unseen poem can seem challenging, especially as you cannot predict what the poem will be, or even what theme it will have or what period of time it will come from. However, there is a lot of preparation you can do. It is helpful to view an unseen poetry question as broadly requiring three stages. Firstly, you are expected to read the poem and form an interpretation of what that poem means. Secondly, you must persuasively explain to the examiner how the poet has created that meaning. Finally, this must be done through a well-structured and well-written essay. The first stage is much more personal – what do you think the poet is trying to say to you, the reader? This will be different for every poem but practicing reading poetry will make this easier. For the second stage, there are various questions you can ask yourself that apply to any poem. These questions ask what poetic techniques are being utilised in the poem. Examples include: ·     What language is being used: is it formal, colloquial, religious etc.? ·     What is the structure: do the divisions of the stanzas or the positioning of key words affect the meaning of the poem? ·     What is the tone of the poem and how has the poet created that tone? The final stage is putting your answers to the above questions into a logical structure. Again, practicing making essay plans under time limits will enable you to do so in the exam with confidence. Once you have successfully analysed a range of poetry, you will have developed a set of skills which you can apply to any poem in the exam.