British Literature

BRITISH LITERATURE : FINAL EXAM

BRITISH POETRY : CRITICAL APPRECIATION

Write a detailed critical appreciation of ONE of the following poems.

In your appreciation :

• Make clear the CENTRAL THEME of the poem : the key idea in the poem and the aspect of human experience it deals with.

• Show, if you can, how the STRUCTURE of the poem relates to the thought and feeling expressed in the poem.

• Discuss, and trace, the development of the THOUGHT and FEELING expressed in the poem.

• Show how the THOUGHT AND FEELING is expressed and developed through the LANGUAGE of the poem in particular through the IMAGERY used by the poet, and the use of METAPHOR and/or SIMILE.

• Write, if you can, about what you have found interesting about the poet’s USE OF SOUND to convey his/her meaning : rhyme, rhythm, and the sounds of particular words.

• Discuss your PERSONAL RESPONSE to the poem : what the poem means to you : how it relates to your own life and what you have gained from reading and studying the poem.

1 Born Yesterday : Philip Larkin

2 Digging : Seamus Heaney

3 Counting the Beats : Robert Graves.

4 Delay : Elizabeth Jennings.

5 Long Distance II : Tony Harrison

POETRY EXAM : FURTHER GUIDANCE

1. POETRY EXAM : 90 MINUTES. BRING 3/4 SHEETS OF A4 LINED PAPER

2. I HAVE GIVEN YOU THE GENERAL GUIDE-LINES FOR WRITING ABOUT

A POEM.

SEE BELOW FOR A SUMMARY OF THE THINGS YOU CAN WRITE ABOUT :

THE POET, HIS/HER BACKGROUND : Born Yesterday/Digging/Long Distance II

• Who he wrote the poem for/who he wrote the poem about. Research this on WIKIIPEDIA and on the Internet.

• But do not just memorize things. Pick out the information that is RELEVANT.

• Link the information to the poem and think about how it helps you to understand the poem.

THE TITLE : ALL POEMS

• The meaning of the title

• How the title sums up the theme of the poem/the situation in the poem/the meaning of the poem.

• How the title helps you to understand the poem.

THE PEOPLE IN THE POEM : ALL POEMS except maybe DELAY

• Who are the people in the poem? Their relationship to each other.

• Who is the poem about?

• Who is speaking in the poem? How many people? Speaking to whom? Speaking about what?

THE

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