Every card in Poetry, Year 11: unseen poetry and Paper 2
The whole deck, in order — so you can read it through before your child ever sees it.
- You meet a poem for the first time in the exam. What should your first reading be for?
What the poem is about and how the speaker feels
HintMeaning before method.
WhyRead it twice. Work out who is speaking, to whom and about what, and how the feeling changes, before you look for techniques.
- How many marks is the first unseen poetry question in Paper 2 Section C worth? (number only)
24
HintThree times as many as the comparison question that follows it.
WhyIt asks how the poet presents something in one poem. Half the marks are for your response and evidence, half for analysing methods.
- Are you expected to know about the poet's life or period for the unseen poems in Section C?
No: context is not assessed in the unseen section
HintYou have never seen the poem, so you could not have prepared any.
WhyThe marks are for your reading and your analysis of methods only. Time spent guessing at background is wasted.
- Which two places in an unseen poem most often give a quick clue to its meaning?
The title and the last lines
HintOne of them comes before the first line.
WhyGo back to the title after reading the poem: it often means more the second time. Endings are where poems tend to turn, sum up or surprise.
- You notice that an unseen poem rhymes in pairs. What must you add before the observation is worth making?
What effect the rhyme has on the poem's meaning or feeling
HintA fact about form is only a start.
WhyThe same goes for stanza shape, line length and rhythm. Ask what the pattern does: does it sound settled, childlike, trapped, final?
- How many marks is the final question of Paper 2, comparing the two unseen poems, worth? (number only)
8
HintThe smallest question on either paper.
WhyIt is a short answer, not an essay. Both poems are printed on the paper.
- The comparison of the two unseen poems asks about similarities and differences in one thing. What?
The methods the poets use
HintNot their ideas alone.
WhyThe answer should set a method from one poem against a method from the other and say what each does: an image against an image, a form against a form.
- The unseen comparison is worth 8 of Section C's 32 marks. Roughly what share of your Section C time should it get?
About a quarter
HintMatch the time to the marks.
WhyIf you allow about 45 minutes for Section C, that is around ten minutes. Many candidates overrun on the first unseen poem and leave this question out.
- Does the 8-mark unseen comparison need an introduction and a conclusion?
No: go straight to a point of comparison
HintThere is no time for a frame.
WhyTwo or three direct comparisons of method, each with a short quotation from both poems and a comment on effect, make a complete answer.
- In the unseen comparison, which is the stronger sentence? A: Both poems use imagery. B: Both poets use images of water, but in the first it comforts and in the second it threatens.
B
HintOne of them could be said of almost any two poems.
WhyA names a feature without saying anything about it. B names the method in each poem and compares its effect.
- How long is AQA GCSE English Literature Paper 2, in minutes? (number only)
135
HintIt is half an hour longer than Paper 1.
WhyIt is half an hour longer than Paper 1 and has three sections to fit in, so the time has to be shared out before you start.
- How many marks is English Literature Paper 2 worth in total? (number only)
96
HintIt is half as much again as Paper 1.
WhySection A is 30 marks plus 4 for accurate writing, Section B is 30, and Section C is 24 plus 8.
- Paper 2 has three sections. Section A is the ____ text, Section B is the poetry ____ and Section C is ____ poetry.
modern; anthology; unseen
HintA play or novel from after 1914; the cluster of poems you studied; poems you have never met.
WhySections A and B are each worth about a third of the paper and so is Section C as a whole, which suggests about 45 minutes for each.
- In Paper 2 Section A you write about your modern text. How many questions on your text do you choose between, and is an extract printed?
A choice of two questions, with no extract
HintUnlike Paper 1, nothing from the text is in front of you.
WhyEvery reference has to come from memory. Read both questions before choosing: pick the one for which you can recall the most precise moments.
- In Paper 2 Section B one anthology poem is printed on the paper. Where does the second poem for your comparison come from?
You choose it yourself from your cluster and write about it from memory
HintOnly the named one is in front of you.
WhyYou cannot know which poem will be printed, so each poem in the cluster needs a few details you can recall and one or two poems you would pair it with.
1★ GCSE-ENLI-POE-0106
2★ GCSE-ENLI-POE-0107
3★ GCSE-ENLI-POE-0108
4★ GCSE-ENLI-POE-0109
5★ GCSE-ENLI-POE-0110
6★ GCSE-ENLI-POE-0111
7★ GCSE-ENLI-POE-0112
8★ GCSE-ENLI-POE-0113
9★ GCSE-ENLI-POE-0114
10★ GCSE-ENLI-POE-0115
11★ GCSE-ENLI-POE-0116
12★ GCSE-ENLI-POE-0117
13★ GCSE-ENLI-POE-0118
14★ GCSE-ENLI-POE-0119
15★ GCSE-ENLI-POE-0120
Keep what you learn
Here, nothing is saved. In your child’s own sky every card is scheduled — it comes back just before they’d forget it — and the professor who wrote it is one tap away.