Don’t tell the story of the poem, appreciate the ideas it expresses.
Don’t point out techniques, rather discuss the effect each technique has on the reader.
Don’t state facts, instead aim to capture your emotional response.
That is all.
I recently came across a scrap of paper written after correcting a bundle of unseen poetry tests. I may as well commit it to virtual paper before dumping it.
You need to remember the following:
A quality response here will get you a lot more marks than sheer quantity. Divide your time equally between questions. [...]
Think of your introduction as a road map. You have been given a destination (the question) and there are lots of perfectly acceptable ways of getting there. In your introduction you lay out clearly what directions you’ll take in your essay. Your conclusion is where you look back on the highlights [...]
Ignoring the question: if you are asked for a personal response to a poet’s work, every paragraph must contain at least two sentences which include the word “I”. If you are given a statement to discuss, keep using the words from the question (and synonyms) and showing how what you’re discussing is relevant to [...]
I came up with the idea for these study guides about six months ago and I’ve been working on them ever since. I’ve always had a rule that I don’t give grinds but – particularly since I started this site – I’ve been under some pressure to change my mind! Between corrections for three [...]
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