Template–Comparison Poetry Essay BUG! Step One: Analyse the question: Box the instruction word, Underline the key words, Glance back after you make your plan to ensure you have answered the question. ***
Sample ‘Talk about a Theme’ question:
Sample ‘Critical Lens’ Question:
Compare the ways in which
Plath finds the natural world threatening.
Plath and Hughes talk about the natural world.
How far do you agree?
Step Two: Make a quick plan. A Venn diagram is an easy way to chart similarities and differences between the poems you have a) been asked to write about and/or b) chosen to write about. Make a bullet point list of the main points & vocabulary:
Wuthering Heights
Sheep in Fog
Thought Fox
Style: narcissism/confessional
Paranoia/depression trait that developed/free verse
Ways/poems that use natural world: metaphor fox
Hawk Roosting
Many examples in WH
I/eye quote
NB: Discuss Plath‟s style and poetry for 80% of each paragraph. In the final 20%, describe how Hughes‟s work relates, compares or contrasts to the aspect of Plath‟s poetry that you are discussing. Introduction: Introduce the topic. Say how far you agree, or what you are going to compare. Give your thesis statement. List the poems you will mainly quote from and explain why you have chosen them. VOICE: Paragraph One: Poet‟s tone, mood, style and voice – the vibe! Discuss the different persona and narrators of your chosen poems. Give examples of poems that prove your points. Quotes from critics who agree/disagree with your view. NB: Use the PEE/PEA/CQA structure throughout: there are no marks for making a point without evidence to back it up, and there are no marks for giving evidence without explaining why it is relevant to your essay. WJEC English Literature AS
Template–Comparison Poetry Essay TOPIC: Paragraph Two: Trace the relevant theme or aspect through the body of Plath‟s work. Show how Hughes uses/doesn‟t use the same theme or aspect in his poetry. Discuss the possible reactions to the topic, critics, readers and yours. TECHNIQUE: Paragraph Three: Discuss technique – pick quotes that prove your point and analyse the techniques that make them effective. Write three-part sentences using the following formula: X technique creates Y effect which does Z to the reader.
E.G. Hughes creates cacophony by using harsh consonant clusters which creates a sound picture of a shrieking hawk for the reader. Structure & form (free verse, organising principles, stanzas, caesura, enjambment, end-stopped lines etc) Rhyme, rhythm & melody (links to lists above and below) Phonology (vowels, consonants, euphony, mimesis etc,) Figurative Language (imagery, allusion, simile, metaphor, personification etc) Paragraph Four: (optional, depending on your topic & how the writing went) Any other good ideas you have on this subject. Any quotes or critics comments which you haven‟t been able to fit in so far. A short quote from another poem which is relevant to your subject. This paragraph should lead to your conclusion. Conclusion: This is the paragraph known as „THE TERMINATOR‟. It may only be a couple of lines, but it should sum up your ideas on the subject and give your final judgment/opinion on the topic. A quote that sums up what you want to say can be a great way to finish.
The difference between the ways Plath and Hughes write about the natural world could be summed up by poet Craig Raine‟s statement that Plath‟s subject “is herself, her predicament, her violent Romantic emotions. She is a capital I, whereas Hughes is an eye, a seeing eye, something looking at what is outside.”
•Introduction
Voice
•Poet A •Poet B
Topic
•Poet A •Poet B
Technique
•Poet A •Poet B
NB: No points for context in the WJEC poetry essay. Use A01, A02 & A03.
This template is just that: a suggested model. Cut, paste and adapt to the way that suits you.
Save time in the exam by deciding beforehand which kind of essay lay out
•Conclusion
WJEC English Literature AS
and question that you prefer.
