Starter: You have 10 minutes to consider the various features which the Character and Voice poems have in common. The task is meant to be a quick fire revision activity to test your knowledge of the poems and how well you are able to make comparisons between them.

Comparing Poems Revision Revising 15 poems for the exam can feel like an impossible task, but it really doesn’t have to be hard work. Why not try putting the poems into clusters, related on their themes, ideas or form? It’s an excellent way to create bitesize revision and also target an assessment objective: “make comparisons and explain links between texts, evaluating writers’ different ways of expressing meaning and achieving effects”

Comparing on the theme of Power Power is a major literary theme and can be seen all over the poetry collection. The three poems that show power at its strongest are; Ozymandias, The River God and My Last Duchess. Power is shown to have distinct levels through the characters in these poems, whether it can be a natural force, physical or psychological with mind games. Interestingly the three poems we have chose are about men, and all three characters could be accused of arrogance.

Further Revision Can you explore them further by developing personal opinions and drawing wider links to other poems? You can also attempt these questions to help you revise: How is power portrayed in each of the poems? How are the differences in power portrayed between one of these male characters and Medusa? What techniques do the poets use to present the theme of power? Who is the most powerful character and why? Which poem do you prefer and why?

Comparing on a theme of loss The theme of loss is prevalent in three of the poems in the collection; Brendon Gallacher, The Horse Whisperer and On a Portrait of a Deaf Man.   Loss is seen in a variety of ways from losing an imagined friend (and possibly the innocence of childhood) , to losing traditions and losing a loved one through death. The poets cleverly reveal the sadness of their loss and invite the readers to empathise with their sorrows.

Further Revision Can you explore them further by developing personal opinions and drawing wider links to other poems? You can also attempt these questions to help you revise: What are the major similarities and differences between the poems? Which character do you feel the most empathy for and why? Which character seems to be the saddest about their loss? Have you ever experienced a similar loss to that seen in one of the poems?

Comparing – Other cultures Two poems in the collection stand out for their distinctive use of dialect and reference to their particular cultures; Checking Out Me History and Singh Song! They have other similarities too, including unusual use of structure, with indentation and use of italics.

Further Revision Can you explore them further by developing personal opinions and drawing wider links to other poems? You can also attempt these questions to help you revise: What are the major similarities and differences between the two poems? Which is a more positive poem and why? How does each poem draw upon experiences of being from a different culture? Which do you prefer and why?

Comparing Outcasts in society The theme of being an outcast from society is explored explicitly in 3 poems; Give, The Clown Punk and The Hunchback in the Park. The three poems explore characters who are cast aside because of homelessness, extreme fashion and physical disability. They are varied in tone and structure, some basic notes have been compiled on the three:

Further Revision For revision, you need to explore the poems further. Read them carefully and explore other interesting quotations. How do they link to each other as well as the other poems in the anthology? You can also answer the following questions: Which poem do you prefer? Which character do you feel the most pity for? How do the poets explore isolation? Identify which person they are written in and comment on the differences.

Comparing women’s voices You may be asked to compare how female voices are presented. There are only 4 poems out of 15 that are about women. These are: Medusa; Casehistory: Alison (head injury); The Ruined Maid and Les Grands Seigneurs.

Further Revision Explore each of the poems further by finding other interesting quotations and developing an evaluative personal opinion of them. Revise by answering these questions: What do they have in common? How are they different? Which poems talk are about relationships with men? Is it restrictive that women are usually only seen this way? Why are only 4 out of 15 of the poems about women?

Comparing Two Poems Example Consider these questions: How do both poets structure their ideas and what effect does this have? How do both poets use dialect in to create distinctive voices? How do the ideas/themes in each poem contrast with each other and to what effect? Which poem do you personally prefer and why? Comparing Two Poems Example

After close reading, we should search for evidence to compare the two poems. Complete this and write a detailed comparison of the structure and tone of each poem.  The prompts on this slide will help:

To summarise and add to our understanding