English Literature Paper 2 – 2 hours 15 minutes Unseen Poetry English Literature Paper 2 – 2 hours 15 minutes The examiner is looking for four main things: 1- Show that you understand what the poems are about. 2- Write about the techniques used in the poems. 3- Support every point you make with quotes or examples from the poem. 4- Use the correct technical terms to describe the techniques in the poem Answer two questions on poems you haven’t seen before Section C – Unseen Poetry Bronze– identify skills required in the exam Silver – understand what the examiner will be looking for Gold – plan your response to an example poem Platinum – Analyse how a previous example is successful

Unseen Poetry WE stood by a pond that winter day, And the sun was white, as though chidden of God, And a few leaves lay on the starving sod, --They had fallen from an ash, and were gray. Your eyes on me were as eyes that rove Over tedious riddles solved years ago; And some words played between us to and fro-- On which lost the more by our love. The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing Alive enough to have strength to die; And a grin of bitterness swept thereby Like an ominous bird a-wing.... Since then, keen lessons that love deceives, And wrings with wrong, have shaped to me Your face, and the God-curst sun, and a tree, And a pond edged with grayish leaves. Q1- In ‘Neutral Tones’, how does the narrator show that love can bring bitter memories? (24 marks) Bronze– identify skills required in the exam Silver – understand what the examiner will be looking for Gold – plan your response to an example poem Platinum – Analyse how a previous example is successful

Unseen Poetry The clouds had given their all - two days of rain and then a break in which we walked, the waterlogged earth gulping for breath at our feet as we skirted the lake, silent and apart, until the swans came and stopped us with a show of tipping in unison. As if rolling weights down their bodies to their heads they halved themselves in the dark water, icebergs of white feather, paused before returning again like boats righting in rough weather. ‘They mate for life’ you said as they left, porcelain over the stilling water. I didn’t reply but as we moved on through the afternoon light, slow-stepping in the lake’s shingle and sand, I noticed our hands, that had, somehow, swum the distance between us and folded, one over the other, like a pair of wings settling after flight Q2 – In ‘Winter Swans’, how does the narrator show that the couple have become distant? (24 marks) Bronze– identify skills required in the exam Silver – understand what the examiner will be looking for Gold – plan your response to an example poem Platinum – Analyse how a previous example is successful

Unseen Poetry Q2 – ‘Neutral Tones’ and ‘Winter Swans’ both explore relationships in conflict. Compare the ways these relationships are presented in the two poems. (8 marks) This question is really going to challenge you time wise! Motor, motor, motor! Bronze– identify skills required in the exam Silver – understand what the examiner will be looking for Gold – plan your response to an example poem Platinum – Analyse how a previous example is successful

Unseen Poetry Poem B Poem A Comparison of method only – LANGUAGE, STRUCTURE, FORM (AO2) Q2 – ‘Neutral Tones’ and ‘Winter Swans’ both explore relationships in conflict. Compare the ways these relationships are presented in the two poems. (8 marks)