1. English Literature Paper 2 – 2 hours 15 minutes
Anthology Poetry – lesson eight
English Literature Paper 2 – 2 hours 15 minutes
Answer one question on An Inspector Calls (from a choice of two)
Answer one question on the poetry cluster you have studied from the Anthology
Answer two questions on poems you haven’t seen before
Section A – Modern text
Section B – Poetry
Section C – Unseen Poetry
Bronze– identify skills required in the exam Silver – understand what the examiner will be looking for
Gold – Interpret a poem from the anthology
Platinum – Analyse a poem from the anthology, considering your own interpretation of it.

2. English Literature Paper 2 – 2 hours 15 minutes
Anthology Poetry – lesson eight
English Literature Paper 2 – 2 hours 15 minutes
Answer one question on the poetry cluster you have studied from the Anthology
Section B – Poetry
Bronze– identify skills required in the exam Silver – understand what the examiner will be looking for
Gold – Interpret a poem from the anthology
Platinum – Analyse a poem from the anthology, considering your own interpretation of it.

3. English Literature Paper 2 – 2 hours 15 minutes
Anthology Poetry – lesson eight
English Literature Paper 2 – 2 hours 15 minutes
In the exam, you have to compare two of the poems in a full essay. You have 45 minutes to do this.
There are 15 poems in the anthology that you need to know REALLY well.
Answer one question on the poetry cluster you have studied from the Anthology
Section B – Poetry
You will not have a choice of questions – which is why it is so important that you know the poems well.
We have chosen to study the poems about POWER and CONFLICT
Bronze– identify skills required in the exam Silver – understand what the examiner will be looking for
Gold – Interpret a poem from the anthology
Platinum – Analyse a poem from the anthology, considering your own interpretation of it.

4. English Literature Paper 2 – 2 hours 15 minutes
Anthology Poetry – lesson eight
English Literature Paper 2 – 2 hours 15 minutes
There are three main ways to get marks in this exam;
1- Give your own thoughts and opinions on the poems and support them with quotes from the text.
2- Explain features like form, structure and language.
3- Describe the similarities and differences between poems and their contexts.
Answer one question on the poetry cluster you have studied from the Anthology
Section B – Poetry
Bronze– identify skills required in the exam Silver – understand what the examiner will be looking for
Gold – Interpret a poem from the anthology
Platinum – Analyse a poem from the anthology, considering your own interpretation of it.

5. English Literature Paper 2 – 2 hours 15 minutes
Anthology Poetry – lesson eight
English Literature Paper 2 – 2 hours 15 minutes .
Poem 7 – STORM ON THE ISLAND – Seamus Heaney
Seamus Heaney was a Northern Irish poet who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1995 and died in He often wrote about themes such as childhood, nature and his homeland. This poem was published in 1966.
The first eight letters of the poem title spell ‘Stormont’. Stormont is the name given to Northern Ireland’s parliament buildings. This hints that the ‘storm’ could be about some of the violent political disturbances that Ireland has experienced, eg; between Catholics and Protestants, or Irish republicans wanting independence from Britain.
Use your FIVE STEPS to analyse together!
Bronze– identify skills required in the exam Silver – understand what the examiner will be looking for
Gold – Interpret a poem from the anthology
Platinum – Analyse a poem from the anthology, considering your own interpretation of it.

6. English Literature Paper 2 – 2 hours 15 minutes
Anthology Poetry – lesson eight
English Literature Paper 2 – 2 hours 15 minutes .
Use your FIVE STEPS to analyse together!
Bronze– identify skills required in the exam Silver – understand what the examiner will be looking for
Gold – Interpret a poem from the anthology
Platinum – Analyse a poem from the anthology, considering your own interpretation of it.

7. Anthology Poetry – lesson eight
We are prepared: we build our houses squat,
Sink walls in rock and roof them with good slate.
The wizened earth had never troubled us
With hay, so as you can see, there are no stacks
Or stooks that can be lost. Nor are there trees
Which might prove company when it blows full
Blast: you know what I mean - leaves and branches
Can raise a tragic chorus in a gale
So that you can listen to the thing you fear
Forgetting that it pummels your house too.
But there are no trees, no natural shelter.
You might think that the sea is company,
Exploding comfortably down on the cliffs
But no: when it begins, the flung spray hits
The very windows, spits like a tame cat
Turned savage. We just sit tight while wind dives
And strafes invisibly. Space is a salvo.
We are bombarded by the empty air.
Strange, it is a huge nothing that we fear.
Bronze– identify skills required in the exam Silver – understand what the examiner will be looking for
Gold – Interpret a poem from the anthology
Platinum – Analyse a poem from the anthology, considering your own interpretation of it.

8. English Literature Paper 2 – 2 hours 15 minutes
Anthology Poetry – lesson eight
English Literature Paper 2 – 2 hours 15 minutes .
1- Work out what the poem’s about
What’s the subject?
Look at the Narrative Voice - whether it’s written in the first person (I), second person (you) or third person (he/she). Think about who the poem is addressing (eg; the narrator’s lover, the reader etc).
Bronze– identify skills required in the exam Silver – understand what the examiner will be looking for
Gold – Interpret a poem from the anthology
Platinum – Analyse a poem from the anthology, considering your own interpretation of it.

9. English Literature Paper 2 – 2 hours 15 minutes
Anthology Poetry – lesson eight
English Literature Paper 2 – 2 hours 15 minutes .
2- Identify the form and structure of the poem
Is it rigid and regular or loose and irregular?
Does the poem rhyme?
Why has the poet chosen this form? What mood / effect does it create?
How is the poem laid out? Are lines and stanzas regular / irregular? Does it use enjambment? How does it use punctuation?
How does the ‘story’ of the poem evolve? How does the tone change?
Bronze– identify skills required in the exam Silver – understand what the examiner will be looking for
Gold – Interpret a poem from the anthology
Platinum – Analyse a poem from the anthology, considering your own interpretation of it.

10. English Literature Paper 2 – 2 hours 15 minutes
Anthology Poetry – lesson eight
English Literature Paper 2 – 2 hours 15 minutes .
3- What language is used to create these effects?
How does the language support your comments about mood and tone?
Look at any Language techniques that are used; eg; personification, alliteration, onomatopoeia. What is their effect?
Focus on how language creates imagery.
Bronze– identify skills required in the exam Silver – understand what the examiner will be looking for
Gold – Interpret a poem from the anthology
Platinum – Analyse a poem from the anthology, considering your own interpretation of it.

11. English Literature Paper 2 – 2 hours 15 minutes
Anthology Poetry – lesson eight
English Literature Paper 2 – 2 hours 15 minutes .
4- Identify the feelings and attitudes in the poem.
What is the main emotion in the poem? Does it change?
Does the poet want you to share his/her feelings? Or do they just want you to understand (empathise with) their feelings?
How does the poem make you feel?
Bronze– identify skills required in the exam Silver – understand what the examiner will be looking for
Gold – Interpret a poem from the anthology
Platinum – Analyse a poem from the anthology, considering your own interpretation of it.

12. English Literature Paper 2 – 2 hours 15 minutes
Anthology Poetry – lesson eight
English Literature Paper 2 – 2 hours 15 minutes
Poem 7- STORM ON THE ISLAND – Seamus Heaney .
A SUMMARY –
The narrator describes how a community thinks it’s well-prepared for a coming storm.
As the poem goes on, their confidence starts to disappear as the storm develops. The power and the sounds of the storm are described.
The ending of the poem describes the fear as the storm hits the island.
Use your FIVE STEPS to analyse together!
Bronze– identify skills required in the exam Silver – understand what the examiner will be looking for
Gold – Interpret a poem from the anthology
Platinum – Analyse a poem from the anthology, considering your own interpretation of it.

13. Anthology Poetry – lesson eight
A very strong opening statement that creates a feeling of safety. Compare it to the last line.
We are prepared: we build our houses squat,
Sink walls in rock and roof them with good slate.
The wizened earth had never troubled us
With hay, so as you can see, there are no stacks
Or stooks that can be lost. Nor are there trees
Which might prove company when it blows full
Blast: you know what I mean - leaves and branches
Can raise a tragic chorus in a gale
So that you can listen to the thing you fear
Forgetting that it pummels your house too.
But there are no trees, no natural shelter.
You might think that the sea is company,
Exploding comfortably down on the cliffs
But no: when it begins, the flung spray hits
The very windows, spits like a tame cat
Turned savage. We just sit tight while wind dives
And strafes invisibly. Space is a salvo.
We are bombarded by the empty air.
Strange, it is a huge nothing that we fear.
There are lots of words about safety and security in the first two lines. The end-stopping reinforces this feeling of security, which disappears with the enjambment in the rest of the poem..
The island seems barren – nothing grows there.
The word “company” is used here and on line 12, to emphasise the loneliness of the setting.
The plosive sound has a greater impact because it comes at the start of the line.
The narrator speaks directly to the reader in a chatty tone, making you reflect on your own experience of storms.
In a Greek tragedy, a “chorus” comments on and explains events. Having no trees to act as a chorus suggests the islanders are left on their own to face and interpret the storm
Bronze– identify skills required in the exam Silver – understand what the examiner will be looking for
Gold – Interpret a poem from the anthology
Platinum – Analyse a poem from the anthology, considering your own interpretation of it.

14. Anthology Poetry – lesson eight
This is a very violent verb to describe the wind.
We are prepared: we build our houses squat,
Sink walls in rock and roof them with good slate.
The wizened earth had never troubled us
With hay, so as you can see, there are no stacks
Or stooks that can be lost. Nor are there trees
Which might prove company when it blows full
Blast: you know what I mean - leaves and branches
Can raise a tragic chorus in a gale
So that you can listen to the thing you fear
Forgetting that it pummels your house too.
But there are no trees, no natural shelter.
You might think that the sea is company,
Exploding comfortably down on the cliffs
But no: when it begins, the flung spray hits
The very windows, spits like a tame cat
Turned savage. We just sit tight while wind dives
And strafes invisibly. Space is a salvo.
We are bombarded by the empty air.
Strange, it is a huge nothing that we fear.
Caesura slows the pace of the line and emphasises the second “no”.
Oxymoron juxtaposes the feelings of fear and safety.
The assonant “I” sounds and sibilant sounds in lines combine to imitate the hissing and spitting of the sea,
This simile shows how familiar things become frightening during the storm.
This is language normally used to describe war. The wind is compared to a fighter plane attacking the island.
The storm is invisible – there's nothing solid there. This contrasts with the solid rock mentioned in the second line of the poem.
Bronze– identify skills required in the exam Silver – understand what the examiner will be looking for
Gold – Interpret a poem from the anthology
Platinum – Analyse a poem from the anthology, considering your own interpretation of it.

15. English Literature Paper 2 – 2 hours 15 minutes
Anthology Poetry – lesson eight
English Literature Paper 2 – 2 hours 15 minutes
Poem 7 – STORM ON THE ISLAND – Seamus Heaney .
FORM AND STRUCTURE
The poem is written in blank verse, which mirrors the patterns of everyday speech and makes the poem sound like part of a conversation. The first person plural (“we”) is used, showing how this is a collective, communal experience. The poem is all in one stanza – it’s compact and sturdy, like the houses.
The poem shifts from security to fear. “but no” seems to be a turning point (volta), with the slow pace of monosyllabic phrase and the caesura reflecting the last moments of calm before the storm.
Bronze– identify skills required in the exam Silver – understand what the examiner will be looking for
Gold – Interpret a poem from the anthology
Platinum – Analyse a poem from the anthology, considering your own interpretation of it.

16. English Literature Paper 2 – 2 hours 15 minutes
Anthology Poetry – lesson eight
English Literature Paper 2 – 2 hours 15 minutes
Poem 7 – STORM ON THE ISLAND – Seamus Heaney .
LANGUAGE
Contrasting descriptions of safety and fear – The narrator sues a lot of words to do with safety and security at the beginning of the poem. The tone changes though, and the sense of danger increases as familiar things become frightening during the storm.
Direct address – The narrator involves the reader in his fear by speaking directly to “you”.
Violent imagery – The storm is described in violent, often warlike terms, with similes, metaphors and personification combining to emphasise the danger and effects of the storm.
Use of sound – forceful sounds (eg; “blast”) are used to demonstrate the strength of nature, and the poem also uses assonant and sibilant sounds to reflect the noise of the wind and waves.
Bronze– identify skills required in the exam Silver – understand what the examiner will be looking for
Gold – Interpret a poem from the anthology
Platinum – Analyse a poem from the anthology, considering your own interpretation of it.

17. English Literature Paper 2 – 2 hours 15 minutes
Anthology Poetry – lesson eight
English Literature Paper 2 – 2 hours 15 minutes
Poem 7 – STORM ON THE ISLAND – Seamus Heaney .
FEELINGS AND ATTITUDES
SAFETY– The first part of the poem shows that the community feels safe and prepared for the storm.
FEAR – This sense of security soon changes to fear, as familiar things change and become frightening.
HELPLESSNESS– The people can’t do anything about their fear except wait for the storm to finish. Nature is presented as a powerful, relentless force.
Bronze– identify skills required in the exam Silver – understand what the examiner will be looking for
Gold – Interpret a poem from the anthology
Platinum – Analyse a poem from the anthology, considering your own interpretation of it.

18. English Literature Paper 2 – 2 hours 15 minutes
Anthology Poetry – lesson eight
English Literature Paper 2 – 2 hours 15 minutes .
Poem 7 – STORM ON THE ISLAND – Seamus Heaney
Do you think the speaker likes living on the island? Why? Why not?
Why do you think the poem addresses the reader directly?
What is the effect of comparing the sea to a “tame cat / turned savage”?
Bronze– identify skills required in the exam Silver – understand what the examiner will be looking for
Gold – Interpret a poem from the anthology
Platinum – Analyse a poem from the anthology, considering your own interpretation of it.