1. GO COMPARE!! Compare ideas about two poems
Understand how to structure comparisons
Apply new skills in own writing

2. Comparison element of this exam
You must compare the two poems – this is a significant part of what is examined in this paper. This means you need to be able to identify common (or contrasting) threads/methods/ideas/effects and talk about two poems together.
Plodding through a comment on one poem and then plodding through a point about a second poem isn’t showing that you can compare.
The best answers will make a specific point about the poems and then drill down in detail, unpacking and exploring how this works in each case.

3. Sample essay question: Compare how poets present attitudes towards a parent in ‘Before you were Mine’ and ‘Mother, any Distance’.
Generate ideas for comparisons you could make. Write them on your post-it
THINK
Tell your partner your ideas. Check each other’s work and try to build on ideas together.
PAIR
Stick your post-it in the middle. Share your ideas with the other pair on your table.
SHARE

4. Don’t forget to consider form and structure
Mother, any distance
Loosely takes the sonnet form – 14 lines, final rhyming couplet – but rhyme scheme is mostly irregular, reflecting the son’s uncertainty about independence. Uneven line lengths towards end of poem show the ‘breaking point’ of their relationship
The three stanzas reflect his progressive move towards independence – highlighting how he needs in her stanza 1, his exploration/pushing the limits in stanza 2, and his acceptance that ‘something/Has to give’ if he’s going to become independent. The very last couplet highlights his uncertainty – will he ‘fall’ or ‘fly’?
Before you were mine
Four equal stanzas of five lines – consistency in form reflects the steady passage of time and the inevitable changes this brings.
Begins and ends with mother on the pavement, emphasising her fixation on this imagined past – her strong sense of this ‘bold girl winking’ – even though this version of her mother is now effectively a ‘ghost’.

5. How do I get started? Writing an effective introduction
Both [poet/poem 1] and [poet/poem 2] use their work to explore [theme of question]. In [poem 1] this is [expand theme via couple of words which sum up the poem in relation to that theme] whereas in [poem 2] the writer is more concerned with OR similarly, in [poem 2] the writer also presents…
Challenge: can you build this into an interpretive phrase, rather than just a key word from the question?
Then either contrast with:
Or link with:
Using this formula, write your own introduction to the essay question. Highlight what goes into the yellow gaps. Summarise precisely choosing your vocab to make direct, clear points.

6. How do I get started? Writing an effective introduction
Both Simon Armitage in ‘Mother Any Distance’ and Carol Ann Duffy in ‘Before you were Mine’ use their work to explore their contrasting reflections on a parent’s life or role in a child’s life. In ‘Mother Any Distance’ this is an expression of the strong bond between mother and son, even when it is almost ‘at breaking point’ as the son moves towards independence whereas in ‘Before you were Mine’ the writer is more concerned with a daughter’s ironic regret that she didn’t know her mother as a young woman, before she took on the responsibility of motherhood.

7. Example Comparison
Topic sentence identifies clear area of comparison. Uses comparison connective i.e. Both
Clearly introduces this feature, direct address, in first poem. Uses poet’s name. Talks about effects, linked to question, in detail.
Moves on to same feature in 2nd poem. Uses comparison connective i.e. On the other hand. Uses poet’s name.
A key quotation is explored and the poet’s techniques are unpacked in close detail. The effects of these features are described.
Finishes off by developing comparison further summarising the contrasting attitudes created in each poem. Uses contrasting connective “whilst”.

8. What shall I compare?
Use of imagery – what kind? In each case, what does the chosen imagery help to highlight about the attitudes to a parent?
Use of particular semantic field – what kind? In each case, what does the chosen imagery help to highlight about the attitudes to a parent?
Endings – impact of the final line/s on the whole poem. What idea/attitude are we left with, creating the lasting impact of the poem?
Form – how does the poet’s choice of form help to reflect their attitudes?

9. Possible comparisons – A02 methods
Direct address – MAD seems to address the mother more personally than BYWM especially in stanzas 1&2 / MYWM seems to address the mother but more as if she isn’t present
Structure – MAD (three stanzas mark the growing distance; longer third stanza reflects the departure of the speaker as he explores on his own. BYWM (regularity of five line stanza mimics time marching ahead emphasising the idea of the inevitability of change) Both are in present tense – MAD this makes immediate the decision he is making in real time / BYWM she is desperate to transport herself into mother’s past and intrude on the moment captured in time

10. Possible comparisons - ideas
Both speakers are shown as close to their mothers: MAD uses imagery of a measuring tape / kite to show their unbreakable bond. BYWM uses repetition instead ‘Before you were mine’ . In MAD, the speaker’s bond seems more supportive and nurturing / BYWM the bond seems possessive and restrictive
Both poems explore the idea of independence and dreams and how parental relationships can prevent these from happening. MAD shows desire to explore and experience the thrill and fears that come with independent living ( enjambment/ellipsis/ rhyming couplet/ antithesis in line 15) but there remains the limiting presence of the mother who wants to ‘pinch’ with ‘fingertips’ the line. Conversely , in BYWM the dreams belong the mother – as perceived by the daughter – of stardom and glamour (hyperbole ‘thousand eyes’ / cultural reference ‘Marilyn /triplet ‘sparkle and waltz and laugh’) but these belong to the past before motherhood shrank her choices ‘wrong pavement – symbolic of path taken)

11. Level 9 comparisons
Feelings of resentment – in MAD this is reflected in the gleeful hyperbolic, metaphorical descriptions of space ‘acres of walls, prairies of the floors’ The excessive scale exposes the claustrophobia felt until the point. Links to ‘endless sky’ ides of freedom and entrapment reveal a subtle awareness of the way in which he has been made dependent on his mother. Similarly in BYWM the most poignant line in the poem ‘The decade ahead of my loud possessive yell was the best one, eh?’ shows an uncomfortable self- deprecating joke betraying the feelings of guilt carried by the daughter because she fears her mother saw her as a burden – the tag question after the caesura showing her nervous wish for reassurance. The resentment is far more understated in MAD, whereas the desperation of the speaker in BYWM suggests a more dysfunctional, resentful relationship.

12. Level 8 comparisons to find yourself
Rhyme
Sound effects
End-stopping
Caesura
Rhythm

13. Self assess against the key criteria

14. Homework
To print slides from this Powerpoint so you have record of my suggested comparisons
Read Farmer’s Bride and print out the visual revision sheet posted by Mrs Sharp on the blog