1. Exam Strategies
Poetry

2. Multiple Choice Questions
Read the poem and annotate
Think with your pen!
Try and establish which answers are not correct
Then choose the correct answer

3. Multiple Choice Question Types
1. “Throw away” questions
Obviously incorrect
2. Partially, but not fully correct
Don’t be swayed if it’s not fully correct
3. True, but doesn’t answer the question
Reread the question several times
4. Two questions that ‘could be’ the answer
Look closely, one is the ‘best’ answer
One is probably more precise or accurate

4. Poetry Analysis Techniques
TPCASST
Focus on the white space
Where do the shifts happen in the poem?
Annotate the poem
Think with your pen!
Focus on the beginning and the end
These are often the most important parts

5. Paragraph Response Include the title and author in your topic sentence
Select appropriate quotes and explain them to prove your point
Using quotes and not explaining them makes it look like you don’t know what the poem is about
Use multiple examples from the poem to prove your point
If you only use one or two it looks like you didn’t fully understand the poem!

6. Paragraph Response Remember that this is an analysis section
To write a paragraph and not specifically refer to the poem means you didn’t analyze anything
If you don’t understand the poem, don’t tell the marker that!