LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION SCAFFOLD

You may find the following structure useful to scaffold your ideas for the task:

Write a formal letter to a fictional publisher who is producing an anthology of poetry

to be studied in senior secondary English classes.
Recommend at least two poems to be included in the anthology. The poems can be traditional, modern or
even outside the usual concept of ‘poetry’. You may want to consider a thematic focus or even a
consideration of ideas that would be appropriate, relevant and thought provoking.
Include a discussion of the ideas in the poems and the stylistic features employed by the poet in your
argument for their inclusion.
Overall Layout:
Recipient’s Just make it
Your Address up!
address:
E.g. a publishers’
Their Address
Full date.
Formal greeting: 3rd July, 2019
Date
To whom it may
concern, Salutation,
Dear Mrs Baker,

Intro, Main Body and conclusion:

_____________________________________________
Formal. E.g. _____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
(Dear Mrs Baker) _____________________________________________

Yours Sincerely
Sign off

Your Name

Remember:
- The language of a formal letter must be polite and formal. Avoid the use of slang, contractions
(i.e. don’t, can’t etc.), vague informal language (thing, stuff etc.), an overuse of ‘I’
- You need to make sure that your tone is lightly persuasive and should be recommending the
poems to the publisher. Using modality can help you do this.

can unquestionably
scarcely
have to permanently
obvious
hardly apparently
must clearly definitely
never possibly absolutely
will
always
unlikely
almost could essenti
seriously al
should necessity
- Consider why a publisher might pick a poem to go into an anthology
Main Body Structure:

Introduction Summarise the main purpose of the letter. I am writing to recommend….

Make it clear and succinct which poems you
intend to recommend and why.

*Since you may only use two poems, you may

wish to do more than one paragraph per
poem.
The poem ‘________________’ by ______
Point: What is the key message/idea/theme
(name of poet)
the poet is trying to express. I.e. what is the
develops/shows/suggest/creates/emphasises
key area of focus that students could use this
…
poem for study?
Evidence: provide a quote from the poem that
shows this idea. For example in the line(s) ‘_______________’
Analysis: Identify the language/stylistic
technique used (this may be a specific ______________ (name of poet) uses
Main Body technique or vocabulary choices). Explain ______(name of technique/style/convention)
Paragraphs what the use of this technique/language to suggest/reinforce/highlight/emphasise/
implies. Explain how this meaning is created. develop/create…
E.g. what
ideas/tone/mood/atmosphere/connotations In particular, this develops the ______ for the
are developed for the audience? audience because…

Link: Link your explanation back to the overall

key message/idea/theme. Why would the
ideas and use of language/style/conventions
be a valuable source for students to study in
an anthology?
Therefore the use of this
imagery/language/style/convention allows
the poet to develop …..(the overall key
message/idea/theme). This poem would be a
valuable resource for senior high school
students because…

Conclusion Summarise your key reasons for recommending Overall, the poems _____________ and
your 2+ poems. Focus on ending the letter with __________ would be…
the overall recommendation.
 Exemplar
1 Purple Street,
Suburbville
SA 5555
Penguin Random House
707 Collins Street,
Melbourne
VIC 3008
30th February, 2018
Attn: Editor of ‘Thematic Poetry Anthology’
To whom it may concern,

I am writing to recommend the two poems: ‘Funeral Blues’ by W.H. Auden and ‘A Wife in London
(December 1899)’ by Thomas Hardy. These two poems would enrich your upcoming ‘Thematic Poetry
Anthology’ aimed at senior high school students as they provide a range of language, and stylistic
techniques as well as rich contextual influences in their portrayal of the theme of grief.

Firstly, in Auden’s ‘Funeral Blues’, he develops the theme of grief through the use of imagery, in particular
that of sound. Students would be able to analyse and develop their understanding of a range of language
and poetic techniques as a result of this. For example in the line “Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
/ Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.” Auden uses the symbolism of the silenced “pianos” and
“muffled drum” to imply that these instruments, which would normally be used in celebration, are silenced
by his grief. In particular the word “muffled” suggests that the poet’s grief is so overwhelming that it stifles
the joy that music would normally create. The theme of grief is further emphasised using this technique in
the line “Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead / Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead.” Auden
uses the onomatopoeic word “moaning” to describe the sound of sky-writing aeroplanes to mimic the
sound of someone crying in pain or grief. Therefore the use of the repetition of this imagery provides
multiple opportunities for students to analyse the how Auden presents the theme of grief. The poet uses
language that is easily understandable for students to read but would also allow for a range of
interpretations when considering the different ways that grief makes a person behave and feel.

Auden also uses a range of structural techniques to develop his message or mourning. He uses repetition
to develop the rhythm of the poem but also to reinforce the speaker’s grief. Auden repeats the word “my”
nine times in the lines “He was my North, my South, my East and West, / My working week and my Sunday
rest, / My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song”. By repeating this word it creates a consistent rhythm but
also reinforces the poet’s connection to the man who has died. Specifically where he states that “He was
my North, my South, my East and West” this suggests that the deceased provided direction in the poet’s
life and without him he struggles to find his place in the world. This is then further developed where the
deceased provides the poet with structure to his “working week”, “Sunday rest”, “noon” and “midnight”
thus suggesting he is completely lost in his grief due to this person’s death. The close repetition of “my”
emphasises and increases the effect of the speaker’s grief. This simple but effective use of repetition
provides a range of analytical opportunities for students to consider the effect of repetition and structure.

Likewise, Thomas Hardy’s ‘A Wife in London (December 1899)’ also provides students with a range of
opportunities for analysis and reflection. In particular, this poem was influenced by specific historical and
cultural context that would allow students to consider the effect of their influence. The poem focuses on
the effect of grief on a wife who has lost her husband in war. The poem was set in 1899 at the beginning of
the Boer War. Hardy uses the poem to reflect the British nations’ unrest regarding the bloody techniques
used by British soldiers including mass murder and concentration camps as well as the families of soldiers
who were concerned about the conditions in South Africa. This is shown through the grief of a wife after
receiving news that her husband was killed in the fighting. This is shown through the structure of the
poem into two parts: “The Tragedy” and “The Irony”. The poem begins with the two stanzas title ‘the
tragedy’ where the wife receives news of her husband’s death. Her grief is emphasised through the use of
pathetic fallacy where the Hardy describes “the tawny vapour” of London streets reflecting the ‘pea soup’
types of fog that London suffered at this time due to the use of coal burning fires. However the fog also
symbolises the wife’s grief which slowly overwhelms her emphasised by the line “webby fold on fold”. The
of the word “webby” creates the idea that fog and therefore her grief is entrapping her with seemingly no
escape due to the phrase “fold on fold”. Hardy then further emphasises her grief through the section of
the poem titles “The Irony”. The second two stanzas focus on the increasing effects of her grief by
continuing the symbolism of “the fog hangs thicker” implying her grief has increased over time. However,
this is ironically increased by her reception of a letter written by her husband when still alive. By
structuring the poem in this manner, Hardy increases the effect of the grief as the reception of letter with
the lines “Fresh--firm--penned in highest feather - / Page-full of his hoped return” emphasises all of the
things she has lost as a result of her husband’s death. By structuring the poem in this manner Hardy
highlights the personal cost of the war on the families who remained in Britain as well as the overall grief
of the nation due to the losses and cruelties on both sides. ‘A Wife in London’ provides students
opportunities to consider how the context of the poem can influence how the poet uses language and
structure to develop key ideas.

In conclusion, the work of Hardy and Auden provide many opportunities for students to understand how
language, style and structure can be used in a variety of ways by poets. By studying these two poems,
students would be provided with a range of ways that poets can develop the theme of grief. Therefore,
these poems by Hardy and Auden would be a valuable addition to your anthology and I hope you would
consider their inclusion.

Yours faithfully

Jane Smith
Appendix:

Funeral Blues
Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come. 

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead

Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves. 

He was my North, my South, my East and West,

My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.
For nothing now can ever come to any good.
W.H. Auden

A Wife in London (December 1899)

I--The Tragedy 
She sits in the tawny vapour 
   That the City lanes have uprolled, 
   Behind whose webby fold on fold 
Like a waning taper 
   The street-lamp glimmers cold. 

A messenger's knock cracks smartly, 

   Flashed news is in her hand 
   Of meaning it dazes to understand 
Though shaped so shortly: 
   He--has fallen--in the far South Land . . . 

II--The Irony 
'Tis the morrow; the fog hangs thicker, 
   The postman nears and goes: 
   A letter is brought whose lines disclose 
By the firelight flicker 
   His hand, whom the worm now knows: 

Fresh--firm--penned in highest feather - 

   Page-full of his hoped return, 
   And of home-planned jaunts by brake and burn 
In the summer weather, 
   And of new love that they would learn. 
Thomas Hardy