GCSE Poetry

An Introduction
 What do we study?
O Studied poetry – Clashes and
Collisions (15 poems in two years)

O Unseen poem – you have never seen

it but you use the skills you’ve learned
to answer on it.
 Key terms
O Theme O Alliteration
O Tone O Imagery
O Structure O Metaphor
O Personal response O Simile
O Language (see other) O Personification
O Rhyme
O Repetition
O Onomatopoeia
O Enjambment
THE MOIST PEARS
T - TONE M - METAPHOR P - PERSONIFICATION

H – HYPERBOLE O - ONOMATOPOEIA
E - ENJAMBMENT

E – EMOTIVE I – IMAGERY
WORDS A - ALLITERATION
S - SIMILE

R – RHYME / REPETITION
T - THEME

S - STRUCTURE
 Tone
It is usually an emotion that the author
is feeling as they write. You can hear it
in the language used.

For example:
bitter
sad
regretful
 Hyperbole
O Pronounced ‘high-per-bowl-ay’

O It is another word for extreme exaggeration and is

used to make a strong point.

For example:
- I felt a thousand eyes on me as I entered the room.
- I’ve told you a million times.
- I am so embarrassed I could die!
 Emotive words
O These are words that create an emotion or show a
strong feeling in the reader.

O ‘Emotive’ comes from the word ‘emotion’.

For example:
heroic
humiliation
brave
heartless
 Metaphor
O A figure of speech that compares unlike
objects. It says something is something that
it is not.

For example:
- The exam was a breeze.
- She was my rock in this situation.
- Your brother is a pig.
 Onomatopoeia
O The use of words whose sounds suggest
their meaning.

For example:
- Bang
- Chuckle
- Splash
 Imagery
O Imagery is visually descriptive language.

O It allows you to create a picture in your mind with

the poet’s words.

For example:
O He felt like the flowers were waving him a hello.
O A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
 Simile
O A comparison usually using the words ‘like’
or ‘as’.

For example:
- As busy as a bee
- I slept like a log
- Her face was as pale as the moon
 Theme
The central idea of the poem; what
it is about.

For example:
- death
- love
- loneliness
 Personification
O When animals or objects are said to have human
characteristics.

For example:
- The stars danced playfully in the moonlit sky.
- The run down house appeared depressed.
- When the DVD went on sale, it flew off the shelves.
- The storm attacked the town with great rage.
 Enjambment
O When sentences run into the next line with
no punctuation or pause between them.

For example:
It is a beauteous evening, calm and free,
The holy time is quiet as a Nun
Breathless with adoration; the broad sun
Is sinking down in its tranquillity.
 Alliteration
O The repetition of one or more initial
consonants in a group of words or lines of
poetry or prose.

For example:
- delicious dinner
- miserable merchant
- fantastic friend
 Rhyme
O Rhyme is when two or more words have the
same sound at the end of a sentence.

O A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhymes

within a poem.

O They are marked like this ABAB or ABACAB

etc.
 Repetition
O When a sentence or phrase is
repeated. A poet does this for
effect.
 Structure
O How is the poem organised?

O How many stanzas does it have? How many

lines have they got?

O When discussing structure, you will talk about

the effect its structure has on the theme.

O Is it regular or irregular?
 Personal response
O How do you feel about the poem?

O You can dislike it however you must

have a reason – you can’t say ‘it’s
boring’ or ‘it doesn’t make sense’ or I
don’t understand it’. These are not
reasons an examiner will accept!
O You must use examples from the poem to
support your answer, just like we used
quotes when writing about ‘Macbeth’.

O You only need to quote what is relevant, not

a whole stanza.
O I like this poem because …
Sample
responses
O it is easy to relate to the topic
O simple use of language
O the imagery is very powerful
O the repetition and rhyme make it
enjoyable to listen to
O the poet has used alliteration and
personification to great effect
O the poet deals with an important topic …
What words come to mind
when you see these images?
Clashes and Collisions
What words come to mind?
O These poems look at conflict.

O They look at things in opposition.

O They explore the challenges that

people face.
 Tackling a poem
O First, we will read it.

O Secondly, we will highlight the

examples of language.

O Thirdly, we will write our personal

response to the poem.
 Let’s look at a poem
Highlight the following:
O Metaphor
O Imagery ‘The
Class
O Rhyme Game’
O Language
O Repetition By Mary
Casey
p28
Fill in the following:
Theme

Structure

Tone

Personal response
 Don’t
forget the
pear!