Unseen poetry at IGCSE

Students often find the unseen poetry component of the IGCSE intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be that way. While being asked to write a full essay based on an unseen poem can seem daunting at first to an IGCSE student, there are specific ways that this task can be approached to ensure consistent success in both the in-class work and the IGCSE exam itself.

Regardless of the exam board, whether an IGCSE candidate is using CIE or Edexcel, students are tasked with reading an unseen poem for IGCSE in order to test their ability to apply their knowledge on the spot. Although it is important to memorise key literary terms and techniques, as well as essay structure, this form of revision will only take you so far in preparing for this part of your English Literature exam.

Tips and tricks

Firstly, it’s important that students learn to use the information given in the question. Timings are of the utmost importance in the IGCSE exam, and the examiners are aware of this. The essay questions are phrased in a way to give candidates an idea of how to structure their responses.

For example, let’s take this question from a past CIE World Literature paper on the poem ‘The Moment’ by Margaret Atwood:

How does the poet vividly convey to you ideas about the relationship between humans and nature?

To help you answer, you might consider:

• what the poet feels about owning a home or land

• the words and images the poet uses to describe nature

• the impact the final stanza has on you (from ‘No, they whisper’).

The examiners give you this information to be used. If you are stuck for a sensible structure in the exam, the three bullet points are a good place to start.

Students should always start from establishing the purpose of an unseen text, as it’s this that will form the anchor for your analysis. For example, it’s clear from the above question that this poem will have something to say about man and nature, so bearing that in mind as you read the poem is important. In this case, it is clear upon reading the poem, and particularly its final stanza, that the unseen poem is about man’s false assumption that they have any claim over the natural world, when in fact humans are alive for a mere moment compared to trees.

Improving an IGCSE response

A passable IGCSE paragraph might look as follows:

In ‘The Moment’, the poet uses different language techniques to convey their thoughts about owning land. For example, in the third line, the poet writes that “you stand in the centre of your room”, which uses pronouns to show that they own it. This makes the reader feel proud to own a home, which contrasts to later in the poem when it’s revealed that humans can’t claim to truly own nature. This shows that the poet is making a complex point about owning land, and it changes throughout the poem.

While this basically follows the PEEL paragraph structure typically expected at IGCSE level, there are clear flaws with this paragraph. The explanation of the evidence is insufficient and it does not fully support the point being made. What’s more, the respondent veers off into a tangent towards the end of the paragraph when it would be much better to remain focused. Here’s an improved version of the same paragraph:

In ‘The Moment’, the poet uses possessive pronouns and symbolism to convey their thoughts about owning land. For example, in the third line, the poet writes that “you stand in the centre of your room”, where the possessive pronoun “your” emphasises the idea of ownership. Furthermore, the poet’s placement of “room” at the end of the line draws the reader’s attention to the idea of a home, and therefore a building that intrudes on the natural world. This helps to reveal the poet’s purpose of conveying the mistaken assumption that humanity has a real claim of ownership over the land, when in fact we are present in the world for a mere “moment”.

How BartyED can support

Analysing unseen poetry can be a challenge for any learner, particularly at IGCSE level. It requires students to develop numerous skills and apply them to a challenging exam. Yet, there are ways to succeed consistently at this component of the IGCSE exam, regardless of whether a candidate is taking the Edexcel or CIE course. At BartyED, we have a team of full-time tutors who are highly experienced in supporting IGCSE candidates to succeed in the unseen poetry component of English Literature IGCSE.

Get in touch today to find out more about how we can support you or your child in their IGCSE aspirations.