Key words and phrases

Not all exam questions will be phrased in the same way, so look carefully at the key words to help you work out what you need to write about in your answer.

For example:

• Comment on the ideas and attitudes in...
• How do particular words and phrases bring out the poets' ideas?
• What are the effects of the poems on you and why?
• What are the poets' intentions in writing these poems and how do you know?
• How do the poets use words to capture sensations such as sound, smell, sight and touch?

You may be asked to comment on specific features of the poems such as:

• Imagery [imagery: Vivid 'word pictures' used by a writer to conjure up a mental image of something. ] and symbolism [symbolism: The use of symbols - ie, of images or things that represent something else, usually something abstract. ]
• Formform: A style of poem, with a particular pattern of rhythm, rhyme pattern or regular line length (eg sonnet, couplets or ballad). and structurestructure: The way a text is built and shaped. Chapters, plot, acts and scenes, stanzas, narrative, verse-form, rhyme and rhythm - all these (and many more) are aspects of structure. (including rhythm [rhythm: The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry. ] and rhyme [rhyme: In poetry, the use of words which have the same or a similar sound - eg 'flow' and 'bow' - to form a pattern of sound. ])