Have you been listening?
The Literature Exam Poems
We have now reread all of the Literature poems … but have you been listening?
Use your Anthology to answer the following questions. Many of these focus on the
poets’ use of language.
Pre 1914 poems
1.
Find and copy out below two metaphors from two different poems.
2.
Write down the names of two poems that use rhyming couplets.
3.
Which poem has a plodding rhythm and why?
4.
Find a poem that contrasts the lives of the young and the old. Explain.
5.
Explain the importance of the fire in ‘Song of the Old Mother’.
6.
Find two examples of alliteration from two different poems. Copy them out
below and explain the effect.
7.
Explain the use of contrast in ‘The Eagle’. Look at the last word in each of the
two verses.
8.
Find two examples of personification from two different poems. Copy them
out below and explain the effect.
9.
Find a simile in ‘The Eagle’. Why do you think it has been used?
10. How many lines does a sonnet have?
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Have you been listening?
‘Follower’
‘Mid-Term Break’
‘Digging’
‘Death of a Naturalist’
Seamus Heaney
1.
List examples of military language in this poem.
2.
Link the title of this poem to the poem’s structure.
3.
Find an example of alliteration in verse 1 and in verse 2. Copy these
out and explain the effect.
1.
Find a quotation to show respect.
2.
Find a quotation to show guilt.
3.
Find a quotation to show fond memory.
4.
What technique is used in verse 2 and 4? Why?
5.
Find two examples of onomatopoeia in verse 8. Copy these out below
and explain the effect.
6.
How does the final verse link back to the start of the poem?
1.
Explain the irony in verse 3.
2.
What device is used in Wearing a poppy bruise?
3.
Why is the final verse only one line long?
1.
Find one simile and give a reason why the poet has used it.
2.
List language connected with the sea and sailing.
3.
Comment on the poem’s title.
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5461.doc
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Have you been listening?
‘On The Train’
‘The Field-Mouse’
‘Baby-Sitting’
‘Catrin’
Gillian Clarke
1.
Find a quotation to show Clarke is talking directly to her daughter.
2.
Explain the metaphor about the rope.
3.
Comment on how lines 15 and 16 are written.
1.
Write about the two depressing images used to describe how the baby
will feel if it finds its mother is not there.
2.
Comment on the final line of the poem.
3.
Find a quotation to show the baby is snug and happy while asleep.
1.
What technique is used in his hands a nest?
2.
What technique is used in the star goes out in its eye?
3.
What technique is used in the field’s hurt?
1.
Comment on the repetition in line 2.
2.
Comment on the black box in line 3.
3.
Comment on the tea trembles in line 4.
4.
Write about the two meanings of the word rubble.
5.
How does the final line link back to the poem’s title?
6.
Why are there short sentences at the start of the final stanza?
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5461.doc
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