Writing a response
When you have settled on a suitable poem, you should note down a variety of links between the poems. The key thing to do when comparing poems is to note the points where they are similar and the points where they differ.
When writing an essay comparing your two poems you should consider the points below.
Essay-writing tips
A good approach to begin with is to highlight any key terms which stand out for you.
In the sample question the key term you must think about is 鈥榠nfluences on identity鈥.
Make sure you use the key term or terms frequently throughout your essay.
Begin by introducing both poems, giving a brief overview of their main subject or message. You MUST refer to the key term in your introduction.
You will be expected to compare and contrast the poets鈥 use of features such as theme, form, structure, rhythm, language and figures of speech.
Remember to avoid simply identifying what techniques or approaches the poets use. Aim to show an understanding of how form, language and structure create meanings and effects.
Make sure you are comparing and contrasting the poems throughout.
Your essay should be peppered with comparing words and phrases such as "similarly...", "in contrast to this鈥" and "this can also be seen in鈥".
Mention any relevant details about the context of the poem.
You will not get marks for context which is not linked directly to the question. For example, don鈥檛 simply write down everything you know about the poet if it is not relevant to the question.
Support all you say with details or quotes from the poem.
This may mean quoting a full line at times, but could also involve detailed analysis of one significant word.
If you were to compare Gentics with Piano by D.H. Lawrence for example, you could use some of the following points:
- Like Genetics, Piano looks back on childhood. It is a reflection on identity and what makes us who we are as adults.
- Genetics is a tightly structured villanelleA villanelle is a nineteen-line poem broken into five three-line stanzas and a final four-line stanza. with an irregular rhyme scheme, but Piano has a different structure. Lawrence uses three quatrainA group of four lines in a poem, these four lines have a rhyming scheme. with rhyming couplets, creating a slow-paced nostalgic tone. Each stanzaA grouped set of lines within a poem. begins in the present and then moves to a fondly remembered past.
- Like Morrissey, Lawrence looks to a parent, 鈥渁 mother who smiles as she sings鈥 as an influence on who he is now. The distance from that childhood past seems painful for him as he is brought back to these memories 鈥淚n spite of myself鈥.
- Both poems have a cyclicalA cyclical process is one in which a series of events occurs in a repeating pattern, for example the change of seasons each year. structure. However, Morrissey鈥檚 final stanza looks forward to the future with hope while Lawrence ends on a melancholy tone as he 鈥渨eep(s) like a child for the past鈥. Perhaps - unlike the speaker with dreams of a future family in Genetics - the speaker in Piano misses the innocence and blissful ignorance of his childhood self.
- Both poems have single word titles. The titles reflect what the poem shows to be the main influence on the speakers鈥 adult identities. Morrissey stresses the influence of genetics through the reference to the speaker鈥檚 hands and the physical similarities to her parents. Lawrence shows how the speaker is drawn back to his childhood comfort through the sounds of the piano.
When writing about these similarities and differences, you should discuss the methods used by the poets.
Look at the earlier sections on themes, language, form and structure to get ideas.