Year 11 - English
Developing a personal response to an unseen poem
Unseen poetry
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
In this unit, pupils prepare for the unseen poetry in their Literature GCSE by reading poems, studying different poetry methods, and developing personal responses. They start by looking at ideas in single poems, before developing their comparative skills and writing comparisons of two unseen poems.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to develop your personal response to an unseen poem.
Key Notes
- To form a personal response, you might start by asking how the poem makes you feel.
- You might then consider ideas of which word(s) or phrases stand out to you and which you don't understand.
- To develop your personal response, you might consider reframing your ideas.
- When reframing, you might talk about what is evocative, pertinent or ambiguous in the poem.
Vocabulary To Learn
- pertinent: relating directly to the subject being considered; relevant
- personal: belonging to or affecting a particular person rather than anyone else
- evocative: bringing strong images, memories or feelings to mind
- ambiguity: a situation in which something has more than one possible meaning
- reframe: to change the way something is expressed or considered
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- That your feelings about a poem are irrelevant.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain this English learning goal in two key points.
To form a personal response, you might start by asking how the poem makes you feel. You might then consider ideas of which word(s) or phrases stand out to you and which you don't understand.
2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. 'pertinent'
relating directly to the subject being considered; relevant.
3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.
Mistake: That your feelings about a poem are irrelevant. Correction: How you respond to a poem forms the basis of your argument about a poem - it helps you to understand how a poet has created meaning.
More Lessons In This Unit
- Analysing extended responses to ideas of transience in unseen poetry Study Guide
- Analysing how poets present ideas of transience in unseen poetry Study Guide
- Analysing tone in an unseen poem Study Guide
- Analysing use of sound in an unseen poem Study Guide
- Comparing how poets present motherhood and maternal stereotypes in unseen poems Study Guide
- Comparing ideas about transience in unseen poetry Study Guide
- Comparing personal responses to unseen poetry Study Guide
- Conceptualising and analysing speaker and voice in unseen poetry Study Guide
- Explaining comparative imagery in unseen poetry Study Guide
- Exploring titles in unseen poetry Study Guide
- Identifying and analysing semantic fields in unseen poetry Study Guide
- Planning a comparative response to ideas of transience in unseen poetry Study Guide
- Planning a response to an unseen poem by collecting and organising your thoughts Study Guide
- Reviewing a comparative response to ideas of transience in unseen poetry Study Guide
- Selecting and using quotations from an unseen poem Study Guide
- Structural analysis of unseen poetry Study Guide
- Understanding sub-text in unseen poems Study Guide
- Writing a comparative response to ideas of transience in unseen poetry Study Guide
- Writing and developing a response to an unseen poem Study Guide
Browse all guides in the Year 11 English guide library.