Year 11 - English
Conceptualising and analysing speaker and voice in unseen poetry
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 make inferences based on the use of speaker and voice in a poem.
Key Notes
- The speaker is different to the poet.
- A poet sometimes writes from the perspective of a speaker, rather than only from their own experiences.
- You can make inferences based on the speaker and voice of a poem.
- Some poems have a conversational tone, which helps to develop a personal connection with the reader.
Vocabulary To Learn
- speaker: the voice behind a poem or any written work
- perspective: the vantage point from which events of a story are filtered and then relayed to an audience
- agency: the power we have to pilot our lives in the direction we want to go
- tone: expresses the writer's attitude toward or feelings about the subject matter and audience
- conversational: an informal way of speaking that suggests you're talking to someone you're close to
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- That the speaker of the poem is the poet.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain this English learning goal in two key points.
The speaker is different to the poet. A poet sometimes writes from the perspective of a speaker, rather than only from their own experiences.
2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. 'speaker'
the voice behind a poem or any written work.
3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.
Mistake: That the speaker of the poem is the poet. Correction: A poet may talk about their own experiences through the speaker, or they may be exploring another aspect of the human psyche and experience through the speaker.
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
- Developing a personal response to an unseen poem 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.