Aqa English paper 2 - poems

52 replies

Flyhigher · 20/05/2024 12:06

They have to learn 15 poems for a one hour exam. And no idea which will come up. Seems a bit OTT to me.

Are there any English lit examiners on here do the kids do a good job on the comparison between poems?

Seems such a lottery. Do not remember having 15 poems when I did it. Admittedly a long time ago.

Do English teachers think 15 poem anthology is a good idea? Do the kids do a good job on them in the exam?

Surely the majority must do this section badly.

OP posts:

misseckleburg · 20/05/2024 13:07

They don't have to learn 15 poems off by heart - if they think that they do they've been taught badly. The poem that's chosen is given on the paper, and then they choose a he other to compare it to based on their knowledge of contexts, poetic devices and writers' perspectives.

It's my favourite thing to teach on the syllabus - all 15 poems are different and offer perspectives into 15 different aspects of history. Kids tend to like them too. Pupils don't tend to do any worse on this aspect of the paper than any other and the question is worth less than 20% of the GCSE anyway :)

clary · 20/05/2024 13:00

They don’t have to learn 15 poems tho.

One poem will come up – yes they don’t know which one (tho I suspect it will never be Tissue) but thy have that poem so that’s OK – assuming they can remember in general how to analyse a poem.

They need to have a poem to compare it to – so the best thing is to check which poems apply to which themes and work on the poems that can fit to the most – eg Exposure can be war or forces of nature.

I reckon they can get away with good knowledge of three or four tho maybe some actual Eng lit teachers could confirm or correct me?

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