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Original poster

GCSE English Literature Contrast Poetry..DD on the edge please help!

33 replies

woesofme · 07/05/2023 11:42

She’s doing Edexcel Conflict Poetry and just had her first breakdown. Says she can’t remember quotes for all 15 poems as well as the quotes for the 3 plays she’s doing. I really don’t know how to help her but could really do some advice as I don’t want her losing the plot this close to the exams.

OP posts:
TeenDivided · 07/05/2023 11:56

Disclaimer: Not a teacher. And DD didn't do Engl Lit in the end.

Does she really have to know quotes from 15 poems?
iirc She'll be given 1 poem and have to pick another to compare it to. So as long as she knows a subsection that she can pick one from to comapre to all the others she doesn't need to know quotes from all of them surely?

TheBitchOfTheVicar · 07/05/2023 11:58

They only have 35 mins (recommended by exam board) to write. So five ish ideas: something on themes, one idea on form, three quotes which cross the key themes, something she can say on structure. Lean on the named poem. Something meaningful about the title? If there is, use it!

doglover90 · 07/05/2023 12:37

Focus on learning 5 or 6 poems really well, so you can compare them to whatever comes up in the exam - ideally you'll have a good spread of different 'themes' eg war, nature. Learn 4 or 5 quotes from each of those poems. They can be short eg one or two words. You can also analyse the titles of the poems in the exam.

NillyNoMates · 07/05/2023 12:53

Quotes need only be one word. Also, it doesn’t matter if she uses a quote and gets it slightly wrong. I’m a teacher and exam marker.

Pieceofpurplesky · 07/05/2023 13:01

Tell her to concentrate on five poems - she will be given one and needs to compare/contrast one other. One of the five she chooses will fit in

Felucia · 07/05/2023 13:03

I learned quotes by singing them in silly voices. Things are easier to remember if you sing them and the voices made them more memorable plus alleviated stress!

BunsenBurnerBaby · 07/05/2023 13:12

Short term memory is her friend. Be comfortable with 5 or 6 poems and know what you could say about them based on one or two words. Night before cram to learn a bit more if she wants.

Original poster
woesofme · 07/05/2023 15:01

Thanks ever so much, you’ve really helped to calm her (and me) down. She’s going to try to learn a few poems really well from a wide selection and restrict the quotes to a word or two. Such a nightmare when they have so many subjects to remember so much for.

OP posts:
doglover90 · 07/05/2023 17:28

Yes, it makes me cross that they don't just have a clean copy of the anthology like they do at A Level. Best of luck to your daughter!

BarbaraWoodlouse · 07/05/2023 17:33

Is there a revision guide? DD is doing AQA Power and Conflict and from what I can see (Eng Lit graduate) the York Notes do a great job in breaking down what to compare with what in terms of themes etc. There are other good tools online that help get to grips with the texts and far more productive than just staring at index cards of quotes etc. Though they do of course need the key bits memorized too,

keiratwiceknightly · 07/05/2023 17:35

I teach this exact thing.

She needs to know one poem per theme - War/ Family or personal conflict /Prejudice/ Nature. She doesn't need to know a quotation for each one though it can be helpful; what she needs to know is something she can say about language eg Cousin Kate has several oxymorons to show the narrator's conflicted thoughts; something about structure eg the rhythm of Charge of the LB is designed to replicate the cantering horses to make it more immersive. She also needs to know something about the context of her chosen poems. Then she also needs to mug up Poppies as that covers all the themes except race so she can relate that to the poem she gets if the named poem is one of her chosen ones. Finally a quick re-read of the others just to give her confidence if one of them comes up.

keiratwiceknightly · 07/05/2023 17:37

Also, any poems she's really stuck on, there's a series of videos on YouTube for the poems, one for each. Put "Edexcel conflict poetry Mary Meredith" into the search box and choose the one she needs to revise from the list.

OutDamnedSpot · 07/05/2023 17:41

Just like the others have said - working knowledge of all 15 (like “this one is about…”) and then choose five to revise in detail. That way, whichever one comes up on the paper will at least be recognisable for her, and she can choose one of her five as the comparison. It’s only worth 20 marks. She should spend half as much time revising this as she does for her Shakespeare / Modern Text / 19th C Lit (which are worth 40 marks each).

NormasJeans · 07/05/2023 17:51

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This message has been withdrawn at the poster's request

Pieceofpurplesky · 07/05/2023 20:39

@NormasJeans they are the AQA poems - OP's DC is doing Edexel

MrsCobbit · 07/05/2023 21:02

Get the CGP guide on Edexcel conflict - on the back page they have a grid for comparison poems. While AQA have repeated poems Edexcel have not repeated yet. Their unexamined poems are Class Game, Cousin Kate, COTLB, Prelude, Sennacherib, and The Man He Killed. Make sure she knows Exposure, Belfast Confetti, Catrin, and one of the other identity poems.

Original poster
woesofme · 08/05/2023 08:38

You’ve been so helpful and I’m so grateful. Yesterday dd was completely overwhelmed and about to give up on the poetry completely. Your advice has turned it around for her 100% and she’s feeling more confident already.

OP posts:
Bobbybobbins · 08/05/2023 08:51

I'm a secondary English teacher and I agree with the above - choose a smaller number of poems to know really well (6-8) can work. It's so rubbish that the whole thing is closed book, ridiculous memory test.

clary · 08/05/2023 09:30

woesofme · 08/05/2023 08:38

You’ve been so helpful and I’m so grateful. Yesterday dd was completely overwhelmed and about to give up on the poetry completely. Your advice has turned it around for her 100% and she’s feeling more confident already.

OP I was going to post what everyone else said then saw that they had! Also my knowledge is more AQA and I see some teachers of Edexcel have posted here so that's great.

So just to add that this is great news that your DD is feeling more positive. Well done to her already and best of luck for the exams. MN can be such a helpful and supportive forum.

Poppy802 · 09/05/2023 11:01

This is really helpful..also having the same issues!!!

Poppy802 · 09/05/2023 11:04

Bobbybobbins · 08/05/2023 08:51

I'm a secondary English teacher and I agree with the above - choose a smaller number of poems to know really well (6-8) can work. It's so rubbish that the whole thing is closed book, ridiculous memory test.

Totally agree. When I did it back in the late 90s I believe we had to learn about 6?
Anyway I learnt them off by heart but I really didn't understand them I was just good at reciting them.

Poppy802 · 09/05/2023 11:05

NillyNoMates · 07/05/2023 12:53

Quotes need only be one word. Also, it doesn’t matter if she uses a quote and gets it slightly wrong. I’m a teacher and exam marker.

I was wondering this.
I said to my son does it matter if you get the quote slightly wrong and he said he thought they had to be exact

TollgateDebs · 09/05/2023 11:08

My exams were from the closed book days, so (like another poster) I made a song up of the quotes and tried to remember that! It worked well enough to get me through.

OutDamnedSpot · 09/05/2023 13:24

They’re closed book again now @TollgateDebs

In some ways it’s better - we no longer have to watch pupils read the book in their exams, but it definitely piles the pressure on.

PianoLeGrande · 09/05/2023 21:08

@woesofme if she just reads the poems once every day how long do you think it would take her? Ds read his from the revision guide so whilst he is reading them all the different highlighted bits are there to be seen and hopefully absorbed into his brain. It doesn't take as long at all. Get her to read them aloud too, it helps with it sticking.

She will know more than she thinks, she doesn't need to learn them off by heart, just bits she can quote out, not full quotes just a few words to detail her point. Ds just worked on the ones that covered the most themes.

This is normal full blown panic mode, most children go through it at some point with maybe every subject or just a couple. Remind her this will all be over very soon, no one will ever ask her again to compare poems. Ds felt that kept him very motivated Grin