Unseen poetry teaching pack
Take a step by step approach to building your students’ confidence in understanding and analysing unseen poems.
‘The way to understand poems, whether unseen or not, is to get under their skin – and that requires active strategies, which this teaching pack and resources provide.’
Trevor Millum, writer and poet
This time-saving teaching pack includes seven pairs of carefully-selected poems for comparison alongside a resource workbook, providing you and your students with all you need to prepare for the unseen poetry element of the GCSE exam.
What's included?
- 7 pairs of poems
- a resource workbook for students to complete
- detailed teaching notes for each poem
- a mix of older and contemporary poems
- exam-style questions for all exam boards.
What's inside?
Introduction
Top tips for approaching an unseen poem
Unit 1
- ‘At the Draper’s’ by Thomas Hardy
- ‘Remember’ by Christina Rossetti
- Comparison resource
- Exam questions
Unit 2
- ‘Late Love’ by Jackie Kay
- ‘Love and Friendship’ by Emily Brontë
- Comparison resource
- Exam questions
Unit 3
- ‘Finding the Keys’ by Robin Robertson
- ‘October’ by Robert Frost
- Comparison resource
- Exam questions
Unit 4
- ‘Calling Card’ by Tracey Herd
- ‘For Meg’ by Fleur Adcock
- Comparison resource
- Exam questions
Unit 5
- ‘A London Thoroughfare. 2am.’ by Amy Lowell
- ‘Frost Fair’ by Rowyda Amin
- Comparison resource
- Exam questions
Unit 6
- ‘Long Life’ by Elaine Feinstein
- ‘Fish oil, exercise and no wild parties’ by Beatrice Garland
- Comparison resource
- Exam questions
This sample activity from the student workbook looks at ’Calling Card’ by Tracey Herd.
Inside the poem
1. Make a note of the images Herd uses which are connected with words. Which are the most effective, in your opinion? Give your reasons.
2. Read through the poem again, noticing how many words and phrases seem to create images of scattering, of movement. Is there anything that is still?
3. In a poem of this length, it is impossible to discuss everything. Often the exam question will give you a focus. If not, decide to concentrate on a particular theme. Here are some possibilities:
- the power of words
- the contrast between the prosaic and the unusual
- coming to terms with the death of a young person
Jot down some notes for a paragraph or two on one of these themes.
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