Exam answers at AS and A2 back

Should I Use an Introduction?

The answer is yes.

But why, I hear you say. I was told that I needed to get the examiner's red pen ticking points as soon as possible, and that some waffle in an introduction isn't going to achieve that.

That's true, so the skill is in using the introduction to help yourself and the examiner.
Let's look at an opening to the question �Discuss one or two character portraits which show Chaucer's concern for the difference between how people are supposed to live and how they actually behave.�

In this essay I am going to discuss two characters from �The Canterbury Tales�.  I will look at the different ways they behave and then discuss how they should behave.

Not exactly a gripping opening.  All that this candidate has said is that he his going to answer the question.  The examiner does expect you to do that, funnily enough, and doesn't need to be told that you are.

What about this start to the essay?

The knight in the Canterbury tales is a worth man it shows he is committed to his job, he loves chivalrie which ment he liked the rules of being a knight, he was also honoured often for his worthiness.

Firstly, the poor punctuation and spelling create a very bad impression.  Secondly, this candidate has got straight on with the essay, with no introduction at all.  Has it worked? Definitely no.  You might be wondering, for instance, why he chose to write about the knight for this question, I certainly am.  He gives us no clue.  You might also wonder what the question was; from this it looks as though it might have been �Write everything you know about two of the characters�.  There is no reference to the question to show his answer is relevant, and there is no response to the key phrase of the question.

What is the key phrase?  In this question I would suggest that it is �Chaucer's concern�.  There is an implication in the question that they want you to discuss in more depth and detail.  The implication is that Chaucer is concerned by how people really behave in comparison with how they should behave.  A good introduction will respond to that key phrase in some way.

For instance, �The difference between how people are supposed to live and how they actually behave is a key concern of Chaucer throughout the �Canterbury Tales�.  It is most clearly evident in the fact that of all the pilgrims, only two appear to live as they should.  There is, therefore, a wide choice of examples from which to pick two pilgrims who do not.  I have chosen two of the more obvious candidates to discuss, the summoner and the prioress.

Now this is not great literature or cutting edge critical analysis.  But what it does do is respond to the question.  It makes clear what the writer's opinion is, that it is a considerable concern of Chaucer's, a brief reason why, and a guide to how the writer will be responding.  It says to the examiner � I know what you're asking, this is my opinion, and these are the example I will use to demonstrate it.  It also helps you, the candidate, to focus on the question and respond very precisely to it.

Are you convinced?  Perhaps not.  Let's look at a different question.

This question was set on the anthology �Four Women Poets�.

Considering in detail one or two poems from this anthology discuss how the experience of marriage is presented.

This opening is from a real exam answer:

For the purpose of this essay I intend to focus on �The Complete Alternative History of the World, Part One� by Liz Lockhead, and �Knife-play� by Fleur Adcock.  The two poems do not mention marriage specifically but I believe that they both deal with marriage in different, relevant and interesting ways.

The key phrase from the question is clearly the experience of marriage and this has been responded to in this introduction.  The candidate has also made it clear the poems to be used, as well as a brief outline of the relevance of those poems to the question asked.  An examiner will actually look forward to reading an essay with an introduction like this as he or she will want to see how the candidate makes these poems relevant to the question.  It is also well written, which is very important.  Incidentally, this candidate went on to achieve an �A� grade for the answer.

What have we learnt from all this?

Firstly:  identify the key phrase in the question.

Secondly:  decide what your response to that key phrase is going to be in your answer.

Thirdly:  respond to that key phrase in a well written introduction that also outlines the structure and content of your answer.

KEEP IT RELEVANT, WELL WRITTEN AND SHORT.  MAKE SURE THAT YOU USE THE KEY WORDS OF THE QUESTION.  WRITE CLEAR, ACCURATE ENGLISH.

The result?  An introduction that helps you focus on the question and helps the examiner see that your answer is going to be relevant and focussed. 

How To Make References In Your Essays back

In the exam, when you are writing about an extract, you need to show the examiner that you understand how it fits into the whole text.  Similarly, when you are writing about a poem, you need to show that you know how it connects with other poems.  In fact, it is almost always helpful to show in your writing that you know about the connections between one piece of literature and others.  So you need to make reference to the whole text you are writing about, and to other texts.

Remember:

• Make your references relevant (no credit for forcing them into your writing when there is nor real point).

• Make your references specific (words quoted are always best).

• Explain your references (unless you show the examiner that you know why this link is significant, you'll get very little credit).

When you are writing about an extract, try to:

• Refer to other parts of the text which have the same theme, or which use similar language.

• Refer to parts of the text (earlier or later) which are connected with the extract.

When you are writing about a poem, try to:

• Refer to other poems which have the same theme or use the same technique.

You can use the phrase ��relates to�' to show links of this sort, but there are other words and phrases which can also be used.  They are sometimes better, because they can be more specific.  Consider using these:

�recalls�                                                       �is similar to�

�replicates � (=does the same thing again)

�is an echo of�                                             �is a parallel to�

All these have slightly different meanings; check you know how to use each one.

Here are some example taken from a recent successful A level examination answers.  Notes on the left show why the examples are good ones.

Reference to the whole text when writing about an extract

(From an answer on Frankenstein)

References to other poems

(From an answer on The Complete Alternative History of the World. Part 1, by Liz Lockhead, and Knife-play by Fleur Adcock)

(From an answer on Tennyson's The Lotos-eaters)

Using a Reading Journal back

During your studies you will be reading a variety of different literary texts from different genres.  When reading a text (prose, drama or poetry) lots of thoughts are going on in your head at once:  what is happening, what is the significance of events/characters, what messages is the writer trying to convey, why have they written in a particular style?

You need somewhere to record these thoughts � a reading journal.

What is a reading journal and why is it useful?:

• An exercise book in which you write about the text you are studying.

• A place for critical reflection and evaluation.

• Entries can take an infinite variety of forms:  jottings, notes, ideas, diagrams, grids, charts, sketches, lists, mind maps, questions, predictions, diary entries, letters, play scripts, poems, as well as more formal writing, review, analysis of plat, character, setting, author's choice of language.

• Journals allow you to speculate, explore and play with ideas.

• In your journal you can create, �transformation pieces' � where an idea or theme from the text can be transformed into another medium (e.g. poem, letter, picture).

• The journal is yours.  It is up to you what you include in it.

• Your teacher will want to see it and can add comments to it.

• You can share ideas with other students by looking at their journals.

• It is an excellent resource when you come to revise, or prepare for coursework.

Examples of things to include in a reading journal:

• Notes made in lessons.

• Thoughts/ideas whilst reading.

• Reflections on class/group discussions.

• Planning for presentations.

• Brainstorms/plans for essays.

• Character studies, with quotes and sketches.

• Reviews of film versions of texts.

• Close analysis of the language in a particular passage.

• Plot/Chapter summaries.

• Writing �in the style of' the author.

• Mind maps of key themes.

• Flow diagrams of plot.

• Time lines.

• Notes from your wider reading.

• Comparison with other texts.

• Notes on historical period.

This list could go on and on.

The important thing to remember is that the reading journal is your responsibility, and will only be as good as you make it.

Enjoy creating it!

An Introduction to English Poetry back

Rhythm

Whether you are writing poetry or writing about poetry, it is useful to be aware of the fact that English verse is a succession of syllables.  Some are strongly emphasized, some are not.  How poets set up a poem is as dependent on the rhythm they are seeking to use (the medium) as on the meaning of the words and phrases that they choose (the message).  In this brief, incomplete and fairly rough introduction, I will be focussing on the medium, looking at the use of metre in English poetry and how it contributes to the effect of the poem on the reader.  Firstly let us examine the tools that the poet uses.  How are poems constructed?  How can they be deconstructed in terms of rhythm?  Let us start by looking at the pattern of words on the page in a poem. 

The pattern of metre is set up by the way in which heavily stressed syllables are interspersed with more lightly stressed syllables.  The metrical patterns are called �feet'.  The main types of feet are as follows:

Two syllable feet

The iamb:  this consists of one lightly stressed syllable followed by a heavily stressed one, e.g. �revolve', �behind', �before', �aloud'.  Try saying these aloud; try putting the emphasis on the first syllable and you will see that it just doesn't sound right.

The trochee:  this consists of a heavily stressed syllable followed by a more lightly stressed one, e.g. �forward', �backward', �rabbit', �orange'.  This time try putting the stress on the second syllable � again, it just doesn't sound right.

The spondee:  a foot wherein each syllable is equally stressed, e.g. �Man cub', bigshot'.

Three syllable feet

The anapaest:  consists of two lightly stressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable, e.g. �repossess', �understand'.

The dactyl:  consists of one stressed syllable followed by tow more lightly stressed syllable, e.g. �pulverize', �agitate'.

The amphibrach:  consists of a stressed syllable with a lightly stressed syllable on either side, e.g. �confetti', �rodouble'.

Of course, this all sounds like a foreign language to most people and indeed it is!  It's Greek.  The Ancient Greeks were the first ti analyse poetry and so we use their terms to analyse English verse.  Of course most English verse doesn't strictly follow any one pattern of feet as indicated above; it is usually a mixture of different types.  Stress changes according to context and indeed, the emphasis that a poet wants to place on a particular word.  Quite often a poet will deliberately break the pattern created in order specifically to place emphasis on a particular word or a change of mood.

Of all the feet described above the most common is the iamb and it is the iamb we will be placing particular emphasis on in this introduction.

Iambic Pentameter

The term iambic pentameter refers to a line of poetry which has five stresses (penta=5, meter=stresses), following the pattern of a weak stress followed by a strong stress:

di-DUM di-DUM di-DUM di-DUM di-DUM

Various forms of poetry in English use iambic pentameter:  heroic couplets as you might see in Chaucer's �Canterbury Tales'; blank verse as you will find throughout Shakespeare's plays and sonnets.  In fact, English poetry suits this form perfectly because, as a language English relies on stress (emphasis) more than any other European language.

Here are some examples:

�The woods decay, the woods decay and fall'  (Tennyson)

�If music be the food of love play on' (Shakespeare)

These are single-line extracts from a poem and a play, both conform to the pattern of weak, followed by strong stresses, bit if you analyse a passage of a Shakespeare play, any blank verse or any section of Chaucer's �Canterbury Tales' it does not always follow strictly the stress pattern shown above � it would not sound right in any case as good blank verse should not be in identical measure throughout but should be a series of variations on a theme.  That said, each line of iambic pentameter will have five stresses in it for it to be pentameter (penta=5, meter=stress).

Read through this blank verse poem by Wordsworth and try to break up each line up into five feet (measures).  The first line is done for you:

The boy/was ta/ken from/his mates,/and died

In childhood, ere he was full ten years old.

Fair are the woods, and beauteous is the spot,

The vale where he was born; the churchyard hangs

Upon a slope above the village school,

And there, along that bank, when I have passes

At evening, I believe that oftentimes

A full half-hour together I have stood

Mute, looking at the grave in which he lies.

You will notice that this is not written in regular iambic pentameter throughout, you will also notice that on reading the poem you will have to run some lines over into the next line (enjambment) to keep meaning clear.  An example of this is in the last two lines, �I have stood mute'.  Where the meaning of a line of poetry is complete at the end of the line it is said to be end-stopped, and example of this in the above poem is in line 2.  See if you can find any other end-stopped lines in the poem.

Heroic Couplet

The heroic couplet (couplet=a pair of lines, heroic=on a noble theme) resembles blank verse in that both are written in iambic pentameter, the difference is that heroic couplets rhyme in pairs.  The rhyme scheme is noted as aa bb cc dd ee etc.  This verse form was invented by Geoffrey Chaucer, �the father of English Poetry', in around 1384-6.  Here is an example from John Dryden (1631-1700):

When I consider life, �tis all a cheat;

Yet, fooled with hope, men favour the deceit;

Trust on, and think tomorrow will repay;

Tomorrow's falser than the former day;

Lies worse, and, while it says, we shall be blest

With some new joys, cuts off what we possessed.

Strange cozenage!  None would like past years again

Yet all hope pleasure in what yet remain;

And, from the dregs of life, think to receive,

What the first sprightly running could not give.

I'm tired of waiting for this chemic gold,

Which fools us young, and beggers us when old.

You could say that this poem was thematically noble: the meaning of life; but it seems a little pompous and this is the trouble with heroic couplets as a verse form � they tend to make the poet sound sententious and windy!  This form of verse lends itself to parody quite easily:

Here's and example on �Death':

When I have fears that I may cease to be

I just sit down and have a cup of tea!

Rhyme

The point about poetry is that it is �language to which a special emphasis has been given, whether by paring it down and arranging it pleasingly on the page' or by making language emphatic by repetition of sound (through assonance, alliteration or other rhyme);  repetition of meaning (synonym or literally just repetition of a particular word or phrase; �theirs no to reason why, theirs but to do or die'); repetition of pattern on the page (line length, stanza shape); or repletion of whole passages as in the chorus to a song.  It doesn't have to rhyme: rhythm, meaning (semantics) and purpose are all equally important.

In other words, for a poem to be considered to be more than just doggerel it will need to have elements of special emphasis on language, either through dealing with an issue in an elevated way, or through precise choice of words or preferably both.