English Poetry

jaycummins

when my teacher is doing a poem he reads it at least four times before he says anything about it. when we were doing a disused shed in co. wexford by derrick mahon (really long poem) he spent and entire class just reading the poem over and over again. good teacher anyway, but i dont like learning poetry, im gonna forget it all by this time next year.

mise19

i got an A1 in english last year. As far as poetry is concerned, i learned a lot of poems fully. This is definitely not necessary, however, i just loved poetry and found it easier to remember the rhythm and feel of the poem if i knew it off by heart.
When i answered the poetry question in the leaving cert, i had a great choice of poets and poems to write about. went with Plath in the end, and the answer i wrote was unlike any other answer i wrote during school.
As long as you have a feel for the poetry and know a good few quotes to back up your opinions, you'll be fine.
Personal reaction is what examiners are looking for, and the more original the better.
They can tell straight away if an answer is learnt off by heart!

By the way, just because you may learn poems off by heart, certainly does NOT mean you should write them down in your answer. In fact, that would not be advisable!
Use relevant quotes and references but don't overdo it.

Good luck!

Xhristy

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