1. Christmas Test – Poetry revision Date:
Objectives
Examine each poet we have looked at this year.
Note a brief summary and themes of the poets.
Be aware of the two poets that will appear on the exam.
Warm-up – note the format of the questions
There will be a Question (1) and Question (2)
Question (1) A,B,C shall ask you to explain what is going on in the poem on the page (30 marks)
Question (2) will ask you to engage with the poem by offering your thoughts. (20 marks)

2. Poet’s we have done. 20 of the 36 poems
Heaney – A Constable Calls, The Underground, A Call
Kennelly – Begin, Bread, Saint Brigid’s Prayer
Lawrence – Humming-Bird, Baby Movements
Yeats, The Wild Swans at Coole, An Irish Airman Foresees his Death
Bishop – The Fish, The Prodigal, Filling Station
Plath – Poppies in July, Child, The Arrival of the Bee Box
Hopkins – Spring, Inversnaid
Ní Chuilleanáin – Street, To Niall Woods...

3. What links all the poets?
They are all searching for answers – meaning of life, love, pain, sadness – their job is to find a way to make sense of the world.

4. Note this down Heaney – A Constable Calls, A Call, The Underground
Themes: nature, memory, love
His poetry starts in the real world; in his own life and experiences. He speaks as a representative of his community. He then lets fantasy explain what words struggle to.
(Studied to inspire you to represent and express yourself.)

5. Note this down Kennelly – Begin, Bread, Saint Brigid’s Prayer
Themes: relationships, loneliness, life
His poetry uses a variety of personas (people other than himself). He looks for answers in other people and religion. We are shaped by others but have a choice of who and where.
(Studied to highlight what people affect you.)

6. Poet’s we have done. 20 of the 36 poems
Lawrence – Humming-Bird, Baby Movements
Themes: imagination, individuality, love
He sought answers in everyday simple things. He believed we got caught up in the world. Only when we live in the moment or appreciate the natural world will we find answers. This is called being ‘spiritual’, as opposed to religious.
(Studied so that you might take a look at the world around you and allow yourself to experience childlike wonder again.)

7. Poet’s we have done. 20 of the 36 poems
Yeats – The Wild Swans at Coole, An Irish Airman Foresees his Death
Themes: Individuality, love, history
He saw tensions between the real world and an ideal world; the world we live in and the world we want to see. Like a soldier, he fought with words to make the two worlds one.
(Studied to consider who’s job is it to make the world better; yours or someone else's?).

8. Poet’s we have done. 20 of the 36 poems
Bishop – The Fish, The Prodigal, Filling Station
Themes: survival, nature, possibility of love
Her childhood trauma shaped her outlook. Her characters are always looking for something. She celebrates the ordinary everyday things, including nature, as she observes the world and searches.
(Studied so you question how are you built (metaphorically)? What problems will you carry into adulthood?)

9. Poet’s we have done. 20 of the 36 poems
Plath – Poppies in July, Child, The Arrival of the Bee Box
Themes: depression, power, intense emotions
Her search for answers was desperate. She struggled with self-doubt and depression and was in a constant search for meaning. She was heavily influenced by childhood experiences and the break-up of her marriage.
(Example of a confessional poet – insight into depression).

10. Poet’s we have done. 20 of the 36 poems
Hopkins – Spring, Inversnaid
Themes: Nature, religion, healing
As a religious man, he sees humanity’s place in the universe as protectors of nature. His poems are celebrations and warnings about the unique essence in all things. He seeks peace.

11. Exam Heaney and Bishop will appear on the exam.
Narrow study from 20 to 6 poems.
Read through the poems. Ask if you need replacements this week.
Study over your notes and be prepared to talk about what happens in their poems.

12. Cooldown
I think,
I know,
I wonder.