GCSE English Literature · Unseen poetry

Comparing unseen poems flashcards

7 cards on Comparing unseen poems: the key points, worked examples and the slips to watch. Swipe through them, or print them.

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Comparing unseen poems

What the two poems share

What should you look for first when you read the second unseen poem?

Answer it in your head, then turn the card over.

What the two poems share

Key points

The two poems share a subject: ask how the second handles it differently from the first.
Look for a split in tone or attitude: two poems about a parent may be celebratory and grieving.
Open with one sentence summing up the key similarity or difference: it is your answer's spine.

An opening overview

Both poems remember a father: the first celebrates him in warm, busy images; the second grieves in sparse lines.

Comparing unseen poems

Compare methods, not subjects

Why must the comparison focus on the poets' methods rather than what the poems are about?

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Compare methods, not subjects

Key points

This question is marked on AO2 alone: how the poets write, and the effects of their choices.
The shared subject is only the frame: name a method in each poem, then compare the effects.
"Both poems are about loss" compares subjects, so it is not a comparison of methods yet.

From subject to method

Both poets show loss, but one leaves empty space on the page while the other crowds the lines with memories.

Watch out

Retelling what each poem is about earns little here: every point needs a technique in both poems.

Comparing unseen poems

Methods worth comparing

Which kinds of method can you compare across two unseen poems?

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Methods worth comparing

Key points

Imagery: compare what each poet's metaphors and similes make us see and feel.
Structure: short, end-stopped lines can feel tense; long, flowing ones calm or breathless.
Form and sound: a strict rhyme scheme against free verse, or soft sounds against harsh ones.

Comparing two images

One poet calls the moon "a lantern", a guiding light, whereas the other makes it "a cold eye" watching the speaker.

Comparing unseen poems

Comparative connectives

How do comparative connectives keep your answer a true comparison?

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Comparative connectives

Key points

Connectives such as whereas, similarly, both and by contrast hold both poems in one sentence.
If a sentence mentions only one poem, the next should answer it with the other.
A "similarly" point is strongest when it then shows a small difference too.

Adding the second poem

The first poem uses dark imagery, whereas the second fills its lines with light.

Watch out

A paragraph on one poem and then one on the other leaves the examiner to do the comparing.

Comparing unseen poems

Keeping both poems in view

How do you keep your answer balanced between the first poem and the new one?

Answer it in your head, then turn the card over.

Comparing unseen poems

Two sharp comparisons

How many comparisons should you make in this short question, and how deeply?

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Comparing unseen poems

Evidence from both poems

What evidence does each comparison need, and what do you write after it?

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Evidence from both poems

Key points

Quote a few words from each poem and set them side by side.
Then explain how their effects differ or match: what each poet makes the reader feel or see.
Evidence from only one poem is half a point.

Quotations set side by side

The first poet's "drifting" snow is gentle and slow, whereas the second's "stinging" sleet attacks the speaker.

Watch out

Two quotations are only evidence: comparing what they do is the analysis the marks are for.

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Each card prints on one face: the question at the top, the notes under it.

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Questions on the front, notes on the back. Print double-sided and flip on the long edge, then cut along the lines.

Put it into practice

Practise Comparing unseen poemsExam-style questions that adapt to how you are doing, with feedback on every answer. Free to start.Learn Comparing unseen poemsEvery syllabus point explained, with worked examples and the video lesson where there is one.

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