Poetry is a key component of English Paper 2, yet it’s very difficult to score high marks in these questions. Studying for poetry isn’t easy either, because it’s tough to know what’s required to achieve a H1.

In this article, I will break down the poetry question and share tips and tricks on how you can ace any of these questions, regardless of which poet you choose to do.

Structure of poetry answers

Regardless of which poet you choose to answer, the structure stays the same.

All my poetry answers followed this structure:

• An introduction: State your thesis + the poems you include in the answer.
• 6 well-developed paragraphs: Each paragraph dedicated to a poem.
• A conclusion: how you answered the question + some praise for the poet (optional).

I would personally recommend using 5/6 poems for whatever poet you choose. The reason for this is that you want to have 6 well-developed paragraphs.

If one of the poems is really long and there’s a lot to talk about, then you can do 5 poems too.

More on well-developed paragraphs:

Each poem you analyse deserves at least one paragraph. In this paragraph, you need to explain how this poem answers the question asked.

VERY IMPORTANT: Do not just explain the poem. Explaining each stanza won’t get you marks. The key is to identify key parts of the poem and demonstrate how they highlight the question being asked.

Breaking down the question

As I said, all questions are essentially the same. It’s important to understand the driving force of the question.

Most questions will have 3 or 4 points that the examiner wants you to address. These will make up your thesis.

Before I would answer any poetry question, I would always take a couple of minutes to break down the question.

How to get better at poetry questions?

The trick to doing well in poetry questions is having an inside-out understanding of each poem from each poet, and having a lot of sample H1 answers in your arsenal.

To help you get started, I have published my study notes on the poetry of Emily Dickinson. These include:

1). Personal responses (analysis) to the following poems:

• “Hope” is the thing with feathers
• I felt a Funeral, in my Brain
• There’s a certain Slant of light
• I Heard a fly buzz – when I died
• A Bird came down the Walk
• After great pain, a formal feeling comes

2). H1 answers to the following questions:

• LC 2024 (96% – official result corrected by SEC)
• LC 2022 (96% – corrected by my teacher) 

If still not convinced, don’t worry. You can check out the first couple of pages for here:

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Are these useful if you aren’t studying Emily Dickinson?

YES.

Like I said, regardless of which poet you decide to study, the answers are all essentially the same. The structure remains; only the content is modified.

The toughest thing with these questions is knowing what the examiner wants. Well, you have an officially marked H1 answer to the Emily Dickinson question of 2024. A H1 is a H1.

If you are a frequent reader of my site, you’ll know by now that I only share my honest experience of what helped me get 625. Same story here!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is a thesis?

I have mentioned the word thesis a lot of times now. But what is a thesis?

This is perhaps the most important part of doing well in the poetry questions. The thesis is basically just you restating the question’s most important parts.

For example, in the picture I showed above, your thesis would be made up of all the points in red.

Every paragraph must come back to the thesis. When you talk about specific quotes or poems, you should explain why this ties into your thesis.

My thesis on the above question:

To show you what a thesis looks like, here’s my thesis for the 2022 Emily Dickinson question:

Emily Dickinson conspicuously exhibits her profound fascination with life and its rich experiences through her effective use of a vivid and energetic
style, beautifully complimented by the unique and thought-provoking
images incorporated throughout her poetry

How to prepare for the poetry question?

The way I studied each poet was by writing personal responses to each of the poems I am studying.

What’s a personal response?

A personal response is your own analysis of a poem, which includes
looking at the language, poetic techniques, and emotions, while also engaging
with it in a meaningful way.

Why bother?

Poetry questions for each poet tend to be similar year after year. Examiners want to see if you understand the poet. By having an in-depth analysis of each poet in your bag, you will be confident when writing answers.

You will know exactly which quotes to include in your answer. And best of all, you’ll know how to word it as well – since you would’ve done so in your personal response.

Note: To further see what a personal response looks like, have a look at the personal responses I have included in my notes above.

How long to spend?

This is up to personal preference and depends on how long you choose to spend on other questions.

I would spend about 1 hour answering the poetry question. The reason for this is that I knew poetry was my strong suit, so I had to make sure I scored really well in it.

Note: Make sure to plan wisely – you don’t want to run of time for other parts!

How much to write?

My teacher recommended writing about 800 – 1200 words. This is very doable in the time given as well.

How many poets to study?

This does depend on your year. I would always recommend studying enough poets so you have a choice.

Why? In my year (2024), Sylvia Plath was widely predicted. And in the end, she was in the paper too. But the question on her was quite strangely worded and something that most would not have been prepared for.

Having a backup plan is always recommended!

Conclusion

Hopefully, this article has shown you that doing well in poetry is very doable.

The trick is to have thorough preparation.

For further help in your preparation, do consider checking out the notes above, and for general tips for English in the Leaving Cert, you can read these articles:

• How to get a H1 in English?
• How to get 625 points in the Leaving Certificate?
• How to get a H1 in every subject?