IB English paper 1: unseen tips

WHAT CAN WE SAY ABOUT A POEM? • What attitude towards main theme (e.g. love) does the poet seem generally to have? • What is the significance of the title , if any? • Has the poet adopted a persona ? If so, who are they being? Why is this effective? • What are the main ideas (thoughts and feelings) about love in the poem? • Do the ideas and attitudes link in with ideas and attitudes that were prevalent at the time in which the poem was written? • What is the main tone in the poem ? Are there any tone shifts ? • Is there direct address: ‘you’ – and is he / she talking to the reader, or perhaps even himself / herself… • Which features of language (rhetorical devices/selection of images and words for effect) does the poet use to express his/her thoughts and feelings? Look especially at the use of the following as far as imagery is concerned: simile/metaphor/personification/symbolism/literal images. Look at the use of the following as far as sound is concerned: sibilance/assonance, onomatopoeia/alliteration/dissonance/hard consonant sounds. • For form , look how the poet uses the following: rhyme (including half rhymes)/rhythm/stanza lengths/line lengths/number of syllables in a line/special layout features (shape)/enjambment/end-stopped lines/caesuras. • Structure : What sort of effect would the beginning and end of the poem have on the reader? Why? • How does the poet develop his or her thoughts in the poem? Is there a line of argument that we can trace through the stanzas? Is the way s/he has done this effective? Why? • Has the poet tried to give the effect of c ontrast by his/her placing of the stanzas? Academic Register Caesura / enjambment / pivotal moment / connotations / elegy / unrequited loves / cathartic / sibilance / onomatopoeia / simile / metaphor / personification