How to study your prescribed poems
This note covers general skills -- your actual exam will be based on specific poems chosen for that year, so this is not a substitute for close, repeated reading of your assigned poems. Read each poem aloud at least once -- rhythm and sound patterns are often easier to notice by ear than by eye. Note the poem's structure (stanza count and length), and identify who is "speaking" (the persona), since this shapes how the whole poem should be read.
Rhyme scheme
Rhyme scheme is described by assigning a letter to each line-ending sound, with matching letters for lines that rhyme.
Example 1: Identify the rhyme scheme of a four-line stanza where lines 1 and 3 rhyme, and lines 2 and 4 rhyme.
This is an ABAB rhyme scheme -- line 1 (A) rhymes with line 3 (A), and line 2 (B) rhymes with line 4 (B), alternating throughout the stanza.
Tone and imagery
Tone is the poet's (or persona's) attitude towards the subject -- mournful, celebratory, bitter, nostalgic, playful -- shown through word choice, rhythm, and imagery, not stated directly. Imagery uses descriptive, sensory language (sight, sound, touch, smell, taste) to create vivid mental pictures that reinforce the poem's mood and meaning.
Example 2: A poem describes "grey clouds pressing low over silent, empty streets." What tone does this imagery suggest?
This imagery suggests a bleak, sombre, or melancholic tone -- the grey colour, the "pressing" weight of the clouds, and the silence and emptiness of the streets all combine to create a heavy, gloomy atmosphere rather than a cheerful or hopeful one.
Answering poetry questions in the exam
Common question types include: identifying and explaining literary devices used, discussing the poem's theme or message, analyzing tone or mood, and comparing two poems' treatment of a similar subject. Always quote or closely reference specific words/lines to support your points.