Cultural Poetry

Writing About Poetry

Comment on the ideas and attitudes in...

How do particular words and phrases bring out the poets' ideas?

What are the effects of the poems on you and why?

What are the poets' intentions in writing these poems and how do you know?

How do the poets use words to capture sensations such as sound, smell, sight and touch?

You may be asked to comment on specific features of the poems such as:

HYPERLINK "http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english/poemscult/writingabpoetryrev2.shtml" \l "imagery#imagery" Imagery and HYPERLINK "http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english/poemscult/writingabpoetryrev2.shtml" \l "symbolism#symbolism" symbolism

HYPERLINK "http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english/poemscult/writingabpoetryrev2.shtml" \l "form#form" Form and HYPERLINK "http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english/poemscult/writingabpoetryrev2.shtml" \l "structure#structure" structure (including HYPERLINK "http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english/poemscult/writingabpoetryrev2.shtml" \l "rhythm#rhythm" rhythm and HYPERLINK "http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english/poemscult/writingabpoetryrev2.shtml" \l "rhyme#rhyme" rhyme)

Examplier Essay Questions:

Choose two poems that deal with the experience of living between two cultures, and show how this experience is reflected in the language of the poems.Moniza Alvi, John Leonard, John Agard, Grace Nichols, Sujata Bhatt, Tatamkhulu Afrika

Choose two poems where the title seems to you to pinpoint what the poem is about, and show how each poet develops this idea through the poem. John Agard, Edward Kamau Brathwaite, Grace Nichols, Tatamkhulu Afrika, Imtiaz Dharker

Choose two poems where the style and language of the poem seem particularly suited to what the poet has to say, and explain in each case why you think this.Sujata Bhatt, Tom Leonard, John Agard

Show how the poet's sense of cultural identity is explored in two of the poems you have studied.Sujata Bhatt, Moniza Alvi, Tom Leonard, John Agard, Edward Kamau Brathwaite, Grace Nichols, Tatamkhulu Afrik

Choose two poems that deal in some way with the experience of migration, and show how this is explored in the imagery of the poems.Sujata Bhatt, Moniza Alvi, Grace Nichols, Fiona Farrell, Edward Kamau Brathwaite

Choose two poems that deal with the experience of living between two cultures, and show how this experience is reflected in the language of the poems.Chinua Achebe, Tutamkhulu Afrika, Imtiaz Darker, Nissim Ezekiel, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Sujata Bhatt

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