Past Literature Exam Questions
Paper 2 Poetry
1 hour 15 minutes.
You are advised to spend about 45 minutes on Section A and about 30 minutes on Section B. You are reminded that there are 36 marks for Section A and 18 marks for Section B.
Contents
Section A: Anthology – Moon on the Tides 3
Specimen 3
June 2011 3
January 2012 3
June 2012 3
January 2013 4
June 2013 4
June 2014 4
June 2015 4
Section B: Unseen Poetry 5
Specimen Paper 5
June 2011 6
January 2012 7
June 2012 8
January 2013 9
June 2013 10
June 2014 11
June 2015 12
Section A: Anthology – Moon on the Tides
Answer one question from this section.
You are advised to spend about 45 minutes on this section.
Relationships
Specimen
EITHER
07. Compare how feelings towards another person are presented in Hour and one other poem from ‘Relationships’. (36 marks)
OR
08. Compare how poets use language to present feelings in Quickdraw and one other poem from ‘Relationships’. (36 marks)
June 2011
EITHER
07. Compare how poets use language to present feelings in ‘The Manhunt’ and one other poem from Relationships. (36 marks)
OR
08. Compare the ways poets portray emotions in ‘Nettles’ (page 63) and one other poem from Relationships. (36 marks)
January 2012
EITHER
07. Compare the ways poets use structure to develop ideas about a relationship in ‘Sonnet 43’ and one other poem of your choice from Relationships (36 marks)
OR
08. Compare the ways poets present a speaker’s attitudes towards another person in ‘Harmonium’ and one other poem from Relationships. (36 marks)
June 2012
EITHER
07. Compare the ways poets explore strong feelings about another person in ‘Quickdraw’ and one other poem of your choice from Relationships (36 marks)
OR
08. Compare the ways poets use language to present relationships in ‘Praise Song for my Mother’ and one other poem from Relationships. (36 marks)
January 2013
EITHER
07. Compare the methods poets use to explore ideas about time in ‘Hour’ and one other poem of your choice from Relationships (36 marks)
OR
08. Compare the methods poets use to present difficult relationships in ‘The Farmer’s Bride’ and one other poem of your choice from Relationships (36 marks)
June 2013
EITHER
07. Compare the methods poets use to explore ideas about love in ‘Sonnet 116’ and one other poem of your choice from Relationships (36 marks)
OR
08. Compare the ways the poets present hopes and wishes in ‘Born Yesterday’ and one other poem of your choice from Relationships (36 marks)
June 2014
EITHER
07. Compare the ways the poets use form and structure to help present their ideas in ‘Ghazal’ and in one other poem from Relationships (36 marks)
OR
08. Compare the effects the poets create with the endings of their poems in ‘The Farmer’s Bride’ (page 60) and in one other poem from Relationships (36 marks)
June 2015
EITHER
07. Compare the methods poets use to present damaged relationships in ‘The Manhunt’
and in one other poem from Relationships (36 marks)
OR
08. Compare the ways poets explore trust in ‘Sister Maude’ (page 62) and in one other poem from Relationships (36 marks)
Section B: Unseen Poetry
You are advised to spend about 30 minutes on this section.
Specimen Paper
09. Read the poem below and answer the question that follows.
Introduction to Poetry
I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide
or press an ear against its hive.
I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,
or walk inside the poem’s room
and feel the walls for a light switch.
I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author’s name on the shore.
But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.
BILLY COLLINS
What do you think the poet is saying about the ways that some students approach poetry and how it should be approached? How does he present his ideas? (18 marks)
June 2011
Question 9
0 9 Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.
Slow Reader
He can make sculptures
and fabulous machines,
invent games, tell jokes,
give solemn, adult advice –
but he is slow to read.
When I take him on my knee
with his Ladybird book
he gazes into the air,
sighing and shaking his head
like an old man
who knows the mountains
are impassable.
He toys with words,
letting them go cold
as gristly meat,
until I relent
and let him wriggle free:
a fish returning
to its element,
or a white-eyed colt – shying
from the bit *– who sees
that if he takes it
in his mouth
he’ll never run
quite free again.
VICKI FEAVER
* ‘bit’: the metal mouthpiece of a bridle, used to control a horse
How do you think the speaker feels about the child and his experience of learning to read and how does the poet present the speaker’s feelings? (18 marks)
January 2012
09. Read the poem below and answer the question that follows.
How to Leave the World that Worships Should
Let faxes butter-curl on dusty shelves.
Let junkmail build its castles in the hush
of other people’s halls. Let deadlines burst
and flash like glorious fireworks somewhere else.
As hours go softly by, let others curse
the roads where distant drivers queue like sheep.
Let e-mails fly like panicked, tiny birds.
Let phones, unanswered, ring themselves to sleep.
Above, the sky unrolls its telegram*,
immense and wordless, simply understood:
you’ve made your mark like birdtracks in the sand -
now make the air in your lungs your livelihood.
See how each wave arrives at last to heave
itself upon the beach and vanish. Breathe.
Ros Barber
* ‘telegram’ – an early form of urgent messaging
What do you think is the poet’s attitude towards the way we live and work in the modern world and how does she present this attitude to the reader? (18 marks)
June 2012
09. Read the poem below and answer the question that follows.
Children In Wartime
Sirens ripped open
the warm silk of sleep;
we ricocheted to the shelter
moated by streets
that ran with darkness.
People said it was a storm,
but flak*
had not the right sound
for rain;
thunder left such huge craters
of silence,
we knew this was no giant
playing bowls.
And later,
when I saw the jaw of glass,
where once had hung
my window spun with stars;
it seemed the sky
lay broken on my floor.
Isobel Thrilling
*flak: anti-aircraft fire
How does this poet present the ways children are affected by war? (18 marks)
January 2013
09. Read the poem below and answer the question that follows.
A Marriage
You are holding up a ceiling
with both arms. It is very heavy,
but you must hold it up, or else
it will fall down on you. Your arms
are tired, terribly tired,
and, as the day goes on, it feels
as if either your arms or the ceiling
will soon collapse.
But then,
unexpectedly,
something wonderful happens:
Someone,
a man or a woman,
walks into the room
and holds their arms up
to the ceiling beside you.
So you finally get
to take down your arms.
You feel the relief of respite,
the blood flowing back
to your fingers and arms.
And when your partner’s arms tire,
you hold up your own
to relieve him again.
And it can go on like this
for many years
without the house falling.
Michael Blumenthal
What do you think are the feelings about marriage in this poem and how does the poet present these feelings to the reader? (18 marks)
June 2013
09. Read the poem below and answer the question that follows.
To A Daughter Leaving Home
When I taught you
at eight to ride
a bicycle, loping along
beside you
as you wobbled away
on two round wheels,
my own mouth rounding
in surprise when you pulled
ahead down the curved
path of the park,
I kept waiting
for the thud
of your crash as I
sprinted to catch up,
while you grew
smaller, more breakable
with distance,
pumping, pumping
for your life, screaming
with laughter,
the hair flapping
behind you like a
handkerchief waving
goodbye.
Linda Pastan
What do you think the speaker feels about her daughter growing up and how does she present those feelings to the reader? (18 marks)
June 2014
09. Read the poem below and answer the question that follows.
Long Distance IIThough my mother was already two years dead
Dad kept her slippers warming by the gas,
put hot water bottles her side of the bed
and still went to renew her transport pass.
You couldn't just drop in. You had to phone.
He'd put you off an hour to give him time
to clear away her things and look alone
as though his still raw love were such a crime.
He couldn't risk my blight of disbelief
though sure that very soon he'd hear her key
scrape in the rusted lock and end his grief.
He knew she'd just popped out to get the tea.
I believe life ends with death, and that is all.
You haven't both gone shopping; just the same,
in my new black leather phone book there's your name
and the disconnected number I still call.
Tony Harrison
How are the speaker and his father each affected by their loss, and how does the poet present their thoughts and feelings to the reader? [18 marks]
June 2015
09. Read the poem below and answer the question that follows.
SymptomsAlthough you have given me a stomach upset,
Weak knees, a lurching heart, a fuzzy brain,
A high-pitched laugh, a monumental phone bill,
A feeling of unworthiness, sharp pain
When you are somewhere else, a guilty conscience,
A longing, and a dread of what’s in store,
A pulse rate for the Guinness Book of Records –
Life now is better than it was before.
Although you have given me a raging temper,
Insomnia, a rising sense of panic,
A hopeless challenge, bouts of introspection,
Raw, bitten nails, a voice that’s strangely manic,
A selfish streak, a fear of isolation,
A silly smile, lips that are chapped and sore,
A running joke, a risk, an inspiration –
Life now is better than it was before.
Although you have given me a premonition,
Chattering teeth, a goal, a lot to lose,
A granted wish, mixed motives, superstitions,
Hang-ups and headaches, fear of awful news,
A bubble in my throat, a dare to swallow,
A crack of light under a closing door,
The crude, fantastic prospect of forever –
Life now is better than it was before.
Sophie Hannah
How does the poet present the speaker’s feelings about being in love? [18 marks]