Exam Technique & Timed Practice
The Paper in Numbers
Everything in this lesson comes from three figures. The poetry and Shakespeare paper is two hours long, worth 80 marks, and taken closed text — no anthology, no play, nothing on the desk. Eighty marks in a hundred and twenty minutes gives you exactly one and a half minutes per mark, and every timing below is that figure applied.
The paper is two hours long and worth eighty marks. Forty marks go to the poetry section and forty to the Shakespeare section, so each deserves an even hour. Inside the poetry hour, part (a) and part (b) are worth twenty marks each — so they deserve thirty minutes each, planning included.
The Poetry Hour, Minute by Minute
Read the task, then both poems
Task first so you know the theme. Then read the anthology poem and the unseen poem, annotating only against that theme.
Fill the comparison grid
Idea and attitude, tone, language, structure — two columns, short quotations only.
Write part (a)
A comparative thesis, then three or four interwoven paragraphs. Both poems in every paragraph.
Choose and plan part (b)
Pick a different poem from your cluster and write your thesis sentence before you start.
Write part (b)
Detailed exploration of that single poem. No comparison.
Check and move on
Check quotations, then leave for the Shakespeare section on the hour whatever state the answer is in.
Part (b) is the most commonly rushed answer on this paper. Responses are often brief, as if timing had been forgotten under pressure. It carries exactly the same twenty marks as the comparison. A thin part (b) costs as much as a thin part (a), and it is the easier of the two to fix.
Rubric Mistakes That Cost Whole Answers
A rubric infringement is a failure to read the instructions rather than a failure of skill, and it caps an answer that might otherwise have scored well. These four come up again and again.
Answering on only one poem in part (a). The comparison must cover the anthology poem and the unseen poem together.
Choosing a part (b) poem from a different cluster, or one that has been removed from the current anthology. Check your cluster list before the exam, not during it.
Re-using the part (a) anthology poem in part (b). The task asks for one other poem, so the part (a) poem cannot be used again.
Comparing in part (b). No comparison is required there, and it steals the time you need for close analysis of one text.
What a Strong Answer Looks Like on the Page
Length does not earn marks. Very long scripts — some running to fifteen sides or more — often suffer from their length, with the same point restated through one quotation after another. Three or four developed, interwoven paragraphs beat eight thin ones.
Keep quotations embedded and short. Four well-placed words prove more than a copied-out stanza, and they leave room for the analysis that actually earns the mark.
Two Practical Points About the Booklet
Spelling, punctuation and grammar are not assessed in the poetry section, so do not spend your final minutes proofreading. Legibility is a different matter: some scripts are hard to decipher even when magnified. A mark cannot be given for a word that cannot be read.
Label your answers clearly as part (a) and part (b), and start part (b) on a fresh page. It costs nothing and it removes any doubt about which poem belongs to which task.
Week one. Untimed. Take an unfamiliar short poem, spend fifteen minutes filling a comparison grid against a cluster poem, and write nothing else. Grid practice is the highest-value drill there is.
Week two. Thirty minutes for part (a) alone, twice. Mark yourself on one question only: does every paragraph contain both poems?
Week three. Thirty minutes for part (b) alone, twice, on different cluster poems. Check your quotations against the text afterwards and count the misquotations.
Week four. The full poetry hour, both parts, in one sitting, twice. This is the only drill that tests whether you can stop part (a) on time.
The Final Check
Before you turn the page: does part (a) discuss both poems in every paragraph? Does part (b) cover a different poem from your own cluster, without comparison? Have you explained the effect of every method you named? If all three answers are yes, the answer is doing what the question asks.