UNSEEN PROSE/POEM
I had learnt that tackling an unseen prose or poem is just like doing an open-ended comprehension passage, you have almost no chance of seeing the passage beforehand and even if you did see it, you would not have time to understand and look through in detail. So, in short, it is something new and there is nothing special about it, thus we should approach it the same way we do with any piece of prose.
The first thing to do when approaching an unseen prose is to read through it for a few times. Read through it briefly for the first time and pick out phrases that are more abstract or seem to have a hidden meaning in it. Make notes about those words that were picked out, paying more attention to it as it might evoke emotions and thoughts. However, they must be short and concise, using the 5W1H. (Who is speaking, when was the poem written, what is the poem about, how is the content of the prose conveyed by literary devices, how do you respond to the poem)
However, there are some things to avoid while doing an unseen prose. Most students are unable to do well in this segment as they do not have ample understanding of the text or they feel unsure of their feelings when reading the text, or simply just because they were not meticulous while reading because they were rushing through the whole passage. Ways to prevent these situations from happening is to get roughly an idea what the poem is talking about for the first time, and then slowly understanding the meaning of difficult words in the poem.
To answer questions, we should
- Explain your answer
- Describe in your own words
- Give your own comments
- Cite evidence
- and compare/contrast with
- lastly, give your own opinion
while following these rules
- Read carefully and not rush through the passage
- Keep answers and evidences short and sweet
- Always explain what you had stated
- Use your own words as much as possible
- Express relevant feelings to the text
Essay
I had learnt that to do well in unseen poetry, ideas must be expressed coherently and persuasively, as the 2 skills required to do well in unseen sections is to analyse the text with knowledge of the techniques used and present the argument through concise writing and good organisation such that the examiner understands it well.
The skills required in analysis of text are having a clear awareness of the meaning behind the text, to provide a detailed and clear analysis of the text, and an insightful response to the text.
Firstly, spend not more than 5 minutes to read through and analyse the text before doing anything, and jot down the first impression of the text's meaning. (What it is about, genre, mood, themes and issues) After doing this, it will be easier to understand the meaning, mood, and issue highlighted in the text. This is crucial as getting the right meaning results in achieving a pass in the paper. Most students don't score well in unseen poetry as they spend inadequate time understanding the text.
Being able to interpret the text is to go beyond a superficial reading and question the purpose of using specific words, ideas or values. To be able to interpret is to ask why did the author choose something instead of something else and if it was there to convey a message. Thus, by thinking why does the author use a specific word instead of something else, you can roughly get the main idea of the prose.
Most students leave out a detailed analysis after giving a clear understanding of the text. The detailed analysis means to identify techniques used and tracking development of the prose. When reading the text, try picking out techniques and devices used by the poet and in the essay, stating the purpose is necessary and how it affects the reader. Also, being able to sense the changes in tone, mood and language is important and knowing why is also important.
By writing an insight into the text gives the essay a chance to go a step further. To give an insight is to relate the poem to the world and nature.
However, writing an essay requires textual evidences and try not to give response that are too personal. Response should be objective and supported by evidence from the text.
An essay should always start with an introduction, which is a statement which immediately answers the essay question and states your point. Then, the body of the essay consists of the main points mentioned in the introduction into a few paragraphs. Each paragraph must make a clear point supporting the answers of the question. A suitable format is the PEEP - point, evidence, elaboration and personal response.
Begin the first sentence of a paragraph with a point that answers to the question. To make sure answers are to the point, underline the keyword of the question and use that keyword to answer the point, making it a habit to repeat that word for every paragraph throughout the whole essay, thus resulting a more organised essay. Then, support every major point with evidence cited from the text. The more evidence provided to support the point, the stronger it would be, thus, while planning, link words or expression that convey similar meanings, mood attitude so that more than one evidence may be provided when the essay is written to support the point. After citing evidence, explainand link the meaning behind the evidence with the point , and that is elaboration. It must sound logical and convincing. Lastly, give a personal response, which means expressing your feelings to the character or event, but it is not always necessary to write it in the end of each paragraph, but a response should be part of the conclusion and it must also be supported by evidences cited from the text as well. Lastly, provide a conclusion to summarize the points made and summative response to the issues raised in the text.
Irony is often used by writers and it refers to a contradiction in a situation or in a statement. There are 2 types of irony - situational and verbal irony. Situational irony occurs when what one expects to happen does not happen, but instead the opposite takes place. Verbal irony is usually known as sarcasm and expresses contradiction between what is said and what it means. It is commonly used as readers usually want to read twists in plots and to spice up the storyline. Verbal irony is used to create humour ( to poke fun at others and creating a sense of humour as a result ) , to criticize ( criticize an issue ) , and to add to the sense of tragedy ( to make the scene more tragic and increases the readers feelings of empathy ).
When writing about irony, contradiction must be shown clearly and both sides ( what is expected to happen and what happened ) of the situation must be shown clearly.
