How do I approach the unseen commentary (Paper 1)?

The unseen commentary can be very daunting - some students think you can't revise for it (because it's unseen, right?), but I think you can, and the key to doing well is: (1) to consider the key elements or stages involved in writing a commentary; and (2) practice! Principally, you need to convey an understanding of the text, showing how the literary devices used by the author contribute to this understanding. Firstly, skim BOTH the poetry and the prose, and make sure beforehand that you feel comfortable doing either. Often, students lean towards the poetry because it tends to be shorter and have more 'fancy' literary devices, but the prose can be easier to understand (and has literary devices you should be INCREDIBLY familiar with - like character, plot, themes - they all count!) Within the reading time you should aim to choose which you are going to deal with and get a 'feel' for what the text is about. Then, I would suggest you spend at least 15 minutes reading and annotating. On your second read, highlight all the language and literary devices you can see - think about structure, descriptions, dialogue, rhyme (and the more fancy terms if you want to: alliteration, assonance, caesuras)...! On your third read, think about WHY the author has used all of these devices - the key thing to convey in a literary commentary is the connection between the WHAT and the WHY. Your interpretation of the passage should be informed by the language and literary devices - loads of caesuras might make the passage awkward or spooky, lots of dialogue might characterise a crowded family scene. You may organise your commentary thematically, but I feel the easiest way to structure it is to divide the piece chronologically with a paragraph corresponding to each section. The key thing to remember is this connection between the WHAT and the WHY! Your end product should not be simply a list of complex literary devices you've memorised - but a clear response to the text that shows an appreciation of what the author sought to achieve, informed by the literary devices they selected.