How do I approach an unseen text or poem?

Firstly it's important to bear in mind that an examiner is looking for something quite different when you're analysing an unseen text as compared to a text you have been studying in class. Things like context about the author or about the text as a whole are going to be less important than a close analysis of what you're being presented with. Start by reading through the text and making note of any interesting linguistic devices that the author is making use of: similes, metaphors, personification. Rather than just concentrating on finding these devices aim to think about why such a device has been used. In the case of a simile for example, why does the author want us to compare the gale to a 'ravaging beast'? What does that tell us about the image the author is trying to construct in our minds and perhaps about the extract as a whole? After that consider the question. Something like "how has the author structured this text to interest the reader?" Is asking you to consider how it has been physically structured. (Does the author start in the middle of the action? Or with a description of something? Why? How does the extract end? etc.) but also how the author has examined themes throughout the extract, perhaps they have focussed on the weather throughout, this would be an interesting structural device to consider. With unseen texts it's particularly important to focus on why authors are using the devices they are using and what impact this has on the reader. Examiners are looking for close analysis of the text, so make sure when you give an example of something you examine it as closely as you can.