How do I approach an unseen poem in an exam?

When an unseen poem is presented to you in an exam, one of two things will happen. Either, a message or meaning of the poem will appear to jump out of the page at you, or, you will think – help! I have no idea what this is about! No matter which of these scenarios occurs, your reaction should be the same: slow down.The most important initial approach to an unseen text is to read it, then read it again – and then again. And maybe even again after that. Each time you read it, new and nuanced information will stand out to you. The “small” features of a poem – figurative language, rhyme, meter – all work to build a meaning that may not be immediately obvious on first reading. (Despite this, it is important to jot down any initial reactions to the text in front of you, even if you later change your mind about what the poet is doing. Sometimes a misjudged first reaction is an intentional feature from the poet, and it is good to point this out)These small features are therefore where you should start in unseen poetry. I like to physically mark them on the text in front of me: for example, if I’m noticing a couple of words related to flying, or feathers, I might put a wiggly line under anything connected to bird imagery. If I’m seeing a lot of exclamation marks I might give them a red underline, while question marks are indicated with blue. Not only does this technique allow you to get to the very roots of the poems structural and linguistic features, it allows you to mark change across the poem. If all my red underlines (exclamatory) are at the beginning while all my blue ones (questioning) are at the end, I am able to easily notice and comment on a shift in tone from excitement to doubtful. What’s more, physically marking the features of a poem means that when you come to make a point in your commentary on it, it is easy to glance quickly across at the text and pluck a couple of pithy quotations out of it to support your argument, since you’ve already grouped them in a manner which stands out. This, therefore, is how you approach an unseen poem: start tiny, and then build your way out. This is a great way of ensuring you always have evidence to support your statements, as well as making a potentially daunting text much more comprehensible!