How should I approach an unseen poem in the exam?

The unseen poem in an English Literature exam can feel overwhelming, especially when trying to prepare. It could be that the unseen poem is full of everything you've revised and you have lots of ideas, but it's natural to feel panicky because it is something you haven't seen before.If you feel really stuck, put your pen down and read through the poem and think about how it sounds aloud. Think about the poem as a whole. For example, in Wilfred Owen's 'Dulce et Decorum Est', Owen talks about how chlorine gas affects soldiers on the battlefield in World War One. One stanza describes the soldiers, the second has a fast tempo as the soldiers see the gas coming and the third speaks directly at the reader and how they would feel if they were in that experience. After reading through the poem, see if you can pick out any key themes. These might be the use of a certain poetic technique, the tempo, tense, the rhyme scheme or the imagery.Ideally, if you can pick out three key themes from the poem, you can then plan how you can discuss these in your answer. In 'Dulce et Decorum Est', Owen uses verbs, personal pronouns and vivid imagery to describe the horror of war. Each paragraph can explore one of these themes. I find it is better to have a few themes you can really explain well rather than several that you might run out of time to explain properly. Within this paragraph, think of a couple of quotes from the poem to analyse. Why did the author use this word in particular? What does that word sound like? How does it make you feel? For example, I would look at the use of verbs in Dulce et Decorum Est. Owen uses lists of visceral verbs to create a sense of urgency and panic as the chlorine spreads across the field. His use of a list to describe a soldier 'guttering, choking, drowning', which describes his painful death as he inhales chlorine. The harsh 't' and 'k' sounds in 'guttering' and 'choking' are guttural and when read aloud sound almost like choking. This makes the soldier's death seem more vivid to the reader as they too can hear the soldier dying. The list of verbs also adds a speed to his death and makes his death seem even more horrific as it is not mourned but just one of many. When you have a plan of what you are going to discuss in your key themes, use your introduction as a outline of these and your conclusion as a summary. You may want to add an alternative view in your conclusion if you think of something while planning.