WESTERN CAPE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT�

Last Push Revision Session�ENGLISH EHL

Paper 2�By William Haggard

PAPER 2 (GENERAL)�POETRY ESSAY�POETRY CONTEXTUAL�

ENGLISH HL PAPER 2

What does the paper look like?

•80 marks / 2.5 hours

•SECTION A: Seen Poetry

•Question 1: Seen poetry essay (10)

•Question 2-4: Seen poetry contextual (10)

•Question 5: Unseen poem (10)

•SECTION B: Novel

•SECTION C: •Drama

Number 5

Your name must NEVER appear on your answer book!

CHOICE OF ANSWERS FOR SECTIONS B (NOVEL)

AND C (DRAMA):

Answer questions ONLY on the novel and the drama you

have studied.

Answer ONE ESSAY QUESTION

and ONE CONTEXTUAL QUESTION.

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If you answer the essay question in SECTION B,

you must answer the contextual question in SECTION C.

If you answer the contextual question in SECTION B, you must answer the essay question in SECTION C.

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Section B: film versions

• The filmed versions of the Grade 12 texts are proving harmful to you, as candidates.
• You need to be actively discouraged from using the filmed version as a replacement for the actual text.

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How do the filmed interpretations put you at a disadvantage?

• They are interpretations and therefore not always textually accurate;
• Time constraints mean that vital moments are omitted or fused, incorrectly, into other moments;
• Sequencing of events is distorted;

You are therefore unable to deal with questions which incorporate the following phrases:

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“Using your knowledge of the novel / play as a whole”

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“Place the passage in context

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“Comment on the extent to which these lines foreshadow”

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“using this extract as a starting point”

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“in the light of later events”

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• Deciding which parts to answer
• Contextual
• Essay

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The contextual

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• Two Past NSC papers
• Extracts (from different parts)
• Start by looking at how the two extracts could connect
• What development has taken place?
• Include character, plot, theme, symbol

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In “Life of Pi”, the film does not do justice to the second story.

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A previous essay question read as follows:

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The novel, Life of Pi, suggests that despite offering contradictory approaches to life, reason and faith can co-exist.

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There were many flawed responses, especially from candidates who did know know the presence of two Mr Kumars (fused in the film), and who suggested that Pi’s mother is a major spiritual influence in his life (film).

SECTION C: DRAMA

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Be familiar with important dramatic techniques:

�soliloquy: the character is ALONE on the stage 

(soli-) speaking (“loqui”) to the audience

�monologue: long speech addressed to characters on stage

�aside: to the side of the stage

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Visualisation

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• the stage
• what actors look like
• working out in how many different ways a line or speech can be said

Refer to lines 23–26: 'Come, come, and ...'/ 'part of you.' If you were the director of a production of Hamlet, how would you instruct the actor to deliver these lines? Justify your instructions with reference to both body language and tone.

Dramatic irony

�the tension created between audience and character knowledge

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BUT ‘the audience knows …”

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“Hamlet” versus Hamlet

“Othello” Othello

�Title versus protagonist

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Title versus protagonist

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“Hamlet” versus Hamlet

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“Othello” versus Othello

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No essays should be learned and then “squeezed” into the topic.

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You need to unpack a topic according to three main areas:

Direction words Restriction words   Knowledge words

� (patriarchal society)

“Gertrude and Ophelia’s passivity makes them vulnerable to exploitation and manipulation”

�Critically discuss Analyse in context

the extent to which Partially, completely, not at all

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Refer to lines 17–18 (Of Act 1, scene 5): '– and for mine own poor part,'/'Look you, I'll go pray.'

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Discuss the extent to which it would be justifiable for the audience to pity Hamlet at this point in the play. (3)

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Discuss = analyse in context

… the extent to which … = partially / completely / not at all

Refer to line 26: 'To put an antic disposition on –'.

Critically comment on [Hamlet's decision] to pretend to be mad.(3)

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Theme: madness (real or feigned)

Charactisation: actions and reactions

as a result of interactions

Using this extract as a starting point

and drawing on your knowledge of the play as a whole, = PLOT

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critically comment on

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the nature of betrayal = CHARACTERISATION and THEME

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as presented in the play. (4)

WORKING WITH POETRY

CONTENT / CENTRAL ARGUMENT? What is the poem about?

STRUCTURE? Stanzas, rhyme scheme, line length, repetition.

DICTION? The speaker’s choice of words.

IMAGERY? Figures of speech - similes, metaphors, sound devices. When referring to “image”, we refer to ‘figurative significance’.

SHIFT? The poem’s “shift” / turning point / movement / volta

TONE? What is the speaker’s attitude towards the subject matter? Does it change in any way?

POETRY ESSAY

• Don’t be afraid to attempt a poetry essay!

• Same skill as writing a literary/academic essay.

• You are required to respond to a statement and � then prove your statement with proof from the � poem (3 key words = 3 paragraphs)

• P-E-E-L [Point-Evidence-Explain-Link]

• Lucky number THREE !!

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Let us look at the poem, First Day After The War

POETRY ESSAY

The poem, ‘First Day After The War’ explores the people’s response to liberation after oppressive times.

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With close reference to diction, imagery and tone, critically discuss the validity of this statement. [10]

DICTION

• Repetition of “we” showing unity
• Emphasis on “peace”
• Expressions of joy “Ululating” and “shouted across waterfalls”
• “open space” suggests no further restrictions
• “holding hands with a stranger ‘- reconciliation
• Ancestors are proud “travelling tall”

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IMAGERY

• The wedding as a symbol of reconciliation
• Personification of “freedom”
• new grass suggesting newness/ new beginnings
• First fruits - harvesting of freedom

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Tone

• Initially: doubt / trepidation / disbelief / uncertainty
• Then: (not “happy”) joyous celebration / ecstatic praise and jubilation
• The ancestors are “proud”
• The sensory descriptions make for a vivid, powerful experience inviting all in as the poem bubbles with enthusiasm and anticipation of freedom.

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Let us look at the poem, ‘somewhere i have never travelled’

Past paper Contextual questions

1. Refer to lines 1–2: 'somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond/any

experience’.

What impression of the speaker is created by the use of 'gladly' (line 1)? (2)

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2. 'Spring' (line 7) is the only word that is capitalised in the poem.

Explain the effect of this capitalisation in context. (2)

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3. Refer to line 4: 'or which i cannot touch because they are too near’.

Discuss the significance of the paradox in this line. (3)

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4. Refer to lines 17–19: '(i do not … than all roses)’.

Critically comment on how the speaker's tone in these lines reinforces

the central idea of the poem. (3)

1. Refer to lines 1–2: 'somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond/any� experience’.� What impression of the speaker is created by the use of 'gladly' (line 1)? (2)��

• What is suggested about the character of the speaker?
• The speaker is enthusiastic about, and open to, the new possibilities in his life. Although it is the unknown, the anticipation fills him with excitement. He welcomes the thought of the adventure and looks forward to the experience.
• [Award 2 marks for any two relevant and distinct points.]

2. 'Spring' (line 7) is the only word that is capitalised in the poem.� Explain the effect of this capitalisation in context. (2)�

• Knowledge of poem’s technical elements
• By capitalising the word, the importance and power of Spring is recognised.
• Spring is the giver of life and transforms the winter landscape into something of beauty. Like Spring, his beloved has transformed him by bringing love into his life.
• [Award 2 marks for any two relevant and distinct points.]

3. Refer to line 4: 'or which i cannot touch because they are too near’.� Discuss the significance of the paradox in this line. (3)

• What is a paradox?
• Example: The more you fail, the more likely you are to succeed.
• What is the poem’s central argument?
• This new kind of inexplicable love is one that opens him up (self-growth)
• The speaker's inability to touch something despite its nearness is contradictory.
• His feelings for his beloved are 'too near' to his heart/an intimate part of him and he is reluctant to expose himself as he is afraid that his love makes him vulnerable/defenceless to potential heartbreak and pain.
• [Award 3 marks for any two ideas well discussed OR three ideas.]

4. Refer to lines 17–19: '(i do not … than all roses)’.� Critically comment on how the speaker's tone in these lines reinforces � the central idea of the poem.

• First sentence: tone
• The speaker's tone is of admiration/awe/wonder/reverence.
• He finds it amazing that her mere presence can overwhelm his senses, thoughts and emotions. The expression in her eyes conveys the intensity of her love for him.
• The unusual connection the speaker makes between the senses suggests that even without words, there is communication and understanding between the lovers.
• The description conveys the idea of love's being inexplicable, mysterious and spiritual. There is no logic to explain why his beloved is able to exert absolute power over him yet instinctively he is willing to accede to her.
• [Award 3 marks only if the tone and central idea are discussed.]

More contextual questions!

1. What does the word ‘enclose’ in line 3 suggest about the speaker’s experience? (2)

2. Refer to lines 13-14: ‘nothing which we are …intense fragility.

Explain how this description influences the reader’s response toward the speaker’s

beloved. (2)

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3. Refer to lines 1-2: ‘somewhere i have … any experience’.

Comment on the effectiveness of the image in the context of the poem. (3)

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4. Refer to lines 5 – 8: ‘your slightest look … her first rose.

Critically discuss how the diction in these lines reinforce the speaker’s

attitude toward his beloved. (3) �

1. What does the word ‘enclose’ in line 3 suggest about the speaker’s � experience? (2)

• He feels surrounded/immersed/enveloped in this experience of intense love for his beloved.
• The speaker is overwhelmed by his beloved. 
• [Award 2 marks for any two ideas.]

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2. Refer to lines 13-14: ‘nothing which we are …intense fragility. � Explain how this description influences the reader’s response toward the speaker’s beloved. (2)�

• We view the beloved as someone who holds immense power over the speaker.
• This power lies paradoxically in the beloved’s seeming delicate qualities/ the reader gets the impression that the speaker’s beloved is gentle and caring
• [1 mark for reader response, 1 mark for reason in context of poem] 

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3. Refer to lines 1-2: ‘somewhere i have … any experience’.� Comment on the effectiveness of the image in the context of the poem. (3)�

• Image = figurative! (Metaphorical and sensory)
• This experience of new love is so inexplicable, it as though he is going to a place he has never been before.
• He is undertaking an emotional/inward journey which has never before been explored.
• There is a willingness and excitement to undertake this new journey. 
• He has never explored his emotions so profoundly in a relationship before.
• [Award 3 marks only if the image is well discussed.]
• [Literal discussions are not credited]

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4. Refer to lines 5 – 8: ‘your slightest look … her first rose.� Critically discuss how the diction in these lines reinforce the speaker’s � attitude toward his beloved. (3) ��

• First sentence: Attitude
• The speaker is in awe of/totally besotted/ of his beloved.
• Diction = choice of words/ short phrases
• Identify two separate words that prove the poet’s attitude
• Avoid “the poet uses words such as…” (rather engage with each word specifically)
• “slightest look” – his beloved holds such power over him that even a glance in his direction has power
• “open” and “close” – his beloved has the ability to make him vulnerable and open up/ share his life with her
• “skillful,mysterious’ – his beloved’s hold over him goes beyond words
• “petals” “rose” – like Spring opens a rose, so too does she open him

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Questions and answers

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

1)Ms Linda Mallon

2)Thanks to our curriculum advisors for organising this!

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