Guidelines for comparing two poems.

Re-read the poems. Even in the exam. That's why you've got your book with you. Don't be lazy. This is the point where you can reall ymake a difference to your mark.

Find five or six points of comparison. The examiners seem to include the idea of 'contrast' within their idea of 'compare', so each of these points can focus either on a similarity or on a difference. (NB For Armitage and the Poems from other Cultures and Traditions, you'll only need 3 or 4 points: shorter essays.) You must express these points as sentences. Otherwise, you'll forget what you meant. Remember to think about : word, sentence, whole text.

Force yourself to get five or six: the last one or two may be the really clever one.

Now think of a way to finish. The best way, perhaps, is to use this as an opporunity to offer a personal judgement. Which poem do you prefer, and why? Which is the more successful? (But don't assume that making a personal evaluation allows you to say how boring they are!)

Now think of a snappy way to start. Never say that the poems have 'much in common' but are also 'very different'. the examiner has already read that 658,429 times. Make a big and interesting claim which your essay is going to explain.

Now, take each of your sentences in turn, in the best order, and write a paragraph or two simply explaining what you mean. Refer closely to the text of the poem. Describe, appreciate, interpret. What does the poet say? How is it said? Why is it put like that?

Glue on your ending and you're done.