compare and contrast essay on poems

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How To Structure A Poetry Comparison Essay

Introduction

Comparing two poems typically involves analyzing the content and structure of the poetry, as well as its universal themes, language, and the imagery used. Writing a poetry comparison essay is considered a formidable task for many because determining the similarities and differences between two pieces of poetry can be quite difficult. With the right approach, however, it’s quite possible to produce an impressive essay. For example, It’s essential to understand that it doesn’t suffice to point out the differences and similarities between two pieces of poetry, explain how they compare and contrast, and then summarize the findings. To write a successful paper, one needs to apply higher-level thinking to structure information gathered from researching the poems. This article provides useful tips on how to compare two poems and structure a successful poetry comparison essay.

Finding two poems to compare

The first step to writing a successful poetry comparison essay is finding two poems to compare. To facilitate this process, one can choose two poems by the same author or two poems on the same subject or theme. Alternatively, one can compare or contrast poems from different authors with content that explores the same themes, such as love, war, etc. Alternatively, one can go through existing literary criticism material or search in literary databases to find poets/poems to compare.

Creating a thesis statement

Next, it’s essential to put together a persuasive thesis statement that explains how two poems are related in terms of a specific literary element or idea. A thesis statement should make a direct, clear, and concise point. It’s also important to back up points made with direct citations or reference to the poems. Depending on the topic of the essay, the thesis statement may contain a number of concepts discussed in the body of the essay.

Outlining the paper

The structure of the paper should include an introduction with a thesis statement, a body, and a conclusion. A great example of an outline for this type of paper would be as follows: 1. Introduction with a thesis statement 2. Explain the first poem 3. Explain the second poem 4. Discussion of the differences and similarities between the two poems 5. Conclusion Moreover, it’s important to clearly point out how the comparison of the two poems relates back to the thesis statement. If the paper is more than 5 paragraphs, one may consider adding a paragraph discussing how each poem imparts a certain meaning or provides insight into a larger idea, such as how two poets view a single subject differently.

Discussing structure

When discussing the structure of two poems, one must look at how both poems are organized. This includes paying attention to the titles of the poems, the length of the lines, and the use of words. Perhaps, one poem has a traditional structure and rhythm, while the other is more flexible in terms of structure. Maybe the two poems have a similar tone or mood, yet have different ideas about a particular topic. How the poems use language to provide perspective or build an idea is also essential to consider.

Analyzing content

For this section, it’s important to focus on comparing the content and ideas of both poems. This includes looking at the themes, imagery, and characters in the poems, as well as the symbols, metaphors, and figurative language used by the characters. Likewise, one can analyze the type of diction and syntax that is used to create a certain tone or mood. Moreover, it’s important to consider how the message or meaning of a poem changes when it is viewed as part of a larger context. For example, is the author expressing a particular point of view, or is the poem a response to a previous poem?

Comparing universal themes

The final element to consider when writing a poetry comparison essay is the universal themes that are evident in each poem. Universal themes are the underlying messages that give shape to the poem and can be found in most poems. Examples of universal themes include love, loss, mortality, loneliness, joy, and growth. It’s important to examine how the poets explore these universal themes in each poem and consider how the themes work together to create a unique perspective. Additionally, one can consider how a poem might be interpreted differently by different readers due to their personal experiences.

In conclusion, writing a successful poetry comparison essay requires an in-depth analysis of two poems and the development of an overall argument or point of view. It’s essential to pick two poems to compare, create a thesis statement, develop an organized outline, and analyze the structure, content, and universal themes of both poems. With the right attention to detail and strategy, it is possible to write a successful, impactful, and well-structured poetry comparison essay.

Discussing structure of each poem

When evaluating the structure of both poems, one should focus on the title, length of lines, and the words used. For instance, one poem may have a traditional structure and rhythm, while the other might have a looser structure with irregular recurring patterns. On top of that, the two poems may or may not have the same tone or mood. It may be worth noting the difference in how the authors use words to help build their ideas.

Activity: Describing Content of each poem

When it comes to the content of both poems, consider to analyse the themes, characters, and symbols in each work. For example, what type of metaphors are used? What kind of diction and syntax help to create the mood and tone? Also, try to look at how the idea of each poem works within a larger context. For instance, is the poem a response to another poem or is it a stand-alone work?

Examining universal themes

The core messages in both pieces of poetry are known as the universal themes. These themes could be something like love, loss, or mortality. Look for these themes and analyse how each author explores those universal themes. Additionally, consider how the poem might be interpreted differently based upon different reader’s individual experiences.

Structuring the paper

When it comes to putting the paper together, you will need to create an outline. A great outline would be something like: Introduction, explanation of each poem, comparison of differences and similarities, and conclusion. Remind yourself of the thesis statement and make sure the comparison of both poems relates back to it. If the paper is more than 5 paragraphs, consider adding a section discussing how each poem imparts a certain meaning or provides insight into a larger idea.

Minnie Walters

Minnie Walters is a passionate writer and lover of poetry. She has a deep knowledge and appreciation for the work of famous poets such as William Wordsworth, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, and many more. She hopes you will also fall in love with poetry!

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How to Write an Essay Comparing Poems

This is Revision World’s guide on how to write an essay or answer an exam question that asks you to compare poems within the poetry anthology you are studying.

Understanding the Task:

Identify the Key Components: Ensure you understand the task requirements, including the poems you're comparing, the themes, and the aspects you need to analyse (e.g., structure, language, tone).

Pre-Writing Stage:

Read and Annotate: Read the poems multiple times, annotating key themes, literary devices, and interesting observations.

Identify Similarities and Differences: Note down similarities and differences in themes, imagery, language, structure, and tone between the two poems.

Structuring Your Essay:

 Introduction:

Introduce the poems and poets, providing context if necessary.

Present your thesis statement, outlining the main points of comparison.

Body Paragraphs:

Topic Sentences: Start each paragraph with a clear topic sentence that states the aspect of comparison.

Comparison: Analyse each poem separately, focusing on the chosen aspect (e.g., theme, structure). Then, compare and contrast the same aspect in both poems.

Use of Evidence: Provide evidence from the poems to support your analysis (quotations).

Analysis: Interpret the significance of the similarities and differences, considering their effects on the reader and the overall meaning of the poems.

Conclusion:

Summarise your main points of comparison.

Reflect on the significance of the comparisons and their implications for the reader.

Offer insights into the broader themes or messages conveyed by the poems.

Writing Tips:

Be Specific: Avoid vague statements and ensure your comparisons are specific and well-supported by evidence.

Consider Poetic Devices: Analyse the poets' use of poetic devices (e.g., imagery, symbolism, metaphor) and how they contribute to the overall effect of the poems.

Focus on Key Themes: Choose a few key themes or aspects to compare rather than attempting to cover everything in the poems.

Maintain Coherence: Ensure your essay flows logically, with clear transitions between paragraphs and ideas.

Proofread: Carefully proofread your essay for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors.

Example Statement:

"In 'Poem A' and 'Poem B,' both poets utilise imagery and symbolism to explore the theme of loss, but while 'Poem A' uses natural imagery to convey a sense of grief and acceptance, 'Poem B' employs religious symbolism to depict a more existential struggle with loss and faith."

Example Topic Sentences:

"In 'Poem A,' the poet employs vivid natural imagery to convey the speaker's emotional response to loss."

"Conversely, 'Poem B' utilises religious symbolism to explore the theme of loss in a more abstract and existential manner."

By following these steps and incorporating these tips, you can effectively write a well-structured and insightful essay comparing two poems in your GCSE English Literature exam.

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How to Compare and Contrast Two Poems

When you compare and contrast two poems, focus on similarities and differences between the themes, tone, imagery and language . You might compare and contrast two poems by the same author to show how the poet uses diverse methods to get her points across. Or, you might compare and contrast poems by different authors.

Focus on the Themes

Show how two poems have similar or different themes such as romantic love, death or courage. For example, you might compare and contrast themes in the epic poem "Beowulf" with those in "The Odyssey" by Homer. The two poems are similar because both contain themes of courage, honor, loyalty, hospitality and duty. However, Beowulf also contains themes about revenge and tribal allegiances, and "The Odyssey" contains themes about free will.

Examine the Mood and Tone

Two poems by the same author can have similar or different moods and tones . For example, you might compare and contrast two poems by the same author, such as "A Prayer in Spring" and "A Late Walk," by Robert Frost. The poems are similar because both focus on the wonders of nature and the changing seasons. However, "A Prayer in Spring" has a cheerful, delightful tone and a peaceful, grateful mood. Conversely, "A Late Walk" has a melancholy, somber tone and a depressing, pessimistic mood. Frost effectively differentiates the beauty of spring in one with the barrenness of fall in the other .

Study Imagery in Both Poems

Poets often use imagery and symbolism to reveal important truths about man and nature. Compare and contrast the use of imagery and symbolism in one poem with another poem from the same era. For example, you might compare and contrast Emily Dickinson's poem "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" with Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven." The two poems are similar because they deal with themes of death and loss, and both poets use imagery to reveal truths about death . However, Dickinson uses a pleasant carriage ride with a gentlemanly driver, the sunset and a house as a final resting place to show the inevitable, yet understandable and acceptable, role death plays in human lives. Poe uses an ominous, haunting raven who only utters "nevermore" to represent the dark, unwelcoming finality of death.

Evaluate the Language, Style and Format

Examine the language, style and format of both poems to find similarities and differences. Look at the author's choice of words, the meter, rhythm and the length of each line or stanza. For example, some poets prefer one-syllable words and short lines, such as Dr. Seuss, and others, such as William Wordsworth, prefer multisyllable words and long lines or stanzas. Consult with your teacher to determine how technical she wants your comparisons and contrasts to be, such as whether she wants you to discuss iambic pentameter, stressed syllables and feet.

• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill -- The Writing Center: Comparing and Contrasting
• Santiago Canyon College: English 102 -- Essay #2 -- Writing About Poetry; Professor Maureen Roe
• The Odyssey; Homer
• Poem Hunter: A Prayer in Spring; Robert Frost
• Poem Hunter: A Late Walk; Robert Frost
• Poetry Foundation: Because I Could Not Stop for Death; Emily Dickinson
• Poetry Foundation: The Raven; Edgar Allan Poe

As curriculum developer and educator, Kristine Tucker has enjoyed the plethora of English assignments she's read (and graded!) over the years. Her experiences as vice-president of an energy consulting firm have given her the opportunity to explore business writing and HR. Tucker has a BA and holds Ohio teaching credentials.

Writing About Literature

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Essay 1: Comparing Two Poems

Post your ideas for the first essay below. This is a good place to test thesis statements and topics and to discuss the finer details of the assignment.

Review the prompt and details for this assignment on Blackboard.

28 thoughts on “ Essay 1: Comparing Two Poems ”

Thesis: In this essay, I will show how “Thirteen Ways to Look at a Blackbird” by Wallace Stevens and “Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes both have themes relation to human emotions and analyze the execution presenting such themes.

Kyla, this is a great start! Try and focus in on a specific emotion that you read in both of these poems. I’m immediately inclined to point out fear or perhaps love, but there are certainly other emotions described or implied in each poem even if they are not explicitly named.

Thesis: “Ozymandias” and “My Last Duchess” are two poems that both describe works of art, a sculpture and a painting, respectively, both of which depict a deceased person. These artworks act as masks that hide the subjects’ real nature, as well as depicting the sum of their life’s work.

Petvy, this is a good overview for your essay. Your thesis statement might want to argue that the dead figures depicted in each work of art are similar and/or different in important ways. For instance, Ozymandias seems to have had a hand in the commissioning of his statue and seems to have held a great deal of power while he was alive. But the Duchess had her portrait commissioned by her husband and was ultimately (we may presume) murdered on her husband’s orders. While she lived, she seemed not to have much power (according to my reading, but perhaps you can prove otherwise). Do these figures fare differently as works of art? Ozymandias’s broken statue seems a bit embarrassing and ironic. The painting of Duchess, however, is a subtler presence: do you think the Duke remains jealous or fearful of her even after her death?

“Sonnet 73” and “Sonnet 116” are two different, yet very similar poems that use metaphors, imagery, and meter to portray the beauty and everlasting effect of love.

Karyna, commenting on the mystical qualities of love in Shakespeare’s sonnets is a great starting point for this essay. But know that every poem uses metaphor, imagery, and meter. What you’ll need to show is how the Shakespearean sonnet form (fourteen lines divided into three quatrains and a final conceit expressed in the closing couplet), exemplified in the two sonnets you’ve chosen, works within certain formal constraints to explore what you call “the beauty and everlasting effect of love.” I don’t see a hopeful outlook on love (by which I think you mean romantic love within the confines of a marriage?) in Sonnet 73. That poem is more pensive and is concerned with “lov[ing] that well which thou must leave ere long.” In other words, enjoy the moment because this love is not going to last. This seems to be the antithesis to “the beauty and everlasting effect of love,” so if you keep with the theme you’ve chosen, Sonnet 73 should act as a sort of foil to Sonnet 116. If you’re going to talk about “metaphors, imagery, and meter,” you would do better to focus on elements like tone or mood, personification, or simile, as well as sonic qualities of the poem where you notice them, such as alliteration, assonance, and consonance, and repeated or closely related words. Always use adjectives to describe the tone, mood, imagery, meter, or any other literary device you’re scrutinizing. Using any of these terms without an accompanying adjective doesn’t tell your audience anything they won’t already know.

How do you start to do this? Reading each poem very closely! Start by breaking the poem into sections (quatrains and couplets) and then into lines and finally phrases or single words.

The two poems I have selected for this Essay is Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost and It is a Beauteous Evening, Calm and Free by William Wordsworth. The theme I am focusing on is nature and the influence it had on both characters in certain ways.

Tayyab, this is a good start. You’ll need to explicitly show what you mean by “nature” because it’s a broad term. You’ll also need to be more specific than to simply state that nature has an “influence… on both characters in certain ways.”

Here are some questions to get you started:

How, specifically, does Wordsworth’s speaker respond to the beauty and calmness and freedom of the evening by the seashore? Is the little girl part of “nature,” as you understand the term? How, specifically, does Frost’s speaker respond to the cold and the snow of the evening, to the woods, to his little horse, to the miles he still has to go before he can sleep? Does it matter that the speaker “thinks” he knows whose woods he stops by?

Do these speaker’s make similar resolutions? Do they have similar responses to their surroundings? What is important about the similarities or differences you see in these responses, and why?

John Milton’s “On His Blindness” and Sir Phillip Sydney’s Sonnet 1 are both examples of poems that discuss an artist’s relationship to his work and his struggle to find inspiration and meaning in his work. In “On His Blindness”, the author finds it in a higher being while in Sonnet 1 he finds it in another person.

Ilya, I like the contrast you’re setting up between these two sonnets. Besides Milton’s overt deference to God and Sidney’s Muse’s admonition that he need only look into his heart to find the words by which to express his love for his beloved, Milton emphasizes Talent while Sidney emphasizes a progression of interconnected, interdependent, personified ideas: Knowledge, Pleasure, Nature, Invention, Study, etc. Milton wants to avoid wasting his talent, while Sidney needs to be reminded by his Muse to look into his heart. Maybe there’s some room for comparison and contrast here.

Also worth comparing are the voices that speak in each poem: the murmuring voice of “On His Blindness” and the Muse in “Sonnet 1.” Can you make any connections between these two voices?

John Keats’ “Ode on a Grecian Urn” and Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess” both concern the appreciation of beauty in its stillness. In “Ode on a Grecian Urn”, the speaker is content with the immortalization of movement and strong emotion while in “My Last Duchess”, the speaker is satisfied with keeping his previously outgoing wife still and controlled as a painting.

Chiara, comparing these poems is a very logical move, since they are both ekphrastic poems (talk about ekphrasis in your essay!).

Is the speaker of “Ode on a Grecian Urn” truly, as you say, content? What, then, do we make of his exclamation, “Cold Pastoral!” Pastoral is poetry about an idyllic, restful life in the countryside. But “Cold” vexes this sunny view of pastoral—interpreting the meaning of “Cold” in this line will go a long way toward defending your reading of the speaker’s response to the urn. I do like the ways you’re reading the two poems.

Although “Sonnet 73” by William Shakespeare and “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” by Wallace Stevens both talk about similar issues, they are able to talk about different aspects of the same idea using there unique poetic writing style.

Jordan, you’ll have to work on this thesis statement. To say both poets have a “unique poetic writing style” doesn’t tell your audience anything. Shakespeare’s sonnet is, formally speaking, a very different poem from Stevens’s “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird,” which has no rhyme scheme, meter, or fixed stanza. More importantly, what are the “similar issues” these poems talk about? Again, “similar issues” shows your audience nothing. Note the specific similarities in your introductory paragraph and show how your reading of the poems will bring new similarities and differences to light.

In this paper, I will analyze how both Robert Frost in, “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening,” and Emily Dickinson in “Because I Could Not Stop For Death,” utilize irony to portray death with a paradoxical approach. Dickinson uses irony in her poem by relating a serious topic of death with a soft-approach and tone, treating it as a journey. Likewise, in “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening,” the speaker wants to stop and admire the beauty of the tranquility in the woods, but cannot due to the obligations he still has to fulfill. Frost thus uses irony to convey how the speaker has responsibilities in life before he can “enjoy” a more calmer occasion, such as resting, or even death.

Love this! Keep building on these ideas.

“The Snow Man” and “The Learn’d Astronomer” employ the themes of nature and man. “The Snow Man” paints the scene of a winter landscape, while “The Learn’d Astronomer” demonstrates the battle between scientific knowledge and natural knowledge of the stars. Both poems involve a higher perspective of thinking: “The Snow Man” promotes an objective view of nature, while “The Learn’d Astronomer” advances that experience and wisdom are the key to true knowledge.

Mary, I really like the ideas you’re working through here. I would question the “objective view of nature” you posit to be present in “The Snow Man.” What, then, do we do with the lines “for the listener, who listens in the snow, / And, nothing himself, beholds / Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.” I can see how one might read this as an “objective view of nature,” as you do. And this is a good reading. I wonder whether the ambiguity of these lines might necessitate further explanation. Similarly, in Whitman’s poem, that learn’d astronomer himself seems to present the speaker and the students in the auditorium with an “objective view of nature.” Keeping in mind that what we now call science used to be called “natural philosophy,” I think you might mean to contrast “scientific knowledge” with “poetic knowledge.” Does this get closer to the position you’re trying to uphold?

Thesis: In “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” by Wallace Stevens and “Because I Could Not Stop For Death” by Emily Dickinson, both poems utilize different literary devices such as vivid imagery that generates very dark undertones, that help develop the common theme of irony shared between the two.

Lanz, the questions you’ll have to address, if you keep this thesis unchanged, include the following. What is it about the imagery of these poems that can be called “vivid”? Likewise, can you give specific examples (perhaps images that seem similar or even the same between the two poems) of what you mean by “imagery that generates very dark undertones?” Dark in hue, or dark in mood? Both? One or the other, depending on the poem? What is ironic about each poem, and how does irony help us to better understand the speaker of Dickinon’s poem in relation to Death, and the speaker(s) in Stevens’s poem in relation to a blackbird?

The victims of time often are forced to face their own mortality, this phenomenon occurs throughout Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 60” and “Sonnet 64”. Imagery rooted in metaphorical language (generally alluding to themes regarding nature) in addition to structural parallelism (or lack thereof) creates an overarching theme across poems: Time is an enemy, and occasionally a paradoxical entity.

Cory, comparing these two sonnets is going to give you plenty to say. I think you can get even more specific than simply saying Shakespeare uses nature imagery. He uses imagery of oceans and shores, farms and fields, etc. “Nature” by itself could mean everything that is not myself, i.e., my mind. The shared theme of Time as something to be resisted through cultivating an appreciation for the fullness of life and youth is a great anchor to your more particularized readings of the imagery and its function within each respective poem.

For my essay, I will be comparing Robert Browning, “My Last Duchess” and Robert Frost, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”. I am interested in the way the story gets told in each poem. I don’t know what it is called though! The majority of Frost’s poem is the person being distracted by the woods. At the end, he regains focus and continues walking. The majority of My Last Duchess is the person complaining about his ex in a painting. At the end, he dismisses it and moves onto Neptune. I need help determining what this is called, but this is what I want the focus of my essay to be of.

Joe, I’m wondering whether you might consider the differences between solitude and society in these poems. On one reading Frost’s speaker is very much alone in the woods, and yet he is not lonely. He knows there’s a village and an acquaintance (perhaps the owner of the woods might even be surmised to be a friend) nearby. He knows he has a place to sleep at the end of his journey. Perhaps it’s in a warm, familiar place, or perhaps it’s an eternal sleep with a community of souls who have died.

Browning’s speaker, Ferrara, on the other hand, enjoys all the comforts of an obedient court, a rapt audience in the courtly attendant of his new fiancée, and a house filled with fine art commissioned by some of the best artists available for hire. And yet, in a very important, poignant way, he is utterly alone in spite of all his power. This is the thing people never seem to understand about power. It breeds isolation and distrust.

I think the word you’re looking for is persona. The persona of the speaker in Frost’s poem seems more genuinely self-assured than the confident yet jealous Ferrara.

Thanks for the reply?

Meant to say Thanks for the reply! With an exclamation not a question mark, now I sound sarcastic. I will definitely try to make comparison on Persona.

The two poems I will talk about in my essay are, “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Bird” and “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”. The common theme I will talk about between the two poems is Death.

Aiden, make sure in your opening paragraph, and in your thesis, to note specific ways each poem reflects on death. In Dickinson’s poem, Death is personified and takes on concrete characteristics (“He kindly stopped for me”). In Stevens’s poem, however, death is not personified and is more implied that openly articulated in the presence, absence, activity, or stillness of the blackbird or the scene in which the blackbird is involved. What role might literary devices like irony, sarcasm, innuendo, or mood play in each poem’s characterization(s) of death? What is clear or unclear about how the speaker thinks about or avoids thinking about death? Can either poem be said to be mournful? Obviously, there’s an endless font of questions to draw from. By articulating your reading of the particular ways in which each poem reflects on death early in your own essay, you’ll hopefully limit the range of possible interpretive questions to something manageable for a five-page paper.

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10 Comparing and contrasting

Often you will find that an assignment asks you to ‘compare and contrast’ poems. There's a very good reason for this, for often it is only by considering different treatments of similar subjects that we become aware of a range of possibilities, and begin to understand why particular choices have been made. You will have realised that often in the previous discussions I've used a similar strategy, showing, for example, how we can describe the rhyme scheme of ‘Love From the North’ as simple once we have looked at the more intricate patterning of Keats's ‘The Eve of St Agnes’ or Tennyson's ‘Mariana’. Anne Brontë's ‘Home’ and Grace Nichols's ‘Wherever I Hang’ treat the subject of exile in quite different ways, and looking at one can sharpen our understanding of what the other does.

Activity 13

Click the link below and read the opening lines from two poems commemorating deaths. What can you identify to explain why they sound so very different?

View document: Poems commemorating deaths [ Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. ( Hide tip ) ]

If I had to identify one thing, I would say that the first begins more elaborately and with a more formal tone than the second. ‘Felix Randal’ tends to use language in an unusual way, but you would probably agree that the first sentence is quite straightforward and sounds colloquial (or informal), as if the speaker has just overheard someone talking about Randal's death and wants to confirm his impression. ‘Lycidas’ opens quite differently. It is not immediately apparent what evergreens have to do with anything (in fact they work to establish an appropriately melancholy atmosphere or tone), and it isn't until line 8 that we learn of a death. The word ‘dead’ is repeated, and the following line tells us that Lycidas was a young man. While ‘Felix Randal’ has an immediacy, the speaker of ‘Lycidas’ seems to find it hard to get going.

Both poems are elegies – poems written to commemorate death – and both poets are aware of writing within this convention, although they treat it differently.

Activity 14

What do the titles of the poems used in Activity 13 tell us about each poem, and how might they help us understand the different uses of the elegiac convention?

I think it would be apparent to most readers that ‘Felix Randall’ is simply a man's name, while ‘Lycidas’ is more mysterious. In fact Lycidas is a traditional pastoral name, but unless you know something about the classical pastoral tradition it might mean very little to you. The young man whose death Milton was commemorating was actually called Edward King, but, at the time he was writing, elegies were formal, public and impersonal poems rather than private expressions of grief. ‘Lycidas’ commemorates a member of a prominent family rather than a close friend of the poet's. Over two hundred years later, Hopkins, while working loosely within the same elegiac convention, adapts it. Felix Randal is an ordinary working man, not a public figure. In the seventeenth century it would have been unlikely that he would have been considered worthy of a poem like this.

If you were making a special study of elegies, there would be a great deal more to say. That's not the idea here, though. The point is that by comparing and contrasting the tone of the opening lines and the titles, and considering when the poems were written, we have come up with a number of significant differences.

Activity 15

Click the link below and read the attached poem by Robert Browning (1812–1889) carefully. Who is speaking, and who is being addressed?

View document: Robert Browning ‘Memorabilia’

From the evidence of the poem we know that the speaker once walked across a moor, found an eagle's feather, and has a high regard for the poet Shelley (1792–1822). The person being addressed is not named, but we discover that he (or she) once met Shelley, and this alone confers status by association. The word ‘you’ (‘your’ in one instance) is repeated in 6 out of the first 8 lines. ‘You’ becomes a rhyme word at the end of the second line, so when we reach the word ‘new’ in line four – one of the two lines in the first stanzas that doesn't contain ‘you’ – the echo supplies the deficiency. ‘You’ clearly represents an important focus in the first half of the poem, but who exactly is ‘you’ ?

Thinking about this apparently straightforward question of who is being addressed takes us into an important area of critical debate: for each one of us who has just read the poem has, in one sense, become a person who not only knows who Shelley is (which may not necessarily be the case) but lived when he did, met him, listened to him, and indeed exchanged at least a couple of words with him. Each of us reads the poem as an individual, but the poem itself constructs a reader who is not identical to any of us. We are so used to adopting ‘reading’ roles dictated by texts like this that often we don't even notice the way in which the text has manipulated us.

Activity 16

Now read the Robert Browning poem again, this time asking yourself if the speaking voice changes in the last two stanzas, and if the person who is being addressed remains the same.

If the first half of the poem is characterised by the repetition of ‘you’ and the sense of an audience that pronoun creates, then the second half seems quite different in content and tone. The speaker is trying to find a parallel in his experience to make sense of and explain his feeling of awe; the change of tone is subtle. Whereas someone is undoubtedly being addressed directly in the first stanza, in the third and fourth, readers overhear – as if the speaker is talking to himself.

At first the connection between the man who met Shelley and the memory of finding an eagle's feather may not be obvious, but there is a point of comparison. As stanza 2 explains, part of the speaker's sense of wonder stems from the fact that time did not stand still: ‘you were living before that, / And also you are living after’. The moor in stanza 3, like the listener, is anonymous – it has ‘a name of its own … no doubt’ – but where it is or what it is called is unimportant: only one ‘hand's-breadth’ is memorable, the spot that ‘shines alone’ where the feather was found. The poem is about moments that stand out in our memories while the ordinary daily stuff of life fades. It also acknowledges that we don't all value the same things.

Activity 17

Take another look at the poem. How would you describe its form?

The structure of the poem is perfectly balanced: of the four quatrains, two deal with each memory, so, although the nature of each seems quite different, implicitly the form invites us to compare them. Think about the way in which Browning introduces the eagle feather. How does he convince us that this is a rare find?

To begin with, the third and fourth stanzas make up one complete sentence, with a colon at the end of the third announcing the fourth; this helps to achieve a sense of building up to something important. Then we move from the visual image of a large space of moor to the very circumscribed place where the feather is found, but the reason why this ‘hand's-breadth’ shines out is delayed for the next two lines ‘For there I picked up on the heather’ – yes? what? – ‘And there I put inside my breast’ – well? – ‘A moulted feather’, ah (and notice the internal rhyme there of ‘feather’ with ‘heather’ which draws attention to and emphasises the harmony of the moment), and then the word ‘feather’ is repeated and expanded: ‘an eagle-feather’ Clearly the feather of no other bird would do, for ultimately the comparison is of eagle to the poet; Browning knows Shelley through his poetry as he knows the eagle through its feather, and that feather presents a striking visual image.

There is an immediacy about the conversational opening of the poem which, I have suggested, deliberately moves into a more contemplative tone, possibly in the second stanza (think about it), but certainly by the third. We have considered some of the poetic techniques that Browning employs to convince us of the rarity of his find in the third and fourth stanzas. You might like to think more analytically about the word sounds, not just the rhyme but, for example, the repeated ‘ae’ sound in ‘breadth’ ‘heather’ ‘breast’ and ‘feather’. What, however, do you make of the tone of the last line? Try saying the last lines of each stanza out loud. Whether you can identify the metre with technical language or not is beside the point. The important thing is that ‘Well, I forget the rest’ sounds deliberately lame. After the intensity of two extraordinary memories, everything else pales into insignificance and, to reiterate this, the rhythm tails off. While the tone throughout is informal, the last remark is deliberately casual.

In order to come to an understanding of the poem, and to see how the sense of a reader in the text is constructed, we have discussed Browning's use of repetition, rhyme, rhythm, structure, and visual imagery . Our analysis has not by any means exhausted the poem's potential, but, as it is only through practice that we become confident readers of poetry, this is the moment to turn to something very different and see whether similar questions apply. ‘Poem’, by the American Frank O‘Hara (1926–1966), was written in 1962, more than a hundred years after ‘Memorabilia’.

Activity 18

Read the attached ‘Poem’ by Frank O'Hara two or three times (click the link below to open it), first to get a sense of what it's about, then as you re-read ask yourself if it has anything at all in common with ‘Memorabilia’.

View document: Frank O'Hara ‘Poem’

Your first thought may well have been that there are no similarities between the poems, and certainly in the long run there are probably more differences. Nevertheless, ‘Poem’ is also about hero worship of a kind – of a film star rather than a poet this time – and it too has a conversational tone as well as at least one reader in the poem, the ‘you’ who says it is hailing, the ‘you’ that the speaker is in ‘such a hurry/to meet’, and Lana Turner herself, to whom the last line is, comically, addressed.

One of the ways in which Browning achieved a sense of a speaking voice was in the repetition of ‘and’, stringing clauses of his sentences together so that they resemble spoken rather than written language. O‘Hara also uses ‘and’ (seven times) as well as ‘so’ and ‘but’, which function in a similar way, joining ideas and clauses. We can't, however, talk of sentences in the same way here for, with the exception of two exclamation marks, there is no punctuation at all and, unlike Browning, O‘Hara has not used capital letters to begin his lines. There is no rhyme either and, since we don't use rhyme schemes when we speak to each other in daily life, this too helps to create an informal tone. How is it that O‘Hara has confidently conferred the title ‘Poem’ on his work, then? What techniques has he used to ensure that we recognise that language is being used in a special way, or is this simply prose in disguise?

First, visually the words make a neat block of text on the page that we would not expect to find were we reading prose. In the absence of rhymes to govern line endings, though, are beginnings and endings of lines quite arbitrary? (If you have time, write out the poem as if it were prose, cover up the original, and then try to turn it back into verse as you did earlier with ‘Mona Lisa’. The same exercise would not work with ‘Memorabilia’, because the rhyme scheme there dictates the pattern.

How, then, is ‘Poem’ structured? Thinking about repetition helps, for once you notice repetition you begin to discern pattern. The arresting opening line, ‘Lana Turner has collapsed’, is repeated two-thirds of the way through, and the second time the upper case lettering of a news vendor's board is reproduced for our special attention, recreating the moment when the speaker sees it. The first part of the poem deals with ‘now’. There is a lot of weather, and I can't help feeling that had O‘Hara used the word ‘sleet’, there would have been no poem, for the deliberate patterning of

‘raining/snowing/hailing/hailing/snowing/raining’

in lines 3–7 is one of its great pleasures. Notice too the alliteration – ‘hailing’, ‘hit’, ‘head’ and ‘hard’ – recreating the effects of hail, especially as ‘hard’, coming at the beginning of a line, gets extra emphasis. Alliteration, like rhyme, is a special kind of patterning. The inventive image of the traffic ‘acting exactly like the sky’ – busy, unpleasant, coming from all directions – adds to the sense of movement, when suddenly in the midst of all the confusion the headline arrests the speaker's progress, and the poem. The last six lines are reflective, implicitly comparing ‘there’ with ‘here’ – there's no rain or snow in California, and the repeated sentence construction at the start of those two lines plays its part in slowing down the verse movement. The pun on meanings of ‘collapsed’ provides the comic ending to the poem.

The kind of analysis we‘ve been doing helps us to see how poems work. In each case, the apparently informal tone has been carefully achieved; in spite of the casual effect, each is highly organised. We have also begun to notice the way in which readers are constructed by the text, and this will always be important, whether we are reading poetry or prose.

Comparing and Contrasting

What this handout is about.

This handout will help you first to determine whether a particular assignment is asking for comparison/contrast and then to generate a list of similarities and differences, decide which similarities and differences to focus on, and organize your paper so that it will be clear and effective. It will also explain how you can (and why you should) develop a thesis that goes beyond “Thing A and Thing B are similar in many ways but different in others.”

Introduction

In your career as a student, you’ll encounter many different kinds of writing assignments, each with its own requirements. One of the most common is the comparison/contrast essay, in which you focus on the ways in which certain things or ideas—usually two of them—are similar to (this is the comparison) and/or different from (this is the contrast) one another. By assigning such essays, your instructors are encouraging you to make connections between texts or ideas, engage in critical thinking, and go beyond mere description or summary to generate interesting analysis: when you reflect on similarities and differences, you gain a deeper understanding of the items you are comparing, their relationship to each other, and what is most important about them.

Recognizing comparison/contrast in assignments

Some assignments use words—like compare, contrast, similarities, and differences—that make it easy for you to see that they are asking you to compare and/or contrast. Here are a few hypothetical examples:

• Compare and contrast Frye’s and Bartky’s accounts of oppression.
• Compare WWI to WWII, identifying similarities in the causes, development, and outcomes of the wars.
• Contrast Wordsworth and Coleridge; what are the major differences in their poetry?

Notice that some topics ask only for comparison, others only for contrast, and others for both.

But it’s not always so easy to tell whether an assignment is asking you to include comparison/contrast. And in some cases, comparison/contrast is only part of the essay—you begin by comparing and/or contrasting two or more things and then use what you’ve learned to construct an argument or evaluation. Consider these examples, noticing the language that is used to ask for the comparison/contrast and whether the comparison/contrast is only one part of a larger assignment:

• Choose a particular idea or theme, such as romantic love, death, or nature, and consider how it is treated in two Romantic poems.
• How do the different authors we have studied so far define and describe oppression?
• Compare Frye’s and Bartky’s accounts of oppression. What does each imply about women’s collusion in their own oppression? Which is more accurate?
• In the texts we’ve studied, soldiers who served in different wars offer differing accounts of their experiences and feelings both during and after the fighting. What commonalities are there in these accounts? What factors do you think are responsible for their differences?

You may want to check out our handout on understanding assignments for additional tips.

Using comparison/contrast for all kinds of writing projects

Sometimes you may want to use comparison/contrast techniques in your own pre-writing work to get ideas that you can later use for an argument, even if comparison/contrast isn’t an official requirement for the paper you’re writing. For example, if you wanted to argue that Frye’s account of oppression is better than both de Beauvoir’s and Bartky’s, comparing and contrasting the main arguments of those three authors might help you construct your evaluation—even though the topic may not have asked for comparison/contrast and the lists of similarities and differences you generate may not appear anywhere in the final draft of your paper.

Discovering similarities and differences

Making a Venn diagram or a chart can help you quickly and efficiently compare and contrast two or more things or ideas. To make a Venn diagram, simply draw some overlapping circles, one circle for each item you’re considering. In the central area where they overlap, list the traits the two items have in common. Assign each one of the areas that doesn’t overlap; in those areas, you can list the traits that make the things different. Here’s a very simple example, using two pizza places:

To make a chart, figure out what criteria you want to focus on in comparing the items. Along the left side of the page, list each of the criteria. Across the top, list the names of the items. You should then have a box per item for each criterion; you can fill the boxes in and then survey what you’ve discovered.

Here’s an example, this time using three pizza places:

As you generate points of comparison, consider the purpose and content of the assignment and the focus of the class. What do you think the professor wants you to learn by doing this comparison/contrast? How does it fit with what you have been studying so far and with the other assignments in the course? Are there any clues about what to focus on in the assignment itself?

Here are some general questions about different types of things you might have to compare. These are by no means complete or definitive lists; they’re just here to give you some ideas—you can generate your own questions for these and other types of comparison. You may want to begin by using the questions reporters traditionally ask: Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? If you’re talking about objects, you might also consider general properties like size, shape, color, sound, weight, taste, texture, smell, number, duration, and location.

Two historical periods or events

• When did they occur—do you know the date(s) and duration? What happened or changed during each? Why are they significant?
• What kinds of work did people do? What kinds of relationships did they have? What did they value?
• What kinds of governments were there? Who were important people involved?
• What caused events in these periods, and what consequences did they have later on?

Two ideas or theories

• What are they about?
• Did they originate at some particular time?
• Who created them? Who uses or defends them?
• What is the central focus, claim, or goal of each? What conclusions do they offer?
• How are they applied to situations/people/things/etc.?
• Which seems more plausible to you, and why? How broad is their scope?
• What kind of evidence is usually offered for them?

Two pieces of writing or art

• What are their titles? What do they describe or depict?
• What is their tone or mood? What is their form?
• Who created them? When were they created? Why do you think they were created as they were? What themes do they address?
• Do you think one is of higher quality or greater merit than the other(s)—and if so, why?
• For writing: what plot, characterization, setting, theme, tone, and type of narration are used?
• Where are they from? How old are they? What is the gender, race, class, etc. of each?
• What, if anything, are they known for? Do they have any relationship to each other?
• What are they like? What did/do they do? What do they believe? Why are they interesting?
• What stands out most about each of them?

Deciding what to focus on

By now you have probably generated a huge list of similarities and differences—congratulations! Next you must decide which of them are interesting, important, and relevant enough to be included in your paper. Ask yourself these questions:

• What’s relevant to the assignment?
• What’s relevant to the course?
• What’s interesting and informative?
• What matters to the argument you are going to make?
• What’s basic or central (and needs to be mentioned even if obvious)?
• Overall, what’s more important—the similarities or the differences?

Suppose that you are writing a paper comparing two novels. For most literature classes, the fact that they both use Caslon type (a kind of typeface, like the fonts you may use in your writing) is not going to be relevant, nor is the fact that one of them has a few illustrations and the other has none; literature classes are more likely to focus on subjects like characterization, plot, setting, the writer’s style and intentions, language, central themes, and so forth. However, if you were writing a paper for a class on typesetting or on how illustrations are used to enhance novels, the typeface and presence or absence of illustrations might be absolutely critical to include in your final paper.

Sometimes a particular point of comparison or contrast might be relevant but not terribly revealing or interesting. For example, if you are writing a paper about Wordsworth’s “Tintern Abbey” and Coleridge’s “Frost at Midnight,” pointing out that they both have nature as a central theme is relevant (comparisons of poetry often talk about themes) but not terribly interesting; your class has probably already had many discussions about the Romantic poets’ fondness for nature. Talking about the different ways nature is depicted or the different aspects of nature that are emphasized might be more interesting and show a more sophisticated understanding of the poems.

Your thesis

The thesis of your comparison/contrast paper is very important: it can help you create a focused argument and give your reader a road map so they don’t get lost in the sea of points you are about to make. As in any paper, you will want to replace vague reports of your general topic (for example, “This paper will compare and contrast two pizza places,” or “Pepper’s and Amante are similar in some ways and different in others,” or “Pepper’s and Amante are similar in many ways, but they have one major difference”) with something more detailed and specific. For example, you might say, “Pepper’s and Amante have similar prices and ingredients, but their atmospheres and willingness to deliver set them apart.”

Be careful, though—although this thesis is fairly specific and does propose a simple argument (that atmosphere and delivery make the two pizza places different), your instructor will often be looking for a bit more analysis. In this case, the obvious question is “So what? Why should anyone care that Pepper’s and Amante are different in this way?” One might also wonder why the writer chose those two particular pizza places to compare—why not Papa John’s, Dominos, or Pizza Hut? Again, thinking about the context the class provides may help you answer such questions and make a stronger argument. Here’s a revision of the thesis mentioned earlier:

Pepper’s and Amante both offer a greater variety of ingredients than other Chapel Hill/Carrboro pizza places (and than any of the national chains), but the funky, lively atmosphere at Pepper’s makes it a better place to give visiting friends and family a taste of local culture.

You may find our handout on constructing thesis statements useful at this stage.

Organizing your paper

There are many different ways to organize a comparison/contrast essay. Here are two:

Subject-by-subject

Begin by saying everything you have to say about the first subject you are discussing, then move on and make all the points you want to make about the second subject (and after that, the third, and so on, if you’re comparing/contrasting more than two things). If the paper is short, you might be able to fit all of your points about each item into a single paragraph, but it’s more likely that you’d have several paragraphs per item. Using our pizza place comparison/contrast as an example, after the introduction, you might have a paragraph about the ingredients available at Pepper’s, a paragraph about its location, and a paragraph about its ambience. Then you’d have three similar paragraphs about Amante, followed by your conclusion.

The danger of this subject-by-subject organization is that your paper will simply be a list of points: a certain number of points (in my example, three) about one subject, then a certain number of points about another. This is usually not what college instructors are looking for in a paper—generally they want you to compare or contrast two or more things very directly, rather than just listing the traits the things have and leaving it up to the reader to reflect on how those traits are similar or different and why those similarities or differences matter. Thus, if you use the subject-by-subject form, you will probably want to have a very strong, analytical thesis and at least one body paragraph that ties all of your different points together.

A subject-by-subject structure can be a logical choice if you are writing what is sometimes called a “lens” comparison, in which you use one subject or item (which isn’t really your main topic) to better understand another item (which is). For example, you might be asked to compare a poem you’ve already covered thoroughly in class with one you are reading on your own. It might make sense to give a brief summary of your main ideas about the first poem (this would be your first subject, the “lens”), and then spend most of your paper discussing how those points are similar to or different from your ideas about the second.

Point-by-point

Rather than addressing things one subject at a time, you may wish to talk about one point of comparison at a time. There are two main ways this might play out, depending on how much you have to say about each of the things you are comparing. If you have just a little, you might, in a single paragraph, discuss how a certain point of comparison/contrast relates to all the items you are discussing. For example, I might describe, in one paragraph, what the prices are like at both Pepper’s and Amante; in the next paragraph, I might compare the ingredients available; in a third, I might contrast the atmospheres of the two restaurants.

If I had a bit more to say about the items I was comparing/contrasting, I might devote a whole paragraph to how each point relates to each item. For example, I might have a whole paragraph about the clientele at Pepper’s, followed by a whole paragraph about the clientele at Amante; then I would move on and do two more paragraphs discussing my next point of comparison/contrast—like the ingredients available at each restaurant.

There are no hard and fast rules about organizing a comparison/contrast paper, of course. Just be sure that your reader can easily tell what’s going on! Be aware, too, of the placement of your different points. If you are writing a comparison/contrast in service of an argument, keep in mind that the last point you make is the one you are leaving your reader with. For example, if I am trying to argue that Amante is better than Pepper’s, I should end with a contrast that leaves Amante sounding good, rather than with a point of comparison that I have to admit makes Pepper’s look better. If you’ve decided that the differences between the items you’re comparing/contrasting are most important, you’ll want to end with the differences—and vice versa, if the similarities seem most important to you.

Our handout on organization can help you write good topic sentences and transitions and make sure that you have a good overall structure in place for your paper.

Cue words and other tips

To help your reader keep track of where you are in the comparison/contrast, you’ll want to be sure that your transitions and topic sentences are especially strong. Your thesis should already have given the reader an idea of the points you’ll be making and the organization you’ll be using, but you can help them out with some extra cues. The following words may be helpful to you in signaling your intentions:

• like, similar to, also, unlike, similarly, in the same way, likewise, again, compared to, in contrast, in like manner, contrasted with, on the contrary, however, although, yet, even though, still, but, nevertheless, conversely, at the same time, regardless, despite, while, on the one hand … on the other hand.

For example, you might have a topic sentence like one of these:

• Compared to Pepper’s, Amante is quiet.
• Like Amante, Pepper’s offers fresh garlic as a topping.
• Despite their different locations (downtown Chapel Hill and downtown Carrboro), Pepper’s and Amante are both fairly easy to get to.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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8.6: Essay Type- Comparing and Contrasting Literature

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• Page ID 101138

• Heather Ringo & Athena Kashyap
• City College of San Francisco via ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative

Compare and Contrast Essay Basics

The Compare and Contrast Essay is a literary analysis essay, but, instead of examining one work, it examines two or more works. These works must be united by a common theme or thesis statement. For example, while a literary analysis essay might explore the significance of ghosts in William Shakespeare's Hamlet, a compare/contrast essay might explore the significance of the supernatural in Hamlet and Macbeth .

Literary Analysis Thesis Statement:

While Horatio seems to think the ghost of Old Hamlet is a demon trying to lead Hamlet to death, and Gertrude and Claudius think it is a figment of Hamlet's insanity, Hamlet's status as an unreliable narrator and the ghost actually symbolizes the oppression of Catholics during Shakespeare's time period.

Compare and Contrast Thesis Statement:

The unreliable narrators paired with the ghosts in both Hamlet and Macbeth symbolize the oppression of Catholics in Shakespeare's time period.

Essay Genre Expectations

• Use first-person pronouns sparingly (you, me, we, our)
• Avoid colloquialisms
• Spell out contractions
• Use subject-specific terminology, such as naming literary devices
• Texts: two or more
• Avoid summary. Aim for analysis and interpretation
• MLA formatting and citations

Organization

While the literary analysis essay follows a fairly simple argumentative essay structure, the compare and contrast essay is slightly more complicated. It might be arranged by:

• Literary work (the block method)
• Topics/subtopics (the point-by-point method)

In general, ensure each paragraph supports the thesis statement and that both literary works receive equal attention. Include as many body paragraphs as needed to build your argument.

First Option for Organization: The Block Method

In this first option for organization, you will need to discuss both literary works in the introduction and thesis statement, but then the body of the paper will be divided in half. The first half of the body paragraphs should focus on one literary work, while the second half of the body paragraphs should focus on the other literary work.

• Background of topic
• Background of works related to topic
• Thesis Statement
• Topic sentence
• Introduction of evidence
• Evidence from the first literary work
• Explanation of evidence
• Analysis of evidence
• Evidence from the second literary work
• Restatement of thesis in new words
• Summary of essay arguments

Second Option for Organization: The Point-by-Point Method

With this second option for organization, you may decide to write about both literary works within the same body paragraph every time, or you may choose to consistently alternate back and forth between the literary works in separate body paragraphs.

• Evidence from both literary works

Anthony Cockerill

| Writing | The written word | Teaching English |

Teach your students how to compare poems for GCSE English Literature, Paper 2, Section B

Learn some of these brilliant strategies for teaching really effective poetry comparison for  GCSE English Literature, Paper 2, Section B.

One of the elements of our students’ exam performance we identified as a weakness in last summer’s examination series was comparing poems from the AQA poetry anthology, Poems Past and Present, which forms part of GCSE English Literature Paper Two. In the English Department at Boroughbridge High School, where we teach the Power and Conflict cluster, we’ve been spending time over these past few weeks taking a closer look at what our students need to do in order to write a great poetry comparison. Using our current students’ work alongside papers we recalled from last summer – plus the ever helpful examiner’s report – we’re working to establish some maxims for how we teach this particular aspect of the examination, which I’d like to share with you in this blog post.

1. Get your students to know the poems really well.

‘Students who knew the text were able to move around and within it in order to respond to the specifics of the task.’ AQA Examiners’ report, June 2017. 

There are some great ways to introduce students to poems, such as D irected A ctivities R elated to T exts, in which a student is usually instructed to reconstruct or resequence a text. An activity might encourage students to think about the form of the text, the structure, or the recurrence of particular types of language.

As a first encounter with Seamus Heaney’s ‘Storm on the Island’, students might consider what the poem could be about by exploring the nouns. Are there any patterns? Could they be classified into lexical fields? Or they might attempt to write a poem or description using words sorted by their function. Alternatively, a teacher might encourage students to engage intellectually or emotionally with the poem by exploring a still image, a moving image clip or by sharing a story.

The subsequent process of the shared reading of the poem in its entirety and the ensuing discussion is a great opportunity to model the process of reading, understanding and thinking analytically.  A series of prompts – or something akin to ‘Key Questions’ – can work as a framework for class discussion, enabling students to think, and ultimately write, about the poems and also to provide a ‘schema’ to help them build and consolidate their knowledge and understanding.

When helping students to deal with aspects of language and structure, a teacher might provide a tool to help students structure their thinking and note-making (the acronym FLIRTS, for example, which stands for F orm and Structure, L anguage and Sounds, I magery, R hyme, Rhythm and Repetition, T heme and Tone, S peaker).

2. Cluster and study the poems thematically to help  students to make a good choice of second poem.

‘The selection of the second poem is one of the keys to success as this gives the student the material to construct a holistic response.’ AQA Examiners’ report, June 2017.

The Power and Conflict cluster could be usefully divided into poems about power and legacy; poems about the power of natural world and conflict with humans; poems about conflict that can happen as a result of culture and belonging; poems about war and conflict. Thinking about the poems in these clusters will guide students toward making a helpful choice of second poem.

3. Don’t constrict written responses with a rigid framework, but instead provide more flexible ways of comparing the poems.

‘One examiner commented that one of their key teaching points for next year will be that “comparison comes in a variety of shapes and does not have to be formulaic”‘. AQA Examiners’ report, June 2017.

Some of the possible ways of structuring a poetry comparison can lead to answers which can constrain the level of the response. This can usually be evident when ‘essay plans’ are too simplistic (Poem A, then Poem B) or too artificial (Similarities and Differences) but also when they become too unwieldy. But the examiners’ report suggests that ‘…the key message here is to enable and guide students to form a comparison relative to their level of ability.’ In engaging with the poems, a student aiming for a top grade should aim for a conceptualised response which is exploratory in nature. A confident student might write an ambitious introduction which outlines their ‘angle’ on the question. They might seek an interesting angle on the task, such as how patriotism might lead soldiers into combat. Then they might develop their response along a series of conceptual lines of enquiry, integrating analysis of the writers’ methods as they go; illuminating their interpretation with contextual insight relevant to the task.

Rather than offering up a rigid ‘essay plan’, the ‘series of prompts’ I described above as a cognitive tool can function, when applied to both poems, as a sort of ‘loose structure’ to help students produce a more focused written response. I have found these ‘Key Questions’ to be useful in encouraging students to focus on a comparison of two poems. ‘What are the poems about?’ serves as an introduction to the whole response.

‘Who is ‘speaking’ in the poems?’, as I discuss in more detail below, allows the student to engage with the ‘constructed voice’ of the poem. ‘How has the poet used language and structure to convey their message?’ allows students to consider the writers’ methods. ‘Why have the poems been written?’ offers the opportunity to explore deeper layers of meaning, authorial intent and conceptual interpretations. However, it’s important to think of this approach as flexibly as possible. It wouldn’t be good, for example, to encourage students to think of the Key Question ‘why have the poems been written?’ as an opportunity to shoehorn context into their response. Ideas, exploration of the writers’ methods and apt integration of context should be evident throughout the response. 

4. Think about the voice as a construct.

‘Students who recognised where the voice was a construct were more successful than those who regurgitated biographical information about the poet that they then attempted to link to the poetic voice.’ AQA Examiners’ report, June 2017.

Addressing the task itself – and considering why the poems might have been written – will enable the student to naturally explore context – rather than including lots of biographical information. But the ‘persona’ of the constructed voice might also provide a very useful way of considering context. In Simon Armitage’s ‘Remains’, for example, the narrative voice deftly reflects the turmoil of someone struggling to come to terms with what they’ve seen. Armitage’s narrator uses first-person plural pronouns, for example, to emphasise the narrator’s attempt to redistribute his own guilt among his comrades. Similarly in ‘Beatrice Garland’s ‘Kamikaze’, the modulating narrative perspective creates distance between the reader and the narrator that reflect the gulf between pilot and family. Context in this analysis, therefore, becomes implicitly connected to the student’s understanding of the task.

5. Make sure students understand the importance of answering the question.

When students start to write their responses – and if they’re using my ‘Key Questions’ approach, they’ll begin by considering what the poems are about – they must respond in terms of the question rather than with something generic. ‘Ozymandias’ by Percy Bysshe Shelley for example, explores the power of the natural world, but if the question is about the theme of mortality, then it is through this filter that the student must construct their response. It’s useful reiterate the key word from the question throughout throughout the answer to keep the response on track.

6. Get students to engage with the poem, rather than obsessing about poetry terminology.

‘Some responses set out to identify poetic techniques and employ as much terminology as possible before engaging with the poems themselves.’ AQA Examiners’ report, June 2017.

Sometimes, a student who is too heavy handed with various poetry terms can find themselves attributing questionable effects to the features they’ve ‘spotted’. It’s much better to encourage students to consider different layers of meaning in language and to consider possible interpretations.

7. Flexible analytical writing is much more effective than the PEE paragraph.

‘The use of structures such as PEE / PEA and its variants worked in the sense that they allowed students working at the lower levels to access Level 3 in the mark scheme. However less rigid structures worked better for those working at higher levels.’ AQA Examiners’ report, June 2017.

As I have explained in an earlier blog post , I’m not sure I always taught analytical writing well earlier in my teaching career. For me, like many, the PEE paragraph was a formula to get students through coursework essays and to use as a model for exam-style responses.

8. Teach students to integrate and embed short quotations – it’s much more effective than copying out longer quotations.

It’s much more productive when students embed judiciously chosen, short quotations into the essay, rather than wasting time copying out large chunks of text. The response will feel much more fluid.

9. Encourage students to write individual responses with precise, cogent expression and more sophisticated analytical writing techniques.

When aiming for top flight responses, there are several techniques students can deploy as part of a well-structured, insightful essay. These include evaluation, anticipating the response of the reader, tentativity, spotting patterns and deepening analysis are some great ways of making analytical writing more ambitious. 

Here, the student has spotted patterns of language throughout the poem.

The student here has noted the ambiguity of the poem in this example of deepening analysis…

10. Familiarise students with how their work will be marked.

‘Mark schemes’ should be used with care, as the process of arriving at a level is a subjective judgement based around a guided standardisation process. Futhermore, the meta-language around each level needs to be properly exemplified and understood – something even experienced teachers and examiners need ongoing support with. This said, it is always a worthwhile exercise to share with students an exemplar script or two and a ‘friendly’ version of the mark scheme they can use to become familiar with the standard and where their own writing sits.

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Robert Frost — Comparative Analysis Of Robert Frost’s And Wilfred Owen’s Poems

Comparative Analysis of Robert Frost's and Wilfred Owen's Poems

• Categories: Poetry Robert Frost Wilfred Owen

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Words: 1143 |

Published: Sep 14, 2018

Words: 1143 | Pages: 2 | 6 min read

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