The Edexcel Poetry Anthology

The Guide has been written primarily for students of GCSE English Literature as specified by EDEXCEL in the post-2015 syllabus (1ET0). It addresses the requirement to study one cluster of poems taken from the EDEXCEL/Pearson Poetry Anthology and the requirement to analyse and compare two Unseen poems. The poems are explored individually, with links and connections between them drawn as appropriate. The format of each exploration is similar: - An explanation of key features of the poem that require contextual knowledge or illustration and the relationship between the text and its context. - A summary of the key themes of the poems, with a note on possible thematic links to other poems in the cluster - A brief summary of the metric form, rhyme scheme or other structural features, related to the theme - A "walk-through" (or explication) of the poem, ensuring that what is happening in the poem is understood, how the rhythm and rhyme contribute to meaning, an explanation of the meaning of words which may be unfamiliar, an exploration of language and imagery and a comment on main themes. In addition, there is a section on tackling the Unseen poems and a note on Metre which explains the common metric forms.