Unseen poetry - how to reach top grades

‘To a daughter leaving home’

When I taught you

at eight to ride

a bicycle, loping along

beside you

as you wobbled away

on two round wheels,

my own mouth rounding

in surprise when you pulled

ahead down the curved

path of the park,

I kept waiting

for the thud

of your crash as I

sprinted to catch up, while you grew

smaller, more breakable

with distance,

pumping, pumping

for your life, screaming

with laughter,

the hair flapping

behind you like a

hankerchief waving

goodbye.’

How does the poet present the speakers feelings about her daughter?

Overall feelings:

• Fear and protection based on the daughters vulnerability

• Surprise

• Love - because she loves her she feels worried about her

• Sadness about growing up and independence

BIG IDEAS - think of 3 related ideas

Big idea - Love

Fear

‘i kept waiting for the thud of your crash’

dramatic verbs of ‘thud’ and ‘crash’

Surprise

‘my own mouth rounding in surprise’ compares to ‘screaming with laughter’

sensory language - exuberance from child and fearful parent

Sadness

‘like a handkerchief waving goodbye’

similie

Conceptual essay structure:

Intro - one sentence thesis statement based on the big idea (never techniques in thesis statement)

Parag 1 -based on big idea linked to your thesis statement

• Evidence: quote

• ‘the poet powerfully conveys…’ point 1

• Analyse and develop: technique, zoom in, effect on the reader, layer (if time further develop)

• ‘the reader has a sense of'…’ ‘at this time in the poem the reader feels…’

Do this x2

(if there is an extended metaphor that has a overall repeated influence in the poem then include this in the introduction)