Preview Cambridge IGCSE® and O Level Literature in English Coursebook

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Learning outcomes

By the end of this unit, you will be able to: ■

read closely a range of poems use a range of active learning strategies use relevant terminology appropriately when responding to poems gain confidence in communicating a personal response to poems.

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Unit 4: Reading for meaning

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Reading for meaning

Poetry is a good place to begin our close study of literature texts since the poems we will be looking at are all relatively short. They will therefore allow you to explore carefully the meanings of complete texts. In so doing, you will be able to consider how poets begin, develop and end their poems.

Some students find the poems they study in their early Literature lessons quite difficult. This is not something you should be concerned about; many past students have, at first, had a similar experience when reading Poetry. There are, however, ways to make the experience of reading Poetry less frightening. As you study the three poems in this Unit, you will be introduced to various strategies that will help you to understand the meanings that poets set out to communicate.

KEY TERMS

Strategies: are the approaches you use when studying texts effectively. This Coursebook will suggest strategies to help you as you study your Literature texts.

Unit 4: Reading for meaning

The first reading of a poem is crucial. You must concentrate on reading the words on the page. Sometimes your teacher or a fellow student will provide the first reading; on other occasions, you will be asked to read a poem silently to yourself.

One of the skills you need to practise frequently throughout your course is reading texts closely. It helps if you read the words and sounds and lines of poems ‘aloud’ inside your head.

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As you read Poetry, you need to focus on two important aspects:

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When reading Poetry, pause at the ends of lines only where there is punctuation, such as a comma or full stop. This is important whether you are reading silently or aloud. It would be a mistake to stop and pause at the end of each line of a poem (which is what some students lacking confidence do). Such an approach would get in the way of understanding what the poet has to say.

Look at lines 2, 3 and 4 of the first poem, ‘Afternoons’ below. There would be no reason to pause at the end of the second or third line, but a pause would make sense at the end of line 4, which is marked by a full stop.

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The content – what the poem is about

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The words and sounds the poet uses to create certain effects – how the poet communicates their ideas.

It is useful to keep the questions words ‘What?’ and ‘How?’ clearly in focus as you study any poem. Put simply, what does the writer have to say, and how do they say it?

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How do you think this photograph reflects some of the ideas in Larkin’s poem?

Reading a poem closely: ‘Afternoons’ by Philip Larkin The first poem we’ll look at is ‘Afternoons’ by Philip Larkin (1922-1985). A famous English poet, Larkin used traditional techniques of poetry (such as rhyme) to explore everyday concerns that affected ordinary people. The clear and straightforward and short opening line ‘Summer is fading’ sets the scene for a moving reflection on the passing of time, a universal theme, an idea that will affect all of us.

KEY TERMS

A theme is a main idea of a poem (or any text). A universal theme is an idea that affects everyone regardless of where they live or what their beliefs are .

Cambridge IGCSE and O Level Literature in English

Afternoons Summer is fading: The leaves fall in ones and twos From trees bordering The new recreation ground.

In the hollows of afternoons

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Young mothers assemble At swing and sandpit Setting free their children.

Behind them, at intervals,

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xxxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxxxxxx xxx x xxxxx xxxx

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Stand husbands in skilled trades, An estateful of washing,

And the albums, lettered Our Wedding, lying Near the television:

Before them, the wind

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Is ruining their courting-places That are still courting-places

(But the lovers are all in school),

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And their children, so intent on Finding more unripe acorns,

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Expect to be taken home.

Their beauty has thickened.

Something is pushing them To the side of their own lives.

Activities EXTENSION ACTIVITY

Listen to poets reading their own poems on websites such as The Poetry Archive found at http://www.poetryarchive.org.

Unit 4: Reading for meaning

The purpose of the following Activities is to show you how to reach a fuller understanding of the poem.

The first Activity asks you to provide a general overview of the poem’s content.

ACTIVITY 1

Read the poem ‘Afternoons’ carefully, and then read it again. Remember that even very experienced readers might not fully understand a text the first time they read it. Next answer the following questions.

How much of the poem do you think you understand? About half of it? Or more than half? Or less than half?

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Write a summary of what you think the poem is about, in no more than two sentences.

ACTIVITY 2

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During the first reading of a poem, it is important to note any unfamiliar or difficult words. You will see that once you have the correct meanings of these words, your overall understanding increases.

You may already be familiar with the meanings of the words used in a poem. In such cases, it is often still worth using a dictionary to look up the precise meaning that is relevant for the particular poem you are studying. This allows you to get as clear an understanding of the poem’s meaning as possible.

Words recreation ground hollows assemble

Relevant meaning

a piece of public land where children play games

housing estate full of washing

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estateful of washing

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Consult a dictionary to find the relevant meanings for the following words or phrases.

Write your answers concisely in a table like this one:

trades

courting-places intent on

The Activities in this Unit will help you understand two key things about responding to Poetry: • what to look for in a poem

• what to say about the poem.

Here are three important questions that are always relevant when exploring any poem: • What does the poem have to say?

• How does the poet make deliberate choices about the words they use to create certain effects that help to communicating their ideas?

• How does the poet make deliberate choices about the way they organise their ideas in the most effective order?

In your essays, you will need to consider all three questions. In fact, you will need to spend more time on the second and third questions, as will become clear later.

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