Paper 2 Section B Part 2 — Unseen Poetry Comparison

The Unseen section is the shortest and most overlooked part of the qualification. Twenty marks. Roughly 25 minutes of writing. Two poems you have never seen, printed in the paper. A single question asking you to compare them. And the cleanest mark scheme on the whole paper: AO2 only — all 20 marks.

That AO purity is the opportunity. Because context (AO3) is not credited, because argument depth (AO1) is not credited, you are assessed exclusively on your ability to analyse language, form and structure in two unseen poems and to compare them. Students who understand this save themselves from wasted sentences and over-produce on this section. Students who do not treat it as an AO2-only task write mini-AO1 arguments and context speculation and score Band 3.

This lesson trains the AO2-only instinct, the 25-minute reading and writing routine, and a comparison structure tight enough to finish on time.

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The mark scheme fact

Unseen Poetry: AO2 = 20 marks. AO1 = 0. AO3 = 0.

All 20 marks flow through AO2. That means:

• No credit for personal response or interpretive argument (AO1)
• No credit for biographical or historical context (AO3)
• All credit for analysis of language, form and structure, with subject terminology, used comparatively

This does not mean your essay should be soulless. Analysis of effect, tone and meaning is part of AO2 — "methods and their impact on the reader" is Edexcel's language. But the centre of gravity is the how, not the what.

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The question format

You will be given two poems printed on facing pages with a single question:

"Compare the ways the writers present [theme] in these two poems." (Total 20 marks)

• Both poems are unseen — no prior knowledge assumed
• Both are typically 14–24 lines
• The theme is specified
• You have 25 minutes total

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Time budget: non-negotiable

Stage	Time
Read poem 1 (twice)	2 min
Read poem 2 (twice)	2 min
Annotate both + plan comparison points	3 min
Write	16 min
Proofread	2 min

Total: 25 minutes. If you spend 7 minutes writing the first paragraph, you will not finish. Watch the clock.

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Reading the two poems actively

First read of each poem (30 seconds)

Get the gist. Who is speaking? What is happening? What is the mood?

Second read (60–90 seconds)

Mark in the margin:

• Form — sonnet? free verse? ballad? couplets?
• Voice — first-person? persona? direct address?
• Rhyme scheme — ABAB? none? half-rhyme?
• Structural pivots — where does the poem turn? Where does the tone shift?
• 3 language moments — word choices, images, sounds you can analyse

Keep annotations brief. You are not producing a full commentary; you are hunting for the 3–4 most productive analytical moments in each poem.

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Planning the comparison (3 minutes)

Decide 3 comparison points before you write. A good point list might be:

1. How each poem opens (entry into the theme)
2. How each poem uses form/structure (stanza shape, pivots)
3. How each poem closes (what is left with the reader)

Or:

1. Voice and addressee
2. Central image or metaphor
3. Tone and its shifts

Pick three angles that let you move between both poems naturally.

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Structure: point-by-point, tight

The same point-by-point structure from the anthology lesson applies here, but tighter:

Paragraph	Content	Time
Intro (30–50 words)	Brief comparative thesis naming both poems and the theme	2 min
P1 (100–120 words)	Point 1: analyse Poem A method, compare to Poem B	5 min
P2 (100–120 words)	Point 2: analyse differently	5 min
P3 (100–120 words)	Point 3: analyse differently again	5 min
Brief conclusion (20–30 words)	Comparative synthesis	1 min

Target total: 350–400 words. This is shorter than the anthology essay because AO1 argument depth is not credited — you are not being asked to sustain a thesis at Anthology length, you are being asked to analyse efficiently.

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Writing discipline: every sentence must earn AO2 marks

Every sentence should do one of these jobs:

• Name a method (with precise terminology)
• Explain its effect on the reader
• Compare it to the other poem
• Quote briefly to evidence

Sentences that do none of these — plot summary, biographical guess, vague mood description — are dead weight. Cut them.

Good AO2 sentences (unseen-style)

• "The opening trochaic rhythm of Poem A's first line ('Never in my life...') inverts iambic expectation, unsettling the reader from the opening syllable."
• "Whereas Poem A's enjambment across the first stanza breaks one image ('the sky / unravelling'), Poem B's tight end-stopped couplets refuse release."
• "Both poems personify nature, but Poem A's personification is tender ('the sea remembers') while Poem B's is hostile ('the wind accuses')."

Bad sentences (cut these)

• "The poet was probably thinking about their childhood." (AO1/AO3 speculation; not credited)
• "This is a very powerful poem." (no method named)
• "This makes the reader feel sad." (effect stated without textual evidence)

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What to do when you do not understand one of the poems

Do not panic. Unseen poems are chosen by Edexcel to be interpretable, not obscure, but they can feel strange on first reading. If you cannot grasp the "meaning":

1. Focus on method, not message. You can analyse form, rhyme, voice, imagery without knowing exactly what the poem is "about".
2. Look for the tonal shift. Most poems pivot somewhere. Find the pivot and analyse the methods around it.
3. Compare structurally. Even if two poems resist paraphrase, you can compare their stanzas, rhyme schemes, openings and endings.
4. Use hedged interpretive language. "The speaker appears to be describing..." or "The image may suggest..." — examiners prefer cautious interpretation to confident error.

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Worked example: Grade 4 vs Grade 6 vs Grade 9

Imagine two unseen poems on the theme of loss. Poem A is a sonnet with a regular rhyme scheme ("My grandmother's garden..."). Poem B is free verse with fragmented lines ("I walk through the house. / Empty. / Every room.").

Grade 4 response (opening ~80 words)

"Poem A is about a grandmother's garden. It rhymes ABAB. Poem B is about an empty house. It has short lines. Both poems are sad and about loss. The writer of Poem A uses imagery of the garden. Poem B uses the word 'empty' to show it is sad."

Why Grade 4: form identified; basic features named; no real comparison beyond "both are sad"; no close analysis of effect.

Grade 6 response (opening ~120 words)

"Both poems present loss through spatial imagery, but in contrasting forms. Poem A's sonnet structure, with its regular ABAB rhyme, contains grief within a traditional ordered form — the garden is still here, still mappable. Poem B's fragmented free verse, with the one-word line 'Empty', enacts loss structurally: the poem itself has been emptied out. Poem A's metaphor 'the garden remembers her' personifies place as witness, while Poem B's absence of personification hollows the house. The two poems compare opposed formal strategies — containment versus fragmentation — for managing the same grief."

Why Grade 6: comparative thesis; form named and linked to effect; contrast drawn; clear analysis.

Grade 9 response (opening ~170 words)