Unseen Poetry: Comparing Two Unseen Poems

After the single-poem question (27.1), Section C prints a second unseen poem and asks question 27.2: "In both [poem A] and [poem B], the poets present ideas about [a theme]. What are the similarities and/or differences between the methods the poets use to present these ideas?"

This question is worth only 8 marks and, unlike almost every other question on the paper, it assesses AO2 alone:

AO	What it rewards	Marks
AO2	Comparison of the methods the two poets use, and their effects	8

There are no AO1 marks (so a long personal response is not what earns credit here) and no AO3 context. Everything comes from comparing how the two poets create meaning. The first poem is the one you already analysed in 27.1, so you arrive at this task with ideas about it in your head. AQA calls this a synoptic task because it draws on that earlier thinking.

Read the second poem once or twice, then hold it against the first poem you have already written about. You are looking for one or two shared methods to compare.

A crucial detail: the question states the shared idea for you. In June 2024 the poems were linked by "ideas about daily life and connecting with the natural world". You do not have to hunt for the connection, and you should not spend time inventing themes.

Your job is narrower and clearer than in the anthology comparison: compare the methods each poet uses to present the idea the question has already given you. AQA's chief examiner advice is direct: the question tells you the main link, so read it carefully, then select one or two things the writers do to present that shared idea.

This is why the task is manageable in a short time. You are not building a whole argument about meaning; you are comparing technique for a specific, given theme.

The mark scheme rewards comparison of the effects of the poets' methods, not a list of features. The strongest answers do two things at once: they identify a method in each poem and they compare what those methods do.

A reliable point structure for this short task:

1. Name a method the first poet uses and quote briefly.
2. Say what it does (its effect on meaning).
3. Compare: does the second poet use a similar or different method for the same idea? Quote briefly.
4. Draw out the comparison of effects in one sentence.

Worked example drawing on the two 2024 unseen poems (R S Thomas's "A Day in Autumn" and Jaan Kaplinski's "The washing never gets done"), both presenting nature as a source of comfort, with brief quotation for analysis:

Both poets use imagery of light to present nature as consoling. The first poet's "gold" on the autumn boughs makes the scene feel warm and precious, something to be stored up "against the long cold". The second poet reaches the same comfort differently, ending on "every drop of dew" so that the beauty feels endless and ordinary rather than rare. Where the first poet frames nature as a fleeting treasure to keep, the second presents it as an abundance that is always there.

Notice the single-sentence comparison of effects at the end. That is exactly what lifts the response into the higher levels.

The 8-mark task is marked on four levels (the longer questions use six). AO2 is the only objective, so every level is about comparing methods and effects:

Level	Marks	What it rewards
Level 4	7–8	Critical, insightful comparison of the poems; analytical comparison of the effects of the poets' methods
Level 3	5–6	Thoughtful comparison; clear comparison of the effects of methods
Level 2	3–4	Clear comparison of the poems; comments on similarities and differences between the effects of methods
Level 1	1–2	Simple comment on one or both poems and/or a simple connection; identification of methods

The jump from Level 1 to the top is the jump from identifying methods to analytically comparing their effects. Naming "the second poem uses repetition" sits low; explaining how each poet's structural choice shapes meaning differently reaches the top.

Marks come from comparison of effects. A response that analyses one poem thoroughly but barely mentions the other cannot reach the higher levels, because the task is comparison.

This is the last question on a long paper, and it is worth the fewest marks. AQA advises managing your time so the final 8-mark question does not overrun. A sensible plan:

• Around 15 minutes total, including a quick read of the second poem.
• Two or three tight comparative paragraphs, or even one strong extended paragraph, are enough. You do not need an essay.
• Do not repeat everything you wrote about the first poem in 27.1; refer to it briefly and focus on the comparison.

Because you write 27.1 first, you can plan efficiently: as you analyse the first poem, note the two methods you found most interesting, then check whether the second poem does anything similar or different with the same idea.

A model opening sentence connects both poems around the given idea before the analysis:

Both poets present daily routine as something that can be lifted by attention to the natural world, but they build that contrast through very different structures.

That single sentence names the shared idea (given by the question) and signals the difference in method the paragraphs will compare.

1. Writing a long personal response

Only AO2 is assessed, so paragraphs about what the poems mean to you do not earn the marks here. Compare methods and their effects instead.

2. Analysing one poem and forgetting the other

The task is comparison. A detailed analysis of poem A with only a passing mention of poem B stays in the lower levels. Balance the two and link them in each point.

3. Spending too long on it

Over-running on this 8-mark question steals time from the 24-mark question and, if you answer out of order, from Section A. Keep it to roughly 15 minutes.

4. Hunting for a theme the question already gave you

The wording tells you the shared idea. Re-inventing the connection wastes time; use the given link and get straight to comparing how each poet presents it.

5. Listing features rather than comparing effects

"Both poems have imagery" identifies without comparing. The higher levels reward comparing what the methods do differently, so always end a point with a sentence on the contrast in effect.