Choosing Between Two Poems Under Exam Conditions
A student has 50 minutes to write one comparative response. The question asks how two poems present memory. Poem A is a 14-line sonnet with dense metaphor and a volta; Poem B is a 40-line free-verse poem with fragmented syntax and shifts between first and third person. The student knows Poem B well from class discussion but has only read Poem A twice. She drafts a plan spending 35 minutes on B and 10 on A, with 5 minutes planning. Her comparative statement currently reads: 'Both poems are about memory but use different forms.'
1. Identify the two main risks in this plan and explain the consequence of each for the mark.
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Risk one is imbalance: 35 minutes on B against 10 on A produces a response that describes one poem and gestures at the other. Comparative criteria reward sustained attention to both texts and to the relation between them, so an uneven allocation caps the comparative achievement regardless of how good the B analysis is.
Risk two is that her thesis ('both about memory but different forms') is a topic statement, not an argument. It names a shared subject and a difference in form but makes no claim about how form shapes the presentation of memory. A marker cannot see what she is trying to prove, so evidence accumulates without direction.
A third, subtler risk: Poem A's density and volta are exactly the features a comparison needs, and 10 minutes will not allow her to analyse them. The plan spends her strongest knowledge where it is least scarce.
2. Rewrite the thesis so it makes a comparative claim, and outline how the time should be reallocated with justification.
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Rewritten thesis: 'Poem A's closed sonnet form encloses memory as a single, resolved turn, while Poem B's broken free verse and shifting pronouns keep memory unresolved and distributed across speakers; the two poems therefore disagree about whether memory can be mastered by form.' This is comparative (A versus B), makes a claim about form and meaning, and is contestable.
Reallocation: 8 minutes planning, 18 on A, 18 on B, 6 reviewing. Justification: A is the weaker-known text, so it needs proportionally more time than its length suggests; B's familiarity means she can select two or three precise moments rather than survey it. Equal analysis time enforces the comparative demand. The review block lets her check that every paragraph moves between poems rather than alternating descriptions - the failure mode that turns comparison into two separate essays stapled together.