Poetry Textual Questions, Central Idea, and Poetic Devices
Poetry questions ask you to explain lines, state the central idea, and identify poetic devices with their effect. The examiner is not looking for your feelings about the poem but for a reading the words themselves justify.
Read a poem in three passes
First pass: literally, who is speaking, where, and what is happening. Second pass: figuratively, list every comparison and image. Third pass: thematically, decide what the poet wants the reader to feel or accept. Answering before the third pass produces plot summaries where themes were asked for.
Writing the central idea
Give one sentence naming the theme, then one or two sentences of support drawn from the poem. Recurring themes worth recognising: harmony with nature versus city life, the transience of beauty and youth, the dignity of labour, human vanity, consolation in hope. Do not retell the poem line by line.
Devices you must name and explain
Simile (like/as), metaphor (direct comparison), personification, alliteration, repetition, refrain, onomatopoeia, hyperbole, irony, oxymoron, imagery, symbol, and rhyme scheme written as abab or aabb. A three-part answer is expected: name the device, quote the words, explain the effect on mood or meaning.
Worked example
"The wind whispered through the pines." Device: personification, because whispering is a human act given to wind. Effect: it makes the wind sound secretive and gentle, creating a calm, slightly mysterious mood. Naming the device alone is worth part marks; the effect carries the rest.
Traps that cost marks
Naming a device without quoting it; calling a simile a metaphor; writing the central idea as a story summary; leaving out the rhyme scheme when it is directly asked for; and paraphrasing a line so loosely that the original image disappears.