Tackling Unseen poems or prose at A Level

Leed's University podcasts placed on The English Faculty . Org
These resources are excellent for Edexcel's Unit 3 at A2.

Tackling Unseen Material Part 1  AOs 1-2

Tackling Unseen Material Part 2  AOs 1-2

The Great Gatsby and The Roaring Twenties Part 1  Very useful for AO4

The Great Gatsby and The Roaring Twenties Part 2   As above

The British Library's Poets and Poetry Page - Great for Unseens

The are several poems by great poets and read by well known actors. For exam preparation it does not come much better than this. Once you click the link scroll down to find suitable poems. Then read and annotate them for Language, Form and Structure for the Unseen section of Unit 3.
http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/poetryperformance/poetryhome.html

This link below leads to a time-line of texts produced in English over time. It's quite spectacular!
http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/evolvingenglish/englishtimeline.html

Three Poems by the US poet, Billy Collins

Here's a couple of poems for unseen practice. When reading them, take some of Billy's advice on how to study poetry: "rather than thinking first on what the poem is about, consider instead the journey by which it got to its ending." In other words, how does it navigate between its points by expanding, contracting, being serious, humorous or ironic as the poem makes its way to its conclusion?

"Child Development"


You can find the full typescript of this poem by clicking this link:
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/child-development/

"The Lanyard"


Click on this link for a typescript of this poem
ttp://www.billy-collins.com/2005/06/the_lanyard.html

"Sweet Talk"


You can find the typescript of this poem, by clicking on this link:
http://poem-a-day.posterous.com/sweet-talk-by-billy-collins