Mark Scheme And Model Answer edexcel 5-Unseen-Poetry

AO1

• Read, understand and respond to texts. Students should be able to:

  • Maintain a critical style and develop an informed personal response

  • Use textual references, including quotations, to support and illustrate interpretations

AO2

• Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate

Poem 1:

The Month of May

‘O! the month of May, the merry month of May … ’ – Thomas Dekker (d. 1632)

The month of May, the merry month of May,

So long awaited, and so quickly past.

The winter’s over, and it’s time to play.

I saw a hundred shades of green today

And everything that Man made was outclassed.

The month of May, the merry month of May.

Now hello pink and white and farewell grey.

My spirits are no longer overcast.

The winter’s over and it’s time to play.

Sing ‘Fa la la la la,’ I dare to say,

(Tried being modern but it didn’t last)

‘The month of May, the merry month of May.’

I don’t know how much longer I can stay.

The summers come, the summers go so fast,

And soon there will be no more time to play.

So carpe diem*, gather buds, make hay.

The world is glorious. Compare, contrast

December with the merry month of May.

Now is the time, now is the time to play.

– Wendy Cope

Poem 2:

British Weather

It is the merry month of May,

when everything is cold and grey,

the rain is dripping from the trees and

life is like a long disease,

the storm clouds hover round like ghouls*,

the birds all sing, because they’re fools,

and beds of optimistic flowers

are beaten down by thunder showers,

under a weak and watery sun

nothing seems to be much fun –

 exciting as a piece of string,

this is the marvellous British Spring!

– Gavin Ewart

Question:

Compare the ways the writers present the month of May in Poem 1: ‘The Month of May’ and Poem 2: ‘British Weather’. 

In your answer, you should compare:

• the ideas in the poems

• the poets’ use of language

• the poets’ use of form and structure

 Use evidence from the poems to support your comparison.

Question focus

Compare the ways the writers present the month of May

Topic sentence

Cope presents the month of May as a time to be savoured, whereas Ewart presents the month as something to be endured.

Topic sentence

While Cope presents her speaker as waiting in eager anticipation of May, Ewart presents the month as boring and seemingly never-ending.

Question focus

Compare the ways the writers present the month of May

Topic sentence

Cope presents the month of May as a time to be savoured, whereas Ewart presents the month as something to be endured.

Analysis

Both poets present their thoughts about the “merry month of May” and both use a version of this line from Thomas Dekker. In ‘The Month of May’, this alliterative phrase conveys a sincere sense of joy and celebration which is associated with the month of May when, after the long winter, “spirits are no longer overcast”. Cope also suggests that the month of May is “quickly past” and needs to be enjoyed while it lasts. In contrast, in ‘British Weather’ Ewart states that the month of May “is cold and grey” and wet, suggesting that even in what should be the height of spring the weather is drab and dull. The poet indicates that life in the month of May is “like a long disease”, suggesting that it is to be avoided or, at best, tolerated. Here, in contrast to the way it is used in Cope’s poem, the phrase “the merry month of May” is used ironically: for Ewart, it is not “merry” at all, and is certainly not a time to be savoured.