Poetry Focus 2016: leaving certificate poems & notes for english higher level by Martin Kieran & Frances Rocks

Poetry Focus is a new, modern poetry textbook for Leaving Certificate Higher Level English.
It includes all the prescribed poems for 2016 as well as succinct commentaries on each one. In addition, there are sample student paragraphs on each poem, sample question plans and full graded sample essays. Well-organised and easily accessible study notes provide all the necessary information to allow students to explore the poems and to develop their own individual responses.

• Explorations (a series of short questions) follow the text of each poem. These allow students to make initial responses before any in-depth study or analysis. Exploration questions provide a good opportunity for written and/or oral exercises.
• Study notes highlight the main features of the poet’s subject matter and style. These discussion notes will enhance the student’s own critical appreciation through focused group work and/or written exercises. Analytical skills are developed in a coherent, practical way to give students confidence in articulating their own personal responses to the poems and poets.
• Graded sample paragraphs aid students in fluently structuring and developing valid points and in using relevant quotations and reference in support.
• Key quotes encourage students to select their own individual combination of references from a poem and to write brief commentaries on specific quotations.
• Sample essay plans on each poet’s work illustrate how to interpret a question and recognise the particular nuances of key words in examination questions. Evaluation of these essay plans increases student confidence in working out clear responses for themselves.
• There is no single ‘correct’ approach to answering the poetry question. Candidates are free to respond in any appropriate way that shows good knowledge of and engagement with the prescribed poems.
• Full sample Leaving Certificate essays, graded and accompanied by experienced examiners’ comments, show the student exactly what is required to achieve a successful A grade in the Leaving Cert exam and to develop a real enthusiasm for English poetry. This is essential in identifying the task as required by the PCLM marking scheme.