Verse is a brand-new anthology for Leaving Certificate Higher Level English, bringing together the very best approaches in teaching and learning with an in-depth knowledge of examination requirements to help your students become confident and practised in their response to poetry. Taking its lead from the creating and responding skills students have built up at Junior Cycle and from teacher feedback on studying poetry in the classroom, Verse and its accompanying Poetry Skills Portfolio utilise active learning methodologies to build-up students’ knowledge and essay writing skills and break down the barriers to exam success.
The book contains a chapter on each of the poets prescribed for 2022 and a section containing advice on how to approach the Prescribed Poetry question at the end of the Prescribed Poetry chapters.
There is a chapter on the Unseen Poetry question, with advice on how to approach this question and sample poems with examination-style questions to help students to prepare.
A comprehensive glossary of poetic terms is included at the end of the book. STRUCTURE
Each chapter begins with a handy timeline of key dates in a poet’s life to give an overview of their biography. This is not meant to be exhaustive; there is more biographical detail given throughout each chapter in the exploring sections. This will prove helpful for students to model their own answers on, and should help avoid the common pitfall of students focusing too much on the poet’s life instead of on the poems themselves.
Each poem is laid out clearly and accompanied by a glossary and bright visuals based on the poem’s images and subject matter. There is space around each poem to jot notes and highlight key words and quotations.
A set of pre-reading questions is provided for each poem. These are designed to promote discussion and make understanding the poem easier.
A set of comprehending and responding questions follows each poem. These been designed to lead students to their own interpretation and understanding.
A very exciting feature of Verse is the creating section that follows each poem. These provide prompts for a wide range of Question B and Composing assignments.
The exploring sections provide comprehensive notes on each poem, with relevant biography integrated throughout.
At the end of each chapter there is an overview of the main themes in each poem and a detailed discussion of three major themes in the poet’s work.
