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GCSE · English Literature

GE.T-UnseenPoetry Literature: Unseen Poetry

AQA 8702 · Calculators not allowed · about 130 minutes

Total Marks

Name: _______________________________ Date: ____ / ____ / ______

Answer ALL questions. Show all your working.

Read Poem A, 'The Closing Tide'. Answer the following questions about it.

(a)Which of these best describes the setting of the poem?(1)

A) A busy city market
B) A declining fishing harbour
C) A mountain village
D) A primary school playground

(b)Who is the speaker of the poem?(1)

A) A tourist visiting for the first time
B) A young child
C) An adult reflecting on their father's connection to the sea
D) A journalist reporting on the fishing industry

(c)According to stanza 4, what does the crane no longer do?(1)

A) Rust
B) Stand at the water's edge
C) Lift anything
D) Cast a shadow

(d)What are the boys at the slipway doing in stanza 5?(1)

A) Fishing from the pier
B) Mending nets
C) Skimming stones
D) Selling herring

(Total for Question 1 is 4 marks)

Here are four literary terms and four definitions. For each term in parts a to d, choose the letter of the definition that matches it. Use the same four options (A to D) for every part.
A) Giving human qualities to a non-human thing or object.
B) A comparison that says one thing IS another, without using 'like' or 'as'.
C) The repetition of consonant sounds at the start of nearby words.
D) A sentence or phrase that runs on beyond the end of a line without a pause.

(a)Metaphor(1)

(b)Personification(1)

(c)Enjambment(1)

(d)Alliteration(1)

(Total for Question 2 is 4 marks)

Find and copy one phrase from Poem A that suggests the harbour used to be busy and full of life.

(Total for Question 3 is 2 marks)

What is your first impression of the harbour created by the opening stanza of Poem A? Support your answer with a quotation.

(Total for Question 4 is 3 marks)

What does stanza 2 of Poem A suggest about the father's relationship with the sea? Use evidence from the stanza to support your answer.

(Total for Question 5 is 3 marks)

Look again at stanza 4 of Poem A, about the crane. How does the poet use language to present the crane?

(Total for Question 6 is 6 marks)

How does the poet structure Poem A to show the passage of time?

(Total for Question 7 is 6 marks)

Read Poem B, 'New Ground'. Identify one example of each of the following techniques, using a short quotation as evidence.

(a)A simile(1)

(b)Personification(1)

(c)A symbol of the past(1)

(d)Direct speech(1)

(Total for Question 8 is 4 marks)

Look again at stanza 3 of Poem B, where Priya plants her potato. How does the poet use language to present hope for the future?

(Total for Question 9 is 6 marks)

How does the poet's use of direct speech and dialogue in stanzas 3 and 4 of Poem B affect the reader's understanding of change?

(Total for Question 10 is 4 marks)

In 'The Closing Tide', how does the poet present the theme of change?
Write about:
- the language the poet uses to present change
- the structure of the poem
- your own interpretation of the poem, supported with evidence from the text.

(Total for Question 11 is 24 marks)

Both poems open by describing what a place used to be used for. What is similar about how each poem begins?

(Total for Question 12 is 4 marks)

Compare how the writers present attitudes to change in 'The Closing Tide' and 'New Ground'.

(Total for Question 13 is 8 marks)

Compare the methods the two poets use to present the passing of time in 'The Closing Tide' and 'New Ground'.

(Total for Question 14 is 8 marks)

Explore the effects of the poet's word choices in the final stanza of 'The Closing Tide'.

(Total for Question 15 is 6 marks)

'New Ground presents change as something to be celebrated, whereas The Closing Tide presents change as something to be mourned.'
To what extent do you agree with this statement?

(Total for Question 16 is 8 marks)

Explore how the image of the crane is used across both poems to link ideas about the past.

(Total for Question 17 is 6 marks)

Mark scheme · GE.T-UnseenPoetry Literature: Unseen Poetry

Question 1

(a) B1 B) A declining fishing harbour
(a) Answer: B) A declining fishing harbour
(b) B1 C) An adult reflecting on their father's connection to the sea
(b) Answer: C) An adult reflecting on their father's connection to the sea
(c) B1 C) Lift anything
(c) Answer: C) Lift anything
(d) B1 C) Skimming stones
(d) Answer: C) Skimming stones

Question 2

(a) B1 B
(a) Answer: B
(b) B1 A
(b) Answer: A
(c) B1 D
(c) Answer: D
(d) B1 C
(d) Answer: C

Question 3

B1 identifies a valid phrase suggesting former busyness, e.g. 'haggle over herring' or 'a hundred voices' or 'the fleet at full strength' (oe)
B1 phrase copied accurately from the text (cao)
Answer: Any one of: 'to haggle over herring silvered with dawn'; 'a hundred voices were'; 'the fleet at full strength'.

Question 4

Level 2 (3): Clear response: gives a clear first impression of the harbour (e.g. quiet, faded, no longer busy), supported with an apt, accurately copied quotation.
Level 1 (1-2): Simple response: gives a simple or partial impression, with limited or no supporting quotation.
Indicative content:
- The harbour feels quiet and faded compared with its past, shown by 'no one queues before the ice house now'.
- The phrase 'traded oak for rust' suggests decline and neglect, as wooden boats have been replaced by rusting ones.
- The word 'still' in 'keeps its old appointments still' suggests routine continuing despite the harbour's reduced activity.

Question 5

Level 2 (3): Clear response: explains clearly that the father's knowledge of the sea was instinctive and deeply learned, supported with an apt, accurately copied quotation.
Level 1 (1-2): Simple response: gives a simple or partial comment, with limited or no supporting quotation.
Indicative content:
- The simile 'knew this water like a name he had learned by heart' suggests the father's knowledge of the sea was as instinctive and personal as knowing his own identity.
- The list of precise details ('the slack of every rope, the turn of tide, the hour the mackerel ran') shows expert, practical knowledge built up over a lifetime.
- The phrase 'before he learned his own' suggests the sea shaped the father's sense of self even earlier than his own name did, showing how central it was to his identity.

Question 6

Level 3 (5-6): Clear, relevant explanation of language: explains clearly the effects of the personification and metaphor used to present the crane; selects a range of relevant quotations; makes clear and accurate use of subject terminology.
Level 2 (3-4): Some understanding and comment: attempts to comment on the effect of the language; selects some appropriate detail; makes some use of subject terminology, not always securely.
Level 1 (1-2): Simple, limited comment: offers simple comment on the crane; selects simple references; makes simple or no use of subject terminology.
Indicative content:
- The personification 'its arm still lifted, though it lifts no more' gives the crane a human-like, almost weary posture, suggesting a body that has outlived its purpose.
- The metaphor 'as if it means to hoist the tide itself' presents the crane as attempting something impossible, showing its former power is now only a gesture.
- The phrase 'set it down more gently than the years' contrasts the crane's mechanical strength with a tender, careful action, suggesting the speaker wishes time itself could be handled with more kindness.
- The image of the rusted crane works as a symbol for the declining industry as a whole, standing motionless where it once actively lifted catches from boats.

Question 7

Level 3 (5-6): Clear, relevant explanation of structure: explains clearly how the poem's organisation shows the passage of time; selects a range of relevant examples; clear and accurate use of subject terminology.
Level 2 (3-4): Some understanding and comment on structure: some appropriate examples; some use of subject terminology, not always secure.
Level 1 (1-2): Simple, limited comment on structure: simple references; simple or no subject terminology.
Indicative content:
- The poem moves chronologically from the father's past knowledge (stanza 2) to the speaker's present-day observations (stanzas 3 to 5), tracing change across generations.
- The regular, unrhymed quatrains give the poem a steady, measured rhythm that mirrors the unchanging pull of the tide, even as the harbour around it changes.
- The final stanza shifts to the speaker's private choice ('I do not tell them'), moving from description to reflection, which brings a sense of quiet resolution.
- The closing image, 'the way it always has, the way it will', uses repeated structure and a shift into the future tense to suggest time as a continuous, cyclical process rather than simple decline.

Question 8

(a) B1 valid quotation of a simile, e.g. 'as if she is tucking something into sleep' or 'as you would keep a face' (oe)
(a) Answer: 'as if she is tucking something into sleep' (stanza 3) or 'as you would keep a face' (stanza 5).
(b) B1 valid quotation of personification, e.g. 'to remind the field it used to be a shore' (oe)
(b) Answer: 'to remind the field it used to be a shore' (stanza 4).
(c) B1 valid quotation identifying a symbol, e.g. 'the old crane's photograph' (oe)
(c) Answer: 'the old crane's photograph' (stanza 5).
(d) B1 valid quotation of reported or direct speech, e.g. 'the sea came almost to this wall' (oe)
(d) Answer: 'Her mother says, the sea came almost to this wall' (stanza 4).

Question 9

Level 3 (5-6): Clear, relevant explanation of language: explains clearly how the poet presents hope through Priya's actions and question; selects a range of relevant quotations; clear and accurate use of subject terminology.
Level 2 (3-4): Some understanding and comment: some appropriate detail; some use of subject terminology, not always secure.
Level 1 (1-2): Simple, limited comment: simple references; simple or no subject terminology.
Indicative content:
- Naming the child 'Priya' gives her individual identity, suggesting the new community growing on this ground is diverse and specific rather than an abstract idea.
- The simile 'as if she is tucking something into sleep' presents planting as an act of care, linking the new growth to nurturing and protection rather than industry or labour.
- The detail 'her first potato' emphasises beginnings and inexperience, reinforcing the theme of a fresh start on ground that once served a different purpose.
- Her question 'what was here before' introduces curiosity about the past, allowing the poem to move naturally into an explanation of the site's history in the following stanza.

Question 10

Level 2 (3-4): Clear response: explains clearly how the dialogue between generations conveys the passing on of memory and the reader's understanding of change.
Level 1 (1-2): Simple response: makes simple or partial comment on the effect of the dialogue.
Indicative content:
- The question and answer structure between Priya and her mother allows history to be passed between generations naturally within the poem, rather than through the narrator's own explanation.
- The mother's simple, matter-of-fact reply ('the sea came almost to this wall') makes a huge change over time feel ordinary and accepted, rather than dramatic or troubling.
- Including a child's direct question suggests that the past will only survive through being retold, hinting that memory of the old harbour depends on adults choosing to share it.

Question 11

Level 4 (19-24): Detailed, perceptive analysis of the whole poem, exploring how the poet presents change through language and structure; judicious selection of textual detail across all six stanzas; sophisticated, well-integrated use of subject terminology; assured personal response.
Level 3 (13-18): Clear, relevant analysis of the poem, explaining how the poet presents change through language and structure; a range of well-chosen textual references; clear, accurate use of subject terminology; clear personal response.
Level 2 (7-12): Some understanding and comment on how the poet presents change; some relevant references, though coverage may be uneven; some use of subject terminology, not always secure; some personal response.
Level 1 (1-6): Simple, limited comment on the poem; simple or generalised references; simple or no use of subject terminology; limited personal response.
Indicative content:
- The opening stanza establishes decline through contrast, as the harbour still 'keeps its old appointments' while 'half the boats have traded oak for rust', juxtaposing continuity with decay.
- The father in stanza 2 represents a vanishing way of life; the simile 'knew this water like a name he had learned by heart' shows expert knowledge that the poem implies is being lost with each generation.
- The simile 'patient as old horses put to grass' compares the beached hulls to retired working animals, suggesting dignified but permanent retirement rather than sudden destruction.
- The extended personification and metaphor of the crane (stanza 4) presents industrial decline as almost tender, wishing it 'could set it down more gently than the years', linking the mechanical image to the emotional theme of loss.
- The boys skimming stones in stanza 5 represent a new generation entirely disconnected from the harbour's past, and the phrase 'careless of the hush' suggests change is only painful to those who remember what came before.
- The final stanza's choice not to tell the boys 'what the harbour was' can be read as an act of protection or of quiet acceptance, showing the speaker's own developing peace with change.
- The poem's structure, moving from memory to present observation to reflection, mirrors the passage of time it describes, while the steady quatrains suggest change happening gradually rather than as a single dramatic event.
- The closing repetition 'the way it always has, the way it will' resists a simply mournful reading, instead presenting change as part of a natural, ongoing cycle that will continue regardless of the speaker's feelings.
- Personal responses might argue the poem is ultimately elegiac and melancholic, or alternatively that it offers quiet acceptance and even comfort; either is valid if well supported with textual evidence.

Question 12

Level 2 (3-4): Clear response: identifies clear similarities in how both openings establish a former use for the setting, supported with quotations from both poems.
Level 1 (1-2): Simple response: identifies a simple or partial similarity, with limited supporting quotation.
Indicative content:
- Both poems begin by referring to a trade that no longer takes place: Poem A states 'no one queues before the ice house now', while Poem B states 'where the fish market stood', both signalling absence and change from the first line.
- Both openings root the reader immediately in a specific, working, industrial past (fishing and trading herring) before showing what has replaced it, establishing a similar 'before and after' structure.
- Both poems use the present tense in their openings to describe the current, changed state of the setting, which sets up a similar contrast with what is recalled later in each poem.

Question 13

Level 4 (7-8): Detailed, perceptive comparison of attitudes to change; convincing, well-supported exploration of similarities and differences across both poems; sophisticated use of subject terminology.
Level 3 (5-6): Clear comparison of attitudes to change; clear exploration of similarities and/or differences, supported with relevant references from both poems; clear use of subject terminology.
Level 2 (3-4): Some attempt to compare attitudes to change; some relevant references from at least one poem; some use of subject terminology.
Level 1 (1-2): Simple, limited comparison; simple or generalised references; simple or no use of subject terminology.
Indicative content:
- Both poems present attitudes to change that are complicated rather than simply positive or negative: 'The Closing Tide' is largely elegiac, mourning a fading way of life, while 'New Ground' is largely hopeful, celebrating regeneration.
- However, both poems resist an entirely one-sided attitude: the speaker of 'The Closing Tide' seems at peace by the final stanza ('I let the water keep its own account'), while 'New Ground' hints at underlying loss, noting the photograph is kept 'not out of grief', which paradoxically suggests grief was a real possibility.
- Both poems use a symbol of industry, the crane, to represent the past, but 'The Closing Tide' presents it as a decaying physical presence still standing at the harbour, whereas 'New Ground' presents it only as a photograph, a step further removed and safely contained as memory.
- Both poems use young characters (the boys in 'The Closing Tide' and Priya in 'New Ground') to represent a generation without direct memory of the past, but the boys are 'careless' of the harbour's history while Priya actively asks about it, suggesting a more curious and connected attitude to change in 'New Ground'.
- Differences in tone are reinforced by imagery: 'The Closing Tide' associates change with rust, stillness and hush, while 'New Ground' associates change with growth, colour ('rhubarb pushes red') and abundance ('marrows fat as boats'), reflecting contrasting overall attitudes.

Question 14

Level 4 (7-8): Detailed, perceptive comparison of methods; convincing exploration of how structural and language choices in both poems present the passing of time; sophisticated use of subject terminology.
Level 3 (5-6): Clear comparison of methods; clear exploration of structural and/or language choices, supported with relevant references from both poems; clear use of subject terminology.
Level 2 (3-4): Some attempt to compare methods; some relevant references from at least one poem; some use of subject terminology.
Level 1 (1-2): Simple, limited comparison of methods; simple or generalised references; simple or no use of subject terminology.
Indicative content:
- Both poems are structured in six regular quatrains, giving each a steady, controlled pace that arguably mirrors the slow, gradual nature of the change each poem describes, rather than sudden upheaval.
- Both poems shift into future or conditional time in their final stanzas ('the way it will' in 'The Closing Tide'; 'by August there will be' in 'New Ground'), a structural method that projects the poem's themes forward beyond the present moment.
- Both poets use an object connected to the old industry, the crane, as a recurring image across the two texts, but 'The Closing Tide' presents it as a present, physical, decaying object while 'New Ground' presents it as a kept photograph, showing two different structural relationships to the same symbol of the past.
- 'The Closing Tide' uses mainly visual and auditory imagery of decline (rust, hush, stillness) to convey time passing, while 'New Ground' uses imagery of organic growth (climbing beans, pushing rhubarb, fattening marrows) to convey the same idea, showing contrasting sensory methods for a similar theme.
- Enjambment is used across stanza breaks in both poems (for example between stanzas 3 and 4 of 'New Ground'), pulling the reader forward through each poem in a way that could be said to mirror the unstoppable forward movement of time itself.

Question 15

Level 3 (5-6): Detailed, perceptive exploration of word choices in the final stanza; precise analysis of effect; judicious selection of detail; sophisticated use of subject terminology.
Level 2 (3-4): Clear comment on word choices; some relevant analysis of effect; clear use of subject terminology.
Level 1 (1-2): Simple, limited comment on word choices; simple or generalised references.
Indicative content:
- The metaphor 'keep its own account' personifies the water as a silent record-keeper or witness, suggesting the sea holds a kind of impartial memory of the harbour's history that outlasts human speech.
- The verb choice 'lie down' to describe the light gives the closing image a gentle, restful quality, suggesting peace rather than sudden loss.
- The repeated structure 'the way it always has, the way it will' uses near-identical phrasing across present and future tense to create a sense of inevitability and cyclical continuity, resisting a purely tragic reading of change.
- The largely monosyllabic final line creates a slow, measured rhythm that mirrors the calm, accepting tone the speaker adopts by the end of the poem.
- The choice of 'I do not tell them' rather than a stronger verb like 'refuse' or 'hide' suggests a quiet, deliberate restraint rather than concealment, framing the speaker's silence as protective rather than dishonest.

Question 16

Level 4 (7-8): Detailed, perceptive evaluation, weighing evidence for and against the statement across both poems; sustained, convincing personal judgement; sophisticated use of subject terminology.
Level 3 (5-6): Clear evaluation of the statement with relevant evidence from both poems; clear personal judgement; clear use of subject terminology.
Level 2 (3-4): Some evaluation of the statement, with some relevant evidence; some personal judgement; some use of subject terminology.
Level 1 (1-2): Simple, limited response to the statement; simple or generalised references; limited or no personal judgement.
Indicative content:
- Agreement: 'New Ground' does largely celebrate change, using abundant, growing imagery ('marrows fat as boats', 'beans enough to feed the whole close down') and an optimistic final line, 'a kind of change worth having'.
- Agreement: 'The Closing Tide' does largely mourn change through images of rust, silence and retirement ('patient as old horses put to grass'), suggesting real loss for the speaker's generation.
- Disagreement/complication: 'New Ground' is not purely celebratory, since the kept photograph 'not out of grief' implies an awareness of loss that the poem does not fully dismiss, suggesting some quiet mourning beneath the hope.
- Disagreement/complication: 'The Closing Tide' is not purely mournful, since the final stanza suggests calm acceptance rather than despair, with the speaker choosing peace ('I let the water keep its own account') over resentment.
- A convincing response might argue the statement is broadly true but oversimplified, since both poems in fact hold mourning and hope in tension rather than presenting a single, uncomplicated attitude to change.
- Strong answers will reach a supported personal judgement about the extent of agreement, rather than simply listing evidence for both sides.

Question 17

Level 3 (5-6): Detailed, perceptive exploration of how the crane image functions differently across the two poems; precise, well-supported analysis; sophisticated use of subject terminology.
Level 2 (3-4): Clear comment on the crane image in both poems; some relevant analysis of effect; clear use of subject terminology.
Level 1 (1-2): Simple, limited comment on the crane in one or both poems; simple or generalised references.
Indicative content:
- In 'The Closing Tide', the crane is a present, physical object, 'rusted at the water's edge', suggesting the industrial past is still directly visible and unavoidable in the landscape.
- In 'New Ground', the crane survives only as 'the old crane's photograph', a step removed from direct experience, suggesting the past has become something consciously preserved and curated rather than simply endured.
- The personification of the crane in 'The Closing Tide' ('its arm still lifted') gives it a lingering, almost living presence, while in 'New Ground' the crane is compared to 'a face of someone loved, who chose to move away', which personifies the industry itself as having departed rather than died.
- Both treatments suggest the past cannot be fully erased, but the difference in method, a decaying object versus a treasured photograph, reflects each poem's overall attitude: reluctant endurance in 'The Closing Tide' against active, affectionate remembering in 'New Ground'.

Literature: Unseen Poetry - Worksheets, Questions and Revision