Y8 POETRY PRACTICE EXAM PAPER. Please find below a mock paper for you to use in your revision for term two English exams.

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1 Year 8 Exam Revision Please find below a mock paper for you to use in your revision for term two English exams. There are two questions in total. Question 1 examines your ability to compare two of the poems you have studied in class. Question 2 examines your ability to respond to and analyse an unseen poem. Revision Tips Try and stick to the timings recommended. Replicate exam conditions at home by working in silence. Follow all of the instructions in each question carefully. Ensure that you hand in any work to your English teacher for marking and feedback on what you are doing well and what you could improve.

2 FORGE VALLEY SCHOOL Key Stage 3 English examinations YEAR 8 POETRY practice paper Spring 2017 Time allowed: 1 hour 15 minutes There are two questions in this paper. Question 1 is about two of the anthology poems you have been studying. Question 2 is about an unseen poem which you may not have read before. Instructions Answer both questions. Write your name and the name of your English teacher on each answer sheet that you use.

3 YEAR 8 poetry exam PRACTICE PAPER Anthology poems 1. What ideas about war and conflict are explored in Falling Leaves and The Yellow Palm? Compare the methods poets use to present these ideas. [30 marks] Falling Leaves November 1915 Today, as I rode by, I saw the brown leaves dropping from their tree In a still afternoon, When no wind whirled them whistling to the sky, But thickly, silently, They fell, like snowflakes wiping out the noon; And wandered slowly thence For thinking of a gallant multitude Which now all withering lay, Slain by no wind of age or pestilence, But in their beauty strewed Like snowflakes falling on the Flemish clay. MARGARET POSTGATE COLE

4 The Yellow Palm I watched a funeral pass all the women waving lilac stems around a coffin made of glass and the face of the man who lay within who had breathed a poison gas. I heard the call to prayer and I stopped at the door of the golden mosque to watch the faithful there but there was blood on the walls and the muezzin s eyes were wild with his despair. I met two blind beggars And into their hands I pressed my hands with a hundred black dinars; and their salutes were those of the Imperial Guard In the Mother of all Wars. I smelled the wide Tigris, the river smell that lifts the air in a city such as this; but down on my head fell the barbarian sun that knows no armistice. I saw a Cruise missile, a slow and silver caravan on its slow and silver mile, and a beggar child turned up his face and blessed it with a smile. under the yellow palms I saw their branches hung with yellow dates all sweeter than salaams, and when that same child reached up to touch, the fruit fell in his arms. ROBERT MINHINNICK

5 Unseen poem 2. How is the river portrayed in The River? Write about how the poet uses language to create a sense of its movement. [24 marks] The River The River's a wanderer. A nomad, a tramp, He doesn't choose one place To set up his camp. The River's a winder, Through valley and hill He twists and he turns, He just cannot be still. The River's a hoarder, And he buries down deep Those little treasures That he wants to keep. The River's a baby, He gurgles and hums, And sounds like he's happily Sucking his thumbs. The River's a singer, As he dances along, The countryside echoes The notes of his song. The River's a monster Hungry and vexed, He's gobbled up trees And he'll swallow you next. VALERIE BLOOM