Overview
Just one line of poetry can be understood in many different ways
Different readers can have completely different views about the same poem. When you offer your A specific understanding of what a text is saying; a view of the text. There is usually more than one possible interpretation., you need to be able to say why you think as you do. That’s where quoting or referring to the text can help.
Learn more on the effective use of quotations in this podcast
Listen to the full series on BBC Sounds.
When using quotations from a poem, you need to:
- choose your quotations carefully and keep them brief (a line or two at most is usually enough, but a word or phrase may also be fine)
- fit it into the flow of your writing
- explain what the quotation shows about the poet’s intentions
- describe the effect the poet’s words have on the reader
Sometimes you’ll use a reference rather than a quotation. This means describing a particular part of the text, rather than writing an exact quote from it.
