Pearson Edexcel International GCSE English Literature · specification 4ET1 · Component 1 | Section B: Anthology Poetry · Free · no account needed
The Tyger — William Blake (4ET1 specification)
A poem made almost entirely of unanswered questions about what kind of creator could make something so beautiful and so lethal.
Specification coverage
Component 1, Section B — Anthology Poetry (Part 3 of the Pearson Edexcel International GCSE English Anthology)
Assessment objectives: AO2, AO3. Suggested learning time: 60 minutes.
Required knowledge
- From Songs of Experience (1794); its companion is 'The Lamb' in Songs of Innocence
- The poem asks questions and answers none of them
- The imagery of the forge — hammer, chain, furnace, anvil — makes creation an act of industry and force
Required skills
- Analyse how language, form and structure create meanings and effects (AO2)
- Compare this poem with another from Part 3, including language, structure and form (AO3)
- Use appropriate literary terminology accurately
- Select relevant, short examples from the poem — it is printed in the paper, so precision is expected
How it is examined
- One 30-mark comparative essay, from a choice of two, comparing this poem with one other from Part 3
Common mistakes
- Answering the poem's questions. It refuses to; a top answer explores the refusal.
- Ignoring the near-repeated final stanza. That one-word change is the highest-value AO2 point in the poem.
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