TIPS & TRICKS in ANSWERING POEM QUESTIONS

FOR SPM

THE TIPS

1. You must know the meaning of every word in the poem.

2. For difficult key words, you must know at least one synonym.
3. You must be able to tell every pronoun (e.g., he/she/their/etc) is referring to who or
what. E.g., in the poem Poison Tree, what does the word ‘it’ in stanza 2, line 1 means?
4. Able to identify Word, Phrase & Sentence

i. Word: You only need to write only ONE word. (satu perkataan sahaja)
e.g., wrath/wiles/rag-doll/money-box/charge
* word with hyphen (-) counts as one word.
ii. Phrase: Incomplete sentence. Usually, 2-4 words and sometimes more
(frasa bermaksud sebahagian ayat)
e.g., theirs not to reply/day and night/soup forgot to boil
iii. Sentence: ONE complete sentence. (Ayat lengkap)
e.g., White hand in black hand/Her soup forgot to boil/ I told it not, my wrath did grow

5. For expressions (e.g., in the jaw of death /night had veiled the pole, to the awful place etc)
used in the poem, you must understand and be able to explain the underlying
meaning/meaning behind it.
6. For HOTS questions (usually the last question with 2 marks)
i. Remember: it usually has TWO questions that require your stand (opinion) and a brief
explanation
7. Let’s be clear with the vocabulary below:
i. ACTION = MUST BE ACTION VERB (talk, fight, buy etc). Is not feeling.
HAPPY is not an action. It is feeling.
ii. CHARACTERISTIC = TRAIT = QUALITY à Sifat
iii. MORAL VALUE = LESSON à Pengajaran

8. Make it simple & logical

9. Do not direct-quote (copy) the poem. Replace some words from the poem with your
own (refer Tip No. 2)
10. Practice, practice and practice

Untuk pelajar lemah:

- Pastikan anda dapatkan sekurang-kurangnya 2/5 untuk bekalan markah lulus. Jangan
biarkan ruang jawapan kosong.
- Buat latihan sama berulang. Susun & simpan latihan yg dijawab mengikut
tajuk sajak (poem).

I hope you will understand it well and be useful for you to achieve a perfect score in poem.

Love and prayers as always,

Ms. A