A2 Unit 3 overview: pre-1900 set poetry and the unseen poetry comparison

This overview maps WJEC A2 Unit 3 (Poetry Pre-1900 and Unseen Poetry): a two-hour paper in two sections, one a two-part question on a set pre-1900 poetry text studied with a clean copy, the other a comparison of two previously unseen poems. The unit assesses close analysis of poetic method (AO2), comparison (AO4), context (AO3) and an argued reading (AO1).

What A2 Unit 3 assesses

This unit is worth 20% of the A level. It pairs two contrasting tasks: a close and synoptic study of a known pre-1900 poetry text, and a cold comparison of two poems you have never seen. Together they test whether your close-reading and comparison skills work both on prepared material and on the unfamiliar.

The two sections

This module covers two questions, each with its own page.

1. Pre-1900 poetry (Section A). Analyse one named poem closely, then trace its concern across the set collection, with period context and one sustained argument.
2. Unseen poetry comparison (Section B). Read two new poems closely under time pressure and build one integrated comparison, working entirely from the printed text.

How to build these skills

1. Read form as meaning. In pre-1900 verse, fixed form, metre and rhyme are deliberate effects.
2. Trace one concern. In part two of Section A, follow a single concern across the collection.
3. Read unseen poems twice. Once for sense and movement, once for craft.
4. Compare by point. Organise the unseen comparison around comparative axes, not poem by poem.
5. Work from the text. For the unseen, do not invent context; analyse the printed words.

Where this fits in the exam

A2 Unit 3 is one of five units across the full A level. It covers pre-1900 poetry and unseen comparison; post-1900 poetry was studied in AS Unit 2. For the official specification, set texts and past papers, see wjec.co.uk, and always revise from the current specification because question style and set texts are board-specific.