Practice Questions

This lesson is built around practice for “Pike”: the kinds of question you can expect, how to read and plan each one, and worked answers to questions on the opening and closing stanzas. It also gives a bank of twelve exam-style questions with the key points a good answer should make.

Questions on “Pike” usually fall into four kinds: short answers on the poem's facts and context, extract-based questions that send you to the opening or closing stanza, longer questions on theme, language and structure, and comparison or critical appreciation questions. For each kind the lesson explains what the examiner wants, shows a method and warns against common errors. Two worked answers, one on the opening stanza and one on the dread of the ending, show the method in action, and a bank of twelve questions covers the pike as a predator, the glass tank, the old pond, the speaker's fear, language, tone and mood.

How to read a question. Read it twice and underline the command word: state or name (give a fact), explain (give reasons), comment on (say what you notice and why it matters), discuss (weigh ideas and reach a view), compare (similarities and differences) and evaluate (judge how effective something is). Check the marks: two marks mean two clear points, and eight marks mean an organised, developed answer. If the question points to a stanza, your answer must come from that stanza. Because “Pike” is under copyright, all examples here are in our own words; in your answers, use a few words from your copy with the stanza number.

Four kinds of question.

• Short answers (2 or 3 marks): give the fact and brief support. Example: where does “Pike” come from? It is from Lupercal (1960), Hughes's second collection, and it presents a freshwater predator as a perfect, ancient killer.
• Extract-based questions (4 or 5 marks): describe in your own words, name the device, explain the effect and link it to mood or theme.
• Long answers (8 to 10 marks): a direct opening, three or four PEEL paragraphs (Point, Evidence, Explain, Link) and a judgement.
• Comparison and critical appreciation: organise by idea, not poem by poem, and follow the six-part plan for an appreciation.

Worked answer 1: the opening stanza. Question: read the first stanza. What impression of the pike does it create? Comment on two features of the language. A strong answer says that the stanza presents the pike as perfect and deadly even when it is only a few inches long. It notes the vivid colour imagery and the tiger-like markings, which suggest a small, striped hunter. It points out that Hughes turns a noun into a verb, which gives the colouring energy. It notes that the pike is described as a killer from birth, with a cruel, ancient-looking grin, so the menace is not learned but built in. It names the effect: a cold, fascinated, slightly frightening first impression that sets the tone for the whole poem.

Worked answer 2: the final stanza. Question: read the final stanza. How does Hughes create a feeling of dread? A strong answer notes the setting of night and darkness, with the idea of darkness layered inside darkness, which suggests unseen depth. It notes the sounds, where owls give a hushed, uneasy quiet that contrasts with the hard sounds earlier in the poem. It notes the slow upward movement of a dream-like presence from the deep water, which builds tension. It points out that the most disturbing detail, the act of watching, comes at the very end, so the hunter has become the hunted. It adds that the poem stops there without comfort or explanation, leaving the reader inside the fear.

A question bank with key points.

1. What natural facts does Hughes build “Pike” on? Key points: ambush hunters that lie still among weeds; sharp teeth; they eat their own kind.
2. How does the first stanza present the pike? Key points: perfect and deadly even when tiny; tiger-like markings; a killer from birth.
3. Why does Hughes include the three pike kept behind glass? Key points: the killing instinct turns even on their own kind; the glass is a place of safety, contrasting with the pond.
4. What is the effect of the two large dead pike found beside the pond? Key points: blind appetite so strong that it kills the killer too; violence without a motive.
5. What does the old pond add to the poem? Key points: monastic history; depth compared to that of a whole country; ancient, almost mythic scale.
6. How is the speaker's fear created in the last part? Key points: night; unseen depths; huge old pike; hushed sounds; the closing watched-by feeling.
7. How does the structure of the poem work? Key points: from outside observation to personal involvement and fear; four-line stanzas; enjambment.
8. Comment on imagery and comparison. Key points: vivid colour and shape; the bold comparison for the pond's depth; Device, Evidence, Effect.
9. Comment on sound and rhythm. Key points: hard consonants; heavy stresses; enjambment; no regular rhyme scheme.
10. Describe the tone and mood. Key points: an awed, unflinching tone; a mood moving from cold fascination to dread.
11. Is the pike presented as evil? Key points: no; it is a force of nature, amoral, admired as well as feared.
12. Write a critical appreciation of “Pike”. Key points: the six-part plan; central idea; a reasoned judgement.

Exam technique in brief. Use the present tense. Quote a few words with the stanza number. Do not state a stanza count or any detail you have not checked in your copy. Keep each paragraph to one main idea. Leave two minutes to check your references.