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A short class with Sarah and her students. The other ways are under More.
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Here is a question: explain why the speaker removes his cycle-clips. What is the command word?
Explain. So I have to say why, not just what.
Which stanza do you go back to?
Stanza 1, the last two lines.
What is your answer in two sentences?
He has no hat to take off, which is the usual sign of respect in a church, so he removes his cycle-clips instead. The gesture is awkward, but it shows a respect he cannot explain.
Good. Did you give evidence and explanation?
Yes. The evidence is that he is hatless, and the explanation is that the gesture shows awkward respect.
The question is: why does the speaker keep stopping at churches although he does not believe? How many points will you make?
Three. First, the confession in stanza 3 that it is a habit and that he does not know what he is looking for.
And the second?
The sense of the church as a place apart, with its silence, in stanza 1, and his wondering what will become of churches.
The third point?
The answer in stanza 7: a hunger to be serious, and the ground where the dead are buried.
How will you end?
With a sentence that links back: he keeps visiting because the church meets a need that disbelief has not removed.
A student wrote that the poem is about how bad religion is. What is wrong with that?
The speaker never attacks religion. He is sceptical but respectful, and he ends by calling the church serious.
What else should the student check?
Whether the answer has stanza and line references, because without them it sounds like a guess.
And the command word?
If it says discuss, he must weigh more than one view and not just state one.
Excellent. Always check against the question before you finish.
short factual questions, reference to context, title or detail questions, long answers, critical appreciation and comparison each need a different depth.
describe, explain, discuss, comment on, compare and justify tell you exactly what to do.
every point needs a stanza or line reference and an explanation of its effect.
describe images and refer to stanzas and lines, and quote no more than a key word or a very short phrase.
the speaker is sceptical but respectful, so answers that call the poem simply religious or anti-religious are weak.
answer the question that was asked, keep to the length and link back to the question at the end.
A short answer: the speaker removes his cycle-clips because he has no hat to take off, and removing a hat is the traditional sign of respect in a church. The awkward substitute shows that he feels a respect he cannot explain.
A reference-to-context answer: in the closing lines of stanza 2 (lines 16-18) the speaker signs the visitors' book, leaves a small Irish coin and decides that the visit was hardly worth the trouble. The token gesture and the flat verdict show a pose of indifference, which stanza 3 then contradicts.
A title answer: "Church Going" means both the habit of attending church and the church going out of use. The double meaning is ironic, because the speaker is a visitor to churches just when churches are fading.
A long-answer opening: the speaker keeps stopping at churches because they satisfy a need that his disbelief has not removed. Stanza 3 admits the habit, stanzas 4 to 6 explore what will become of churches, and stanza 7 names the need: a hunger to be serious.
Read the word and find the line; plan three points that fit the sign; write with proof and say what is meant; check it twice before it is sent.
A traveller follows a map to a hidden church. First he reads the sign at the gate, which is the command word. Then he finds the right path, which is the lines. He packs three things for the walk, which are his three points. He walks and takes notes, which is evidence and explanation. Finally he checks the map to be sure he has arrived where he meant to go, which is the final check.
Really Fast Planning Wins Contests stands for Read, Find, Plan, Write, Check.
C.L.E.A.R. - Command word, Lines (find them), Explain with evidence, Answer the question asked, Review at the end
Term
What are the five steps of the answering method?
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What does the command word discuss require?
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How can you show knowledge of the poem without long quotation?
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What does PEE stand for?
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Why is it weak to call the poem simply anti-religious?
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Name two common mistakes in answers on this poem.
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The word in an exam question that tells you what to do, such as describe, explain, discuss, comment on, compare or justify.
A question type that points you to a stanza or lines and asks about their meaning, effect or place in the poem.
To restate the meaning of a passage in your own words without changing the sense.
The detail from the poem, given by stanza or line number, that supports a point.
The part of an answer that says what the evidence shows or what effect it creates.
A three-part pattern for a paragraph: make a point, support it with evidence from the poem, and explain its effect.
An answer that sets two poems side by side and discusses their similarities and differences in theme, style and tone.
A reasoned discussion of how a poem works and how well it works, covering theme, form, language, tone and the poet's success.
This lesson is a guide to answering exam questions on Philip Larkin's "Church Going". It explains the main question types, gives a method for planning and writing each one, and works through sample questions with model approaches.
Questions on "Church Going" fall into a few families: short factual questions, reference-to-context questions that point to a stanza and its lines, questions on the title or a detail, longer answers on theme, structure, language, tone and the ending, critical appreciation, and comparison. The lesson teaches a five-step method (read the command word, find the lines, plan three points, write with evidence and explanation, check), shows how to use the poem by giving stanza and line numbers and describing images in your own words, lists common mistakes, and works through six sample questions. The practice questions that go with it let you try each type yourself.
By now you know "Church Going" stanza by stanza and have studied its devices, its tone and its structure. This lesson turns that knowledge into answers. Board questions on a poem tend to fall into a few families, and each family has its own method.
You do not need long quotations to show that you know the poem. Refer to the stanza and line number, describe the image in your own words, and quote no more than a key word or a very short phrase from your printed text. For example, you can write that in stanza 2 the echoes seem to snigger at the speaker, and then explain that this is personification and shows the building mocking his play-acting. Accurate references show understanding, whereas long quotations copied from memory often contain mistakes and use up time. The practice questions in this unit follow the same habit: they point to stanzas and line numbers and expect you to describe what you find there.
Did I answer the question that was asked? Did I give stanza or line references? Did I explain the effect of each point? Did I keep to the length? Did I end with a link back to the question?