The Art of Poetry: Forward's Poems of the Decade: Volume 3

I haven't read all of this yet but what I've seen is very useful for the study of the poetry collection. It adds to the great analysis in volume 2 and is invaluable for a new text with hardly any critical material.Having said that, I have a couple of gripes. Firstly, it seems that they have rushed this out. In just a few pages I found at least 10 typos. Proof-reading could definitely have been more thorough. Secondly, it bugs me that the poems' titles are written in lower case. It's a nightmare trying to get students to capitalise correctly, even A Level students, so it's really unhelpful when academic texts don't do it!Despite these issues, I do think these are very good resources.

Clear and useful responses to the poems in the collection. I am a teacher and I use these in preparation for lessons, and to support students. They are not 'detailed annotations', so you need to use them as a starting point- the notes in this book are not enough to prepare you for the exam, but nor should they be. They do exactly what they claim to- they offer helpful advice and comments on the poems and prompt further discussion. There are also some nice activities for teachers to use in the classroom.

I think this is a brilliant book - a great resource for students and teachers. The authors manage the difficult task of writing high level literary criticism in a style that is accessible to A-level students. Often I find secondary material is either too dry and academic for my students or too patronising and dumbed-down. It's also attractively packaged and the only resource I've found on the Forward Anthology. Can't recommend it enough!

Very useful guide for teachers and students. The content is clear, thoughtfully presented and at a stretching but not too challenging level for A Level. A good resource for the new Edexcel course.

Stressed AS-Level student was very pleased to get this to help her prepare for her English Literature exams! She would recommend this!

Good

Fantastic book with lots of good ideas!