The poem ‘An Unknown Girl’ by Moniza Alvi is currently taught on the Edexcel International GCSE English Language Paper 2 curriculum. It is one of the 10 prose and poetry anthology texts which students answer on for Question 1. This complete ‘An Unknown Girl‘ IGCSE resources pack comes packaged in a cohesive poetry unit. It includes line-by-line annotations, quiz questions with an answer key, a mind mapping activity, rubric and exemplar full mark answer.
‘An Unknown Girl’ by Moniza Alvi tells the story of the narrator having their hand hennaed at an Indian bazaar. The speaker experiences a deep connection to the anonymous ‘unknown girl’ doing her henna. However, she is conflicted about the security of her connection to the girl, the henna and symbolically, Indian culture. She fears her new identity may fade when she leaves India.
Alvi uses symbolism to depict her message about cultural identity conflict; but how can we support students to capture that in their exam essays? How can we break it down to consider not only the literal description of an intricate henna design, but the wider message about attachment and acceptance in different cultures?
‘An Unknown Girl’ IGCSE Scheme of Work
I’ve created a scheme of work for busy teachers to take your students step-by-step through the poem. It contains everything from an engaging, thought-provoking starter, to identifying literary techniques, to analysing and annotating the poem, to practising the 30-mark Question 1 exam question. This An Unknown Girl IGCSE resource contains editable Google slides, quizzes with answer keys, sample exam questions, example exam answers and close textual annotations of the whole GCSE poem. All activities are ready to download and print in PDF form or there are links for you to personalise them if you wish.
Edexcel IGCSE English Language Exam Paper 2
The 1 hour 30 minutes Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 2 exam is split into Section A and Section B. Section A is the reading assessment and candidates are presented with one of the 10 prose and poetry anthology texts. The prose texts are between 1.5 and 3.5 pages long and the poems are approximately 1 page. They have 1 30-mark question to answer, which is usually based on a broad theme from the selected text, such as death, strong emotions, sympathy or conflict. Furthermore, candidates are provided with 3 bullet points which give guidance as to what to include in the response.
Section B is an imaginative writing assessment. Candidates choose between three options, which are normally loosely based on the Section A text.
- Question 2 tends to be a personal question. For example, write about a time you overcame a challenge. The response can be real or imagined.
- Question 3 tends to give the title of a story, and candidates are required to write the story.
- Question 4 usually provides a set of 2-3 images which students may use as a stimulus to write a story.
Edexcel 'An Unknown Girl' Analysis and Resources
To introduce the poem ‘An Unknown Girl’, I show a variety of images related to the poem. I ask for words, links and ideas that come to students’ minds. Then, they discuss for 5 minutes or so in pairs or small groups before we do class feedback. As the poem has such vivid imagery, this is an important way into the poem. We discuss things such as celebrations and cultural references. Helpfully, it allows me to ascertain their prior knowledge of Indian culture.
'An Unknown Girl' IGCSE Poetic Devices
Before diving into the text, I quickly review key language techniques in the poem so that they are fresh in students’ minds as they read. A matching activity is included in this resource. Students match the definition to the technique, which they can either copy, cut and paste or simply number. As an extension, students can write their own examples of the techniques. Moreover, this is a useful revision tool for and any GCSE poetry exam, including the unseen poetry for Edexcel IGCSE English Literature. When students know the language techniques implicitly, they naturally refer to them in their analysis and their marks improve.
An Unknown Girl line-by-line analysis
Before close textual analysis, I often ask students to do an initial reading for the tone and literal reading. It is a fairly straightforward poem for students to understand on a surface level – a description of receiving a henna design in a busy night market. The challenge comes in unpacking how Alvi presents the challenge of establishing identity for people of a mixed cultural background. As well as that, Alvi explores the desire to fit in, yet retain individuality. Close textual annotations are a way to support students to unpack the deeper meanings.
When it comes to closely analysing the lines of the poem, there are a few ways of approaching the activity. You can read and annotate together with students completing the annotations in real time. Alternatively, you can split students into groups and ask each group to focus on a certain number of lines before feeding back to the class. Or you could read and discuss, then ask students to complete the annotations for homework.
There are many ways of approaching close textual analysis; I find that varying the method for different texts keeps students interested through the unit. For poems specifically, I tend to do annotations as a class activity as poetry can be more abstract and harder for students to grasp than prose texts. This ‘An Unknown Girl’ IGCSE resources pack contains detailed line-by-line annotations of the whole poem.
Edexcel An Unknown Girl IGCSE Quiz with Answer Key
After analysing the poem, I do a quick AFL quiz with students to assess their understanding of the language and structure of the poem, then introduce exam practice questions. Editable quiz questions for a straightforward low stakes multiple choice quiz with answers are available on the slides and in PDF form with these An Unknown Girl IGCSE resources. Depending on your time and the nature of your class, you can do this as a whole class activity on the interactive whiteboard or hand out to students to do in pairs or individually.
'An Unknown Girl' Edexcel Practice Exam Questions
Question 1 on the IGCSE English Language Paper 2 exam is a 30-mark question on one of the 10 anthology prose and poetry texts. You can find them in Part 2 of the anthology. Although it is 1 question, it is quite high stakes as students don’t have anywhere to hide; they must perform on this question. I reinforce to them that they must know all 10 of the texts very well to write a detailed essay on just one of them in the exam.
There are some steps to take before asking students to write a response. Firstly, it may be useful to take students through the rubric so that they familiarise themselves with how the response is awarded. Then, you can take students through the example PETER paragraph (point, evidence, technique, explain, refer). If you wish, you can ask them to order the parts of the example paragraph, so they grapple with the concept of a cohesive paragraph. This way, there are scaffolds in place to support students to produce high quality responses and you can demonstrate how the paragraph hits the mark scheme pointers, such as exploring techniques and use of vocabulary for effect. It also directly links to the question, which is something examiners look for.
In this ‘An Unknown Girl’ GCSE poetry unit, there is a rubric, paragraph structure and sorting activity so that students can see how to write a cohesive analytical paragraph. This is a useful way to ease hesitant students into writing a full analysis of the poem.
'An Unknown Girl' Mind Mapping Activity
Students often struggle to plan their ideas; they are left wondering; how do I start? What do I write and in what order? A mind map is a good tool for students to revise the texts, but also produce a cohesive analysis and plan out their ideas so that they avoid repetition.
I have included an example of a mind map in these ‘An Unknown Girl’ IGCSE resources, useful for analysis and making thematic links between different parts of the poem. Additionally, I split the poem into confusion and acceptance as they are major contrasts in the poem. Sometimes, the narrator accepts her Indian identity as part of her. At other points, she clings to it as if she fears losing it. Students can then make notes for each of these sections.
Then, they can use colours, notes, diagrams or images (however their brain works) to connect and order their ideas. After they have made notes, they can order and organise their notes depending on how they would like to structure their essay. This helps enable them to compose a cohesive and perceptive exam response.
Edexcel 'An Unknown Girl' IGCSE Exemplar Analytical Essay
Included in these ‘An Unknown Girl‘ IGCSE resources, I have provided an editable full-mark example answer for Question 1, worth 30 marks. I find it the most effective to ask students to have a go at answering first, do some peer or teacher marking of their answers, then present them with the full-mark response. Often, I find if students achieve a mark they are unhappy with, they ask ‘what do I have to do to increase my mark?’ Or, they might say ‘how do I make it better?’ These are great questions as it shows engagement with the improvement process. This is when providing them with an exemplar analytical essay can help them ‘see’ exactly how to plug the gaps in their own response.
There are examiner’s comments in the notes section of the presentation about this response. Essentially, to be awarded full marks, there should be evidence of perceptive analysis. I explain to students that the answer goes beyond ‘obvious’ points and draws out the writer’s range of feelings and connection to the reader’s reaction. Consider whether the writer changes their perspective and how language and structure interconnect for effect. For example, a long syndetic list can also contain strong, emotive verbs. Quotations must be relevant to the points made for a student to fall in the top band of the mark scheme, and multiple quotations should be used through the response.
Edexcel GCSE English Language Imaginative Writing Practice
There are also a couple of writing prompts included in these An Unknown Girl IGCSE resources. Time-permitting, this is an excellent text to base a creative or transactional writing piece around as it is so steeped in vivid imagery. You could have the students write an article, story or letter based on the text. This can help develop skills required for Section B of Paper 1 (Transactional Writing) and Section B of Paper 2 (Imaginative Writing), whilst increasing their engagement with the poem An Unknown Girl.
Edexcel GCSE Poetry Revision
To sum up, some of the best techniques for teaching the 10 prose and poetry texts include:
- Hook students with an intriguing starter activity
- Use alternative methods to closely analyse and annotate the text
- Quiz students for quick AFL strategy to assess whether they are engaging with the text
- Practise past paper questions
- Study model answers, including examples of typical mistakes students make in the exam responses
- Offer an optional creative activity as homework or an extension to challenge students’ perceptions of the text
Good luck teaching An Unknown Girl. As so many communities are becoming more multicultural, it’s a poem which many students can relate to. Comment below if you can add any useful teaching and learning techniques for this text.
If you enjoyed this article about teaching ‘An Unknown Girl’, you might also find value in my Edexcel IGCSE Paper 2 guides and resources for ‘Out, out-‘. There are also Edexcel IGCSE English Language Paper 1 guides and schemes of work for many of the set texts, including Chinese Cinderella and Explorers or Boys Messing About? Either way, taxpayer gets rescue bill. Follow my store for more as resources are constantly being added.
