Past exam questions on W.B. Yeats

Reading through past exam questions, planning them and answering them is an excellent way to prepare yourself for possible future questions.

2014
‘Yeats uses evocative language to create poetry that includes both personal reflection and public commentary.’
Discuss this statement, supporting your answer with reference to both the themes and language found in the poetry of W.B. Yeats on your course.

2011
‘Yeats can be a challenging poet to read, both in terms of style and subject matter.’
To what extent do you agree with this statement? Support your answer with suitable reference to the subject matter on your course.

2010
‘Yeats’s poetry is driven by a tension between the real world in which he lives and an ideal world that he imagines.’
Write a response to the poetry of W.B. Yeats in the light of this statement, supporting your points with suitable reference to the poems on your course.

2005
Write an article for a school  magazine introducing the poetry of W.B. Yeats to Leaving Certificate students. Tell them what he wrote about and explain what you liked in his writing, suggesting some poems that you think they would enjoy reading. Support your points by reference to the poetry of W.B. Yeats that you have studied.

1998
‘Yeats’s masterful style – particularly his use of symbolism – richly expresses a great variety of themes,  personal and political.’
Discuss this view, supporting your answer by quotation or reference to the poems of Yeats on your course.

1995
‘Bitter disillusionment with the realities he found in Ireland and a reluctant acceptance of the limitations he found within himself are the major thrusts of Yeats’s poetry.’
Discuss this view, supporting your answer by quotation from or reference to the poems by Yeats on your course.

W.B. Yeats  1865 - 1939
W.B. Yeats
1865 – 1939