Re: The Poem Was About A Dog?
It doesn't matter if you thought it was a dog or a person. The composer's purpose, for all we know, might have been to bring us to question the perspective which the poem is coming from - and that is exactly what we are doing by arguing whether it is a human or a dog. At the end of the day, poetry can be interpreted differently by anyone. Anything in English can be interpreted differently. That is why they say your reasons for believing what you believe is what matters. As long as you give reasons for why you believe that, and your reasons are legitimate, then you have nothing to worry about.
Even my English teacher who mind you has marked the HSC in past years and is very intelligent, told me that for English, when the HSC markers mark it, they have a large list of possible answers which they mark from. Even if your answer isn't there, but they can see why and understand why you have interpreted it that way, you are still capable of getting full marks.