Working through these questions will help you better understand a poem. Remember: we are NOT going to study the history of poetry or specific types of poems, and the poets we read will be relatively contemporary.
1. What does the title mean?
Take a look at the title and reflect on what it means. (When you write your analysis, you will need this for the introductory paragraph.) AFTER you finish your analysis, look at the title again. Do you now have a different interpretation of the title? Explain—you might want to do this in the conclusion.
2. Put it in your own words
Read the poem two or three times; make sure you take the time to read the poem aloud. You will see something different each time you read the poem. Write a brief paraphrase of the poem. Highlight or list some of the words (nouns, verbs, phrases) that are important to understanding the poem.
Now think about the meaning of the poem, not just the obvious meaning of each word but what they mean beyond the literal. Do these words suggest something else? Do some words suggest an emotion?
Answer these questions and provide evidence—lines, words, phrases from the poem--for your answers:
3. Who is the speaker of the poem?
4. What is he/she talking about?
5. Why do you think the author wrote the poem?
6. When is the poem happening and where is the poem happening—what is the context?
7. What is the poet’s attitude or tone in the poem?
8. In what way is there a shift or change in the poem? Does the poem shift from person to person or between different times or places?
Most poems tell us about a poet’s understanding of an experience so the beginning will be different then the end. The change or shift may be in feelings, language (slang to formal), or connotation (positive to negative). Explain what the shift is and why it is important (if we were reading a story, the “shift” would refer to the climax or turning point.
9. Poetic devices—we are looking at only the most common; if you need definition/clarification, refer to: http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-imagery-poems.html:
Identify different poetic devices and how they convey the poem’s message.
· Simile – comparison using like or as – “Like a thunderbolt he falls.”
· Metaphor – a direct comparison – “I like to see it lap the miles/And lick the mountains up” http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/train.html
· Personification – giving human qualities to nonhuman things – “ . . . the great throat of the chimney laughed . . . “
· Tone – what emotion does the speaker use as he talks – “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary. . . ” http://www.heise.de/ix/raven/Literature/Lore/TheRaven.html
· Point of view – who is the telling the poem – “That’s my last Duchess, painted on the wall, / Looking as if she were alive . . . “http://www.wockyjivvy.com/poetry/acclaim/rbr-myla.html
- Imagery – creating pictures or sounds with words – “When all at once I saw a crowd, / A host of golden daffodils; / Beside the lake, beneath the trees, / Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.”
- Alliteration – repeating the same consonant sound at the beginning of words –
“ . . . mystical, moist night air . . .”
· Assonance – repeating the same vowel sound – “Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December, / And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.”
10. Theme
Identify the theme (central idea) of the poem. How does the theme convey the poem’s message?
The poetic analysis:
Start with the introductory paragraph. It should contain the title, the author, and an explanation of the writer’s position as well as the significance of the title. Include a brief overall statement of the meaning of the poem. This will lead you into the body of the analysis. In the body of the analysis, discuss how the poem was written, which poetic devices were used, the tone, the poet’s attitude, and the shift of the poem from the beginning to the poet’s ultimate understanding of the experience in the end. Add your interpretation of the poem.
Copyright 2009 IRA/NCTE. All rights reserved.
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