Analyzing Poetry

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Thinking about the title

In many poems, the title indicates: o Subject/topic ( Alligator Pie ) o Context/setting ( Reading the Brothers Grimm to Jenny ) o Symbol(ism)/theme ( The Road Not Taken ) The title often connects to what the poem will be suggesting about its topic

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Read the poem through once, and then a second time. Just read it! Step 3 Personal Response Make note of your initial feelings, thoughts, and impressions of the poem and the content of the poem. Step 4 y y y

Paraphrase Difficult Lines and Stanzas

Typically, some lines will need to be translated or paraphrased into your own words If you can do this, then the poem and its meanings tend to open up As part of the paraphrasing process, you should look up unfamiliar words and allusions o If a word is not known, the meaning of a line or whole poem may be lost or remain unknown o It s a good habit to use a dictionary to look up unfamiliar words!!

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Contemplate the poem beyond the literal (the start of interpretation!)

Part of contemplating for interpretation involves looking at the author s diction, or word choice o Word choice plays a significant role in achieving the author s purpose This involves looking at connotation o the emotional associations implied or suggested by a word; extends the meaning of a word beyond its dictionary meaning o connotative words produce highly personal impressions or general impressions What associations do some of the author s words have? What impressions do they create in the reader? Pay attention to images Pay close attention to figures of speech (all the poetic devices used and what they help the reader understand or view more clearly) Looking at FORM and STYLE of the poem is key to this section of your analysis o Both help to improve our understanding

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Attitude of the speaker and the poet

As part of this step, you should look at: o Key images and patterns of imagery o Conflicts/struggles o Mood what is the feeling that the poem creates in the reader? o Tone what is the poet s attitude toward his/her subject?

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Shifts in speakers and in attitudes

Ask yourself: did the speaker change? Did the attitude of the speaker change? Did the poet s attitude toward the subject seem to change? The pivotal moment might be small or simple, but pay attention to see if there is one! Look for line breaks, stanza breaks, and key words that could indicate a shift

Title
Look at it again, now that you have done some work with interpreting the poem as a whole Does the title have any interpretive significance? Can you read the title beyond the literal? How does the poem relate to the title?

Theme

understanding theme and purpose

The title and key images offer clues to theme Key lines also offer clues Theme is the main idea of the poem, usually summed up in a single sentence called the theme statement To form your theme statement, it is essential to look at all of the steps you have gone through in your analysis. Theme should be: o Concisely and accurately stated in a single sentence o An expression of the poem s main points o Expressed as a general statement Theme should not: o Refer to specific images, situations, or characters in the poem.