Reading and Analyzing Poetry How to read poetry

Reading and Analyzing Poetry

How to read poetry End-stopped line: A line of poetry that has some form of punctuation at the end. As a reader, you need to pause—take a breath! Enjambed line: A line of poetry that keeps going —there is no punctuation at the end. Do not stop reading – keep going on to the next line!

Speaker Vs. Poet Speaker: This is the imagined narrator of the poem. Speaker and poet should be separated. Think about an imagined character or persona you can create for the speaker: Who is he/she? Think about age, gender, beliefs, upbringing, etc. In many cases, the speaker is the same gender as the poet! Poet: The author of the poem.

Analyzing Poetry – The Steps When we read analyze a poem – there are 7 steps to complete in order to obtain a full analysis. Here they are: 1. ) Title 2. ) Paraphrase 3. ) Connotation/Literary Devices 4. ) Attitude 5. ) Shift 6. ) Title again 7. ) Theme

Step 1: Title Make predictions about the poem’s content based on the title. Does the title have a literal meaning (denotative meaning)? Does the title have a figurative meaning (connotative meaning)? Examples: Cool Dog

Step 2: Paraphrase Break the poem down line by line or stanza by stanza. Summarize the poem in your own words.

Step 3: Connotation/Literary Devices Break down the words! Look at: • Denotations: Dictionary/literal definitions of words • Connotations: Figurative meaning of words— what other meanings do the words have? • Literary Devices: Think about their meaning and the poet’s purpose

Step 4: Attitude Determine the poet’s feelings or attitude towards a subject in the poem. This is also called tone. Example: What is the poet’s attitude toward love, music, and chocolate ice cream?

Step 5: Shift These are major changes in a poem. Look for changes in content, attitude, time and place, punctuation, line divisions, and structure. Shifts are done on purpose. Think about the poet’s reasons for the shifts.

Step 6: Title Again Re-read the poem’s title. Connect the title to the analysis of your poem. Think about the title’s purpose.

Step 7: Theme Look for patterns in the poem. Consider repeated images, words, phrases, etc. Determine how these patterns create a theme. Think about the moral or lesson. Express themes as a complete sentence.