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APE 12

Mr. Storrie
Poetry Analysis of your chosen poem
As an end to the official poetry unit you are going to analyze a poem of your choice. It is
important to remember that the skills you have learned and practiced within this unit are
transferable to all genres of text. The poem must be a published poem, not something your friend
wrote for English class. For this assignment you must submit an annotated copy of the poem you
chose (10 points), answers to the 10 generic questions you should think about when analyzing a
poem (40 points), a well-developed paragraph giving your interpretation of the poem, including
your analysis of all the fine literary devices the author used (25 points), and your own original
poem in which you mimic the poets style (similar to what you did with the Whitman poem
earlier in this unit). This original poem should be similar in diction and syntax. Whether or not
you tackle the same subject matter is entirely up to you (25 points).
The final grade you earn for this assignment will be worth 3 assignment grades.
(So if you earn 100%, you will receive 100% on 3 assignments. If you earn 75% on your
assessment, you will receive 75% on 3 assignments, etc.)
Poetry for Dummies
Okay, so let us remember everything we did this unit to analyze a poem. When we analyze a
poem, we are really approaching it because a poem can have different meanings for different
readers. You should not be trying to beat a confession out of a poem.
1) Read through at least twice. You will have to read a poem multiple times before even
attempting to approach it for deeper meanings. Give yourself a chance to thoroughly and fully
experience the poem.
2) Is there a title? Dont forget to take this into consideration. Readers often skip over a poems
title, which may contain important clues for understanding the piece. Often the title is an
introduction that can guide you.
3) Stay calm! If there are any unfamiliar words or even a few foreign terms, dont panic and
dont obsess. On your first read through, just let them go and try instead to focus on the larger
meaning of the poem. On the second and subsequent passes, you should then look up those
troublesome words or anything else that is problematic for you.
4) Read it aloud. Yes. You must do this. Poems are meant to be heard. Often you will find that
places in the poem that gave you trouble on the page suddenly make sense when read out loud.
You may feel silly at first, but soon youll be comfortable. (Cats and dogs, by the way, make
particularly good audiences...though cats tend to be more critical and may leave at a pivotal point
in your performance.) Read in your normal voice.
5) Pay attention to punctuation. Most poems use punctuation to help guide the voice of its
reader. You need to pay attention because the end of a line is frequently not the end of a sentence.
If you stop reading or pause at the end of the every line, it will sound broken and unnatural. If
you read smoothly through, pausing briefly at commas and making a full stop at periods, the
poem will have its proper conversational tone.
6) Try paraphrasing. It may be best for you to write in your own words what the poet is saying
in each line of the poem. As you work through it, youll see which areas you need to concentrate
on. But again, avoid the notion that there is one true meaning.

7) Who is the speaker? Remember not to confuse the poet with the speaker of the poem.
More often than not, the speaker is a character, just like in a novel or a play. Determining who
the speaker is will help you approach the work more easily.
8) Be open to interpretation. Give it a chance. But being open to the poets intentions can lead
you to some interesting ideas and questions.
9) There are no useless words. Poets select each and every word carefully. None should be
dismissed. Images and symbols all have a purpose in the overall meaning of the poem.
10) Dont expect a definitive reading. Many poems are intentionally open-ended and refuse to
resolve their internal tensions. While it is desirable to understand what a poem is saying,
remember that there are approaches and interpretations other than your own.
Generic questions to help guide you through a poem
1. Who is talking?
2. To whom is the speaker talking?
3. What is the dramatic context of the poem? (Is there a reason or occasion for the poem? Is there any
evidence of a setting, a time, place, season, or situation?)

4. What happens during the poem? (Is there a conflict? Past or present? External or internal conflict?
Why is it important to the speaker or character in the poem? Point of view?)

5. What motivates the speaker to speak now, in the tone he/she uses? (Does the speaker evince

6.

7.

8.

9.
10.

an attitude or bias regarding the subject matter? What imagery, diction, figures of speech, and selection of
details contribute to the speakers tone? Does the speaker use comparisons made via metaphors, similes,
personification, or metonymy? Do you see any shifts in tone or perspective? Any contradictions?)
How does the language of the poem contribute to its meaning? (Is there anything distinctive
about the poems diction? Does the poet repeat words, sounds, phrases, and ideas? If so, to what purpose
and effect? Which figures of speech and images are particularly potent? Do alliteration, assonance,
consonance play a role in the poem?)
How is the poem organized? (Does it adhere to a closed form, such as a sonnet? Or does it take
liberties? Is it a free form? Is it grammatical? Is the poem constructed with complete sentences? With
phrases? With a mixture of usages? Are the form and meaning related in some way? Does the ending
contain some sort of resolution? How does organization, including syntax, contribute to the poems
meaning and effect?)
Do patterns of rhyme and rhythm contribute to the meaning and effect of the poem? (How
does rhyme function in the poem? Are there patterns of sound that help to convey meaning or create
effects? What does the meter contribute to the poems meaning?)
What themes does the poem contain? (Are themes stated or are they implied? Can you make a
generalization about life or human nature from the poem? In short, what idea is the poet communicating to
the reader?)
What was your initial response to the poem? (Did the poem speak to you? Touch you? Leave you
cold? Confuse you? Anger you? Blow your mind? Cause you to text a friend?)

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