Poetry Pointers

Poetry Pointers

Poetry Pointers

Poems are meant to be experienced; they are meant to be heard. Therefore, read the assigned poem out loud several times. During the first read, become familiar with just the surface details. Then, re-read paying closer attention tofeelingsthat surface. Noticeideas or memories, as well,that come to mind as the poem is read. These personal responses aresubjectiveinformation. Subjective information is oftenuseful in generatinginitial connections between your knowledgeabout an aspect of human experience and what the poet is expressing in his poem.

Discipline yourself to objectively examine how and why the specific details of the poem are working to express the poet’s idea or theme. Objective information isverifiable – if you can see it, then another person can too, as opposed to subjective thoughts and feelings which can’t be proven.Objective information notes what the poem is – what it is constructed of – how and why the component parts develop an idea. Next, consider how both the subjective and objective factsintegrate to informthereader of the poem’s deeper meaning as a whole.

Consider that words are the primary tool of the poet. The words of a poem are purposely and precisely chosen by the poetto express a particular idea. Reflecton the role of every word. What does a specific word mean? Use a high quality English dictionary to reference the word’s etymology.Etymology provides insightful information about the word’s language of origin, its history and its roots which may be important to understanding the poem. Do words repeat? Is there a pattern of words that have similar meanings? How and why might these words be accomplishing the expression of the poet’s idea?

What is the poem’s mood? Is the poem full of aliveness, melancholy, dread, or joy? How are color wordsor symbols used to indicate mood? Do the words of the poem seem to go fast or slow? Does punctuation contribute to the poem’s pace? Does the pace help to establish a certain mood?Is there a rhythm or beat that can be heard in the poem? Why might that sound be important? Does the rhythm remind you of anything? Do many of the words begin with the same letter of the alphabet? Why? What does that accomplish?

Note that the poet is not the speaker of the poem. Therefore, when writing about poetry do not write…The poet sayshe is sorry in line 2. Rather, write: The use of the word “sorry” in line 2 expressesregret and indecision. Just as authors create characters for their novels and short stories, poets create characters that experience the events in the poem or they create a narrator who is the observer and reporter of the events. What does a particular perspective accomplish in the poem?

Always write about the poem in the present tense. Even if the poem was written a hundred years ago, it is experienced anew in the present each time it is read. Consequently, the reader’s response and analysis is also happening in the present.

To get started – make a poem worksheet. Use the worksheet to note any observations that you can regarding the use of the poet’s devices such as diction, punctuation, similes, metaphors, alliteration, rhyme schemes, imagery, onomatopoeia, mood, and irony, etc. Annotating individual observations throughout the poem often leads to a better understanding of the poem’s underlying meaning or theme.

Copy and paste the poem into a new Word document.

  • Click, drag, and highlight the poem.Increase line spacing to 2.5 to allow for annotations.
  • Number each line of the poem 1 through…….99 etc. for citation purposes.
  • Number each stanza: first, second, third, fourth, etc. “ “ “
  • Is the poem’s title significant? How does it relate to the poem’s other elements? Does it contain a clue to the poem’s meaning?
  • Circle any unfamiliar vocabulary words. Look them up in a good dictionary. Write the dictionary meaning on the worksheet adjacent to the word. There may be multiple meanings or connotations. Sometimes, the most obsolete meaning may hold an important key to unlocking the theme or central idea of the poem. Words that are unfamiliar to you now, may have been used commonly at the time that the poet lived.
  • Consider the relevance of the word’s meanings in relation to the other words being used to construct the poem.
  • Determine the rhyme scheme. A, B, A, B or AA, BB, AB, BA, etc. Is there a pattern? Is the pattern significant? Why?
  • How does the poem look visually on the page? Is the shape significant? Why?

BCCC 12/21/2011

Use the vocabulary of poetry when developing assignments.The construction of a poem can be very technical; however, most students can understand and identify these commonly used devices to analyze and discuss poetry.

Alliteration – words begin with the same letter.

  • The wiggly wobbly wagon wheel

Allusion – reference to something else outside of the subject of the poem

  • The open window alludes to the woman’s longing for freedom from her current situation.

Couplet – a pair of consecutive lines that have the same end rhyme

  • Up into the cherry tree

Who should climb but little me (Robert Louis Stephenson)

Diction – the poet’s precise choice of words

Imagery –descriptive, sensory words that create a mental picture

Metaphor – comparison between two unlike things without using like or as.

Mood – the emotional feel or atmosphere of the poem

Onomatopoeia – words that create or imitate a sound effect

  • The boy whispered.
  • Sizzling bacon.

Personification – attributing human qualities to animals or inanimate objects

  • The weeping willow

Repetition –a recurrence of elements to create unity

Rhyme– same syllable or word sounds, often occurring at the end of lines of poetry

Rhythm – repetition of stressed and unstressed syllables which create a certain sound and pace

Simile–comparison between two objects using like, as, or than

  • I wandered lonely as a cloud (Walt Whitman)

Stanza – lines of poetry that are grouped as a unit and offset from other lines with a space

Symbolism – using one object to suggest another meaning

  • A window might symbolize freedom, release, or opportunity

Theme – the dominant unifying idea in a poem

Citation Requirements for Poetry

Cite the line numbers at the end of the sentence, not page numbers.

  • The opening line, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,” introduces the theme of choice (1).

When quoting 1 – 3 lines use quotation marks, but use a slash/ to indicate the line breaks.

  • The repeated use of the conjunction “and” in the lines “And sorry I could not travel both /and be one traveler, long I stood /And looked down one as far as I could” implies a grammatical compound which additionally supports the idea of choosing between two paths (2-4).

When quoting 4 or more lines use block format. Indent 10 spaces or 1 inch from the left. Quotation marks are not necessary.However, maintain all of the poet’s original formatting and punctuation.

  • Robert Frost concludes the examination of looking backuponlife’s choices by using singular syllable ending words. These single syllable words suggest and support the idea that making a choice is a solitary action.In the last line the poet switches to a three syllable word filled with a variety of sound indicating that the choice once made brought a fuller and richer experience:

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

If words are omitted from a line of poetry, use ellipses.

  • The color word used in “Two roads (…) in a yellow wood” suggests that the season is fall (1).