What is the theme of the poem? What is the poet trying to say? What is the poem about?

Assignment

 While not assigning required additional chapters in your text that address these and other poetic devices.If you select shorter poems, more than two are required.

Assignment

 Access audio recordings of the poems you are reading or others (see details at the end of poems in text.) Part of your analysis can include discussion of the difference between reading the poem and listening to it.

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Suggested Poems

 Suggested poems:
 “The Blind Men and the Elephant” by John Godfrey Saxe
 “He Worried About It” by Sam Walter Foss
 “The Female of the Species” by Rudyard Kipling
 “To an Athlete Dying Young” by A.E. Housman

Analyzing a poem

 Analyzing a poem is not writing a summary as in fiction.

 Analyzing a poem is interpretation what the author is telling the reader.

 The interpretation will include not just what the work means, but how it accomplishes the author’s purpose.

 Pick several poems with the same or similar theme.

 Read each poem several times to grasp the theme, similarity and what
the author is truly telling the reader.

As you read your poems look for clues

 1.What is the theme of the poem? What is the poet trying to say? What is the
poem about?

 2.What happens in the poem? Are conflicts or themes introduced? Resolved?

 3.Who is the speaker? What is the “point of view” or perspective of the
speaker? The perspective might be social, intellectual, political, or even
physical.

 4.What is the setting? What is the time and place? How does the poet make
use of the physical description? Does it create a mood?

 5.Are there any key statements or lines that indicate meaning? Look for one
key line or symbol; however, the poet may make use of recurring symbols,
actions, or motifs.

Look for clues

 6.How does the sound or language contribute to the poem’s meaning? Does the rhythm affect what the poet is trying to convey? What kinds of words are used? Are there words with double meanings?

 7.Does the poem refer to other literary works? For example, is there a Biblical reference or reference to another poem? How does the other work relate to the meaning?

 8.Is there a historical, ideological, or cultural aspect? Does the poem refer to a world event, period of time, or particular aspect of culture (race, status, gender, class)?

What are the basic ideas of the world or human condition or experience (love, hate, orderliness of the universe, etc.)?

 9.What qualities or emotions does the poem evoke? How does the poem make you feel?

 10.What imagery is used? Does the poet use physical imagery or figures of speech, such as metaphors?

Analyzing

 Poets use language to express or represent thoughts, ideas, feelings,
actions, or experiences.

 What do you “see” when you read a poem? Imagery may involve the
other senses (hearing, smell) or an abstract concept (thought,
intellect).

 When analyzing a poem, take note of the devices a poet uses to
convey or emphasize meaning.

Reading your Poems

 First read your poem silently- get your ‘gut’ reaction- does it bring up
any personal feelings/memories?

 For example: Bliss Carmen’s “The Vagabond Song.” Your first
impressions may be ones of brightly colored leaves, edged in frost.

Or summer turning to fall. It may call up memories of time spent
in the woods when the leaves are all changing.

 Second, read your poem-now find the literal meaning

 For example: For “The Vagabond Song,” the story is of the poet
witnessing the change from summer to fall. He feels like fall is the
most captivating season, and it sets his blood going to think of the
leaves changing.

Reading

 Read the poem again, for the connotative meaning.

 Take the word “mother,” for example. The dictionary would define mother as “a
female parent.” OK, but the word “mother” probably creates emotions and
feelings in you: it paints a picture in your mind.

You may think of love and security or you may think of your own mother. The emotions and feelings that a word creates are called its connotative meaning.

 For “The Vagabond Song,” take the phrase “gypsy blood.” Technically gypsy blood
means the blood of someone who is of Romani descent. Yet in the poem, the
connotation of “gypsy blood” is that of a wandering spirit.

The poet may have
home or permanent place to live, but when the fall season comes, he suddenly
feels restless.

Reading

 What is the symbolic meaning of the poem?
 In “The Vagabond Song,” consider the word “native.” The line reads,

“There is something in the autumn that is native to my blood.” Native in
this case, does not mean that the speaker was born with autumn in his
blood. Instead it is a symbolic representation of the concept that the
speaker feels like he was born to be a part of the autumn, that he feels
most alive in the autumn, and that autumn is an inherent part of himself.
Native means intrinsic, siren-like, and joy-inspiring.

 For another example, consider the word “light.” This may not refer to the
literal condition that means the opposite of darkness; often “light” is used
to symbolize knowledge, truth, peace, joy, or spirituality.

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