Northie
14-02-2010, 04:35 PM
Okay, so you have to analyze a poem. First, let’s change the word analyze and make it less scary. We prefer the word approach because a poem can have different meanings for different readers.
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? Don’t forget to take this into consideration. Readers often skip over a poem’s title, which may contain important clues for understanding the piece. Often the title is an introduction that can guide you; for example, Langston Hughes’ “Mother to Son” immediately lets you know who the speaker of the poem is and to whom she is speaking.
3) Stay calm! If there are any unfamiliar words or even a few foreign terms, don’t panic and don’t 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 you’ll 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. Don’t try to sound like Maya Angelou. Unless you are Maya Angelou.
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. Consider these lines from Robert Frost’s “Birches”:
When I see birches bend to left and right
Across the lines of straighter darker trees,
I like to think some boy’s been swinging in them.
If you stop reading or pause at the end of the first line, it will sound broken and unnatural. If you read smoothly through, pausing briefly at the comma and making a full stop at the period, 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, you’ll 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. For example, William Carlos Williams’ poem “The Red Wheelbarrow” is often dismissed as cryptic, confusing, and ultimately unknowable. But being open to the poet’s intentions can lead you to some interesting ideas and questions (in this case, what is important to life?).
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) Don’t 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.enotes ws
DIFFERENT WAYS TO ANALYSE A POEM – REFLECTING THE HISTORY OF LITERARY CRITICISM
TEXT-CENTRED CRITICISM
1. Read the poem aloud. Try to hear the sounds in your head.
2. Underline the key words, phrases, images.
3. Analyse sentence structure – what effect does it have? Punctuation?
4. What type of figurative language is being used – metaphor, simile, personification, onomatopoeia, anthropomorphism, oxymoron ("A terrible beauty is born"), juxtaposition, extended metaphor.
5. Is poet appealing to our senses directly – touch, sight, smell?
6. Are devices such as repetition, alliteration, and assonance being used? What is their effect?
7. Are there any symbols used?
8. What form is the poem in?
9. Analyse the tone of the poem. How does the speaker feel toward the subject?
10. What is the mood of the poem? How do you feel as you read it?
READER-CENTRED CRITICISM
1. Write down the title of the poem you are about to read. Write down any associations you make with that title. Connotations?
2. What experiences have you had that can help inform the meaning of this poem?
3. How do you feel about what you are reading?
4. What is the poem saying about your life?
5. In what way could this poem be a poem about you or someone you know?
6. Can you relate this to other texts you have read or to personal anecdotes?
7. Based on your own experiences decide what you think this poem is about.
STRUCTURALISM
1. Carve up the text into its constituent parts.
2. Who is the subject – the person who is the focus of the narrative?
3. Who is the object – the person or thing or goal that defines the subjects’ task?
4. Who or what is the donor – the person or thing that provides materials or information crucial to the subject's success?
5. Who is the receiver – the person who receives the donor’s gift or advice?
6. Who or what is the helper, which accompanies and assists the subject?
7. Who or what – thing, person or place – which stands in the way of the subject and must be overcome?
8. Which ideology is present here?
9. Are there any patterns, which fit the poetry genre? Is there any variation in this?
POST-STRUCTURALISM / DECONSTRUCTIONISM
1. What do you feel is the dominant reading of the poem?
2. What has influenced the ideology of the poem – gender, class, ethnicity, and power?
3. What are the assumptions and values regarding the above in this poem?
4. Which binary oppositions are present?
5. What do these indicate about the speaker and the agenda of the poet?
6. Which ‘myths’ does it challenge, about people or ideas or society?
7. How is power distributed in this text?
* stereotyping – which characters are assigned powerful, dominant characteristics?
* Are they made to appear natural?
* marginalisation – which characters are distanced from the main action, socially or psychologically?
* Authority control – to what extent is the ruling power exerting an influence over the writing and the reading of the text?Catholic forum
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? Don’t forget to take this into consideration. Readers often skip over a poem’s title, which may contain important clues for understanding the piece. Often the title is an introduction that can guide you; for example, Langston Hughes’ “Mother to Son” immediately lets you know who the speaker of the poem is and to whom she is speaking.
3) Stay calm! If there are any unfamiliar words or even a few foreign terms, don’t panic and don’t 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 you’ll 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. Don’t try to sound like Maya Angelou. Unless you are Maya Angelou.
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. Consider these lines from Robert Frost’s “Birches”:
When I see birches bend to left and right
Across the lines of straighter darker trees,
I like to think some boy’s been swinging in them.
If you stop reading or pause at the end of the first line, it will sound broken and unnatural. If you read smoothly through, pausing briefly at the comma and making a full stop at the period, 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, you’ll 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. For example, William Carlos Williams’ poem “The Red Wheelbarrow” is often dismissed as cryptic, confusing, and ultimately unknowable. But being open to the poet’s intentions can lead you to some interesting ideas and questions (in this case, what is important to life?).
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) Don’t 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.enotes ws
DIFFERENT WAYS TO ANALYSE A POEM – REFLECTING THE HISTORY OF LITERARY CRITICISM
TEXT-CENTRED CRITICISM
1. Read the poem aloud. Try to hear the sounds in your head.
2. Underline the key words, phrases, images.
3. Analyse sentence structure – what effect does it have? Punctuation?
4. What type of figurative language is being used – metaphor, simile, personification, onomatopoeia, anthropomorphism, oxymoron ("A terrible beauty is born"), juxtaposition, extended metaphor.
5. Is poet appealing to our senses directly – touch, sight, smell?
6. Are devices such as repetition, alliteration, and assonance being used? What is their effect?
7. Are there any symbols used?
8. What form is the poem in?
9. Analyse the tone of the poem. How does the speaker feel toward the subject?
10. What is the mood of the poem? How do you feel as you read it?
READER-CENTRED CRITICISM
1. Write down the title of the poem you are about to read. Write down any associations you make with that title. Connotations?
2. What experiences have you had that can help inform the meaning of this poem?
3. How do you feel about what you are reading?
4. What is the poem saying about your life?
5. In what way could this poem be a poem about you or someone you know?
6. Can you relate this to other texts you have read or to personal anecdotes?
7. Based on your own experiences decide what you think this poem is about.
STRUCTURALISM
1. Carve up the text into its constituent parts.
2. Who is the subject – the person who is the focus of the narrative?
3. Who is the object – the person or thing or goal that defines the subjects’ task?
4. Who or what is the donor – the person or thing that provides materials or information crucial to the subject's success?
5. Who is the receiver – the person who receives the donor’s gift or advice?
6. Who or what is the helper, which accompanies and assists the subject?
7. Who or what – thing, person or place – which stands in the way of the subject and must be overcome?
8. Which ideology is present here?
9. Are there any patterns, which fit the poetry genre? Is there any variation in this?
POST-STRUCTURALISM / DECONSTRUCTIONISM
1. What do you feel is the dominant reading of the poem?
2. What has influenced the ideology of the poem – gender, class, ethnicity, and power?
3. What are the assumptions and values regarding the above in this poem?
4. Which binary oppositions are present?
5. What do these indicate about the speaker and the agenda of the poet?
6. Which ‘myths’ does it challenge, about people or ideas or society?
7. How is power distributed in this text?
* stereotyping – which characters are assigned powerful, dominant characteristics?
* Are they made to appear natural?
* marginalisation – which characters are distanced from the main action, socially or psychologically?
* Authority control – to what extent is the ruling power exerting an influence over the writing and the reading of the text?Catholic forum