Poetry Analysis Worksheet

Poetry Analysis Worksheet

What does the title mean?
Take a look at the title and reflect on what it means.

2. Put it in your own words
Read the poem two or three times. You will see something different each time you read the poem. Write a brief paraphrase of the poem. Highlight or list some of the words (nouns, verbs, phrases) that are important to understanding the poem.

3. What do you think the poem means?
Now think about the meaning of the poem, not just the obvious meaning of each word but what they mean beyond the literal. Do these words suggest something else?

Answer these questions and provide evidence—lines, words, phrases from the poem--for your answers:
• Who is the speaker of the poem? • What is he/she talking about?
• Why do you think the author wrote the poem?
• When is the poem happening and where is the poem happening?
• What is the poet’s attitude or tone in the poem?
• How does the poem shift from person to person or between different times or places?

Most poems tell us about a poet’s understanding of an experience so the beginning will be different then the end. The change or shift may be in feelings, language (slang to formal), or connotation (positive to negative). Explain how these shifts convey the poem’s message.

4. Poetic devices:
Identify different poetic devices and how they convey the poem’s message.
• Simile – comparison using like or as
• Metaphor – a direct comparison
• Personification – giving human qualities to nonhuman things
• Tone – what emotion does the speaker use as he talks
• Point of view – who is the telling the poem
• Imagery – creating pictures with words
• Alliteration – repeating the same letter

5. Theme
Identify the theme (central idea) of the poem. How does the theme convey the poem’s message?

6. Look at the title again
Now look at the title again. Do you now have a different interpretation of the title?

7. Begin preparing your analysis & your powerpoint

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