TPFASTT

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TP-FASTT A suggestion for analyzing poetry...
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TP-FASTT A Method for Poetry Analysis T - Title
- Examine the title before reading the poem.
Consider allusions and connotations. P -
Paraphrase - Translate the poem into your own
words. Resist the urge to jump to
interpretation. A failure to understand what
happens in the poem inevitably leads to
misinterpretation. Look for syntactical units
(complete sentences) rather than line-by-line
units. Look for enjambment (run-on lines) and
end-stopped lines. F - Fonnotation - Examine the
poem for meaning beyond the literal. Identify
words that build emotional responses. Look at
imagery, figurative language, sound devices,
rhythm, and so on. A - Attitude - Or tone.
Examine both the speaker's and the poet's
attitudes. Do not confuse the speaker (persona
or character) with the poet (author). Look for
speaker's attitude toward self, other
characters, subject attitudes of characters
other than the speaker attitudes of poet toward
characters, subject, and reader. S - Shifts -
Note shifts (changes) in speaker and attitude.
Shifts can be signaled by transition words
(but, yet, however, although) punctuation
(dashes, periods, colons, ellipsis) stanza
divisions changes in line/stanza length irony
(sometimes irony disguises a shift) a change in
diction a change in sound (rhyme, rhythm, sound
devices). T - Title - Examine the title again,
this time on an interpretive level. T - Theme -
First list what the poem is about (subjects),
then determine what the poet is saying about
each of those subjects. Remember, theme must be
expressed as a complete sentence with a
universal message.
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Mother to Son Langston Hughes Well, son, I'll
tell you Life for me ain't been no crystal
stair. It's had tacks in it, And splinters, And
boards torn up,5 And places with no carpet on the
floorÐ Bare. But all the time I'se been
a-climbin' on, And reachin' landin's,10 And
turnin' corners, And sometimes goin' in the
dark Where there ain't been no light So boy,
don't you turn back. Don't you set down on the
steps15 'Cause you finds it's kinder hard. Don't
you fall nowÐ For I'se been goin', honey, I's
still climbin', And life for me ain't been no
crystal stair.20
Title Ponder the title before reading the poem
Paraphrase Translate the poem into your own
words Figurative Contemplate the poem for
meaning beyond the literal Attitude Observe
both the speaker's and the poet's attitude
(tone) Shifts Note shifts in speakers and in
attitudes Title Examine the title again, this
time on an interpretive level Theme Determine
what the poet's message is
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Mother to Son Langston Hughes Well, son, I'll
tell you Life for me ain't been no crystal
stair. It's had tacks in it, And splinters, And
boards torn up,5 And places with no carpet on the
floorÐ Bare. But all the time I'se been
a-climbin' on, And reachin' landin's,10 And
turnin' corners, And sometimes goin' in the
dark Where there ain't been no light So boy,
don't you turn back. Don't you set down on the
steps15 'Cause you finds it's kinder hard. Don't
you fall nowÐ For I'se been goin', honey, I's
still climbin', And life for me ain't been no
crystal stair.20
Title Ponder the title before reading the poem
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Mother to Son Langston Hughes Well, son, I'll
tell you Life for me ain't been no crystal
stair. It's had tacks in it, And splinters, And
boards torn up,5 And places with no carpet on the
floorÐ Bare. But all the time I'se been
a-climbin' on, And reachin' landin's,10 And
turnin' corners, And sometimes goin' in the
dark Where there ain't been no light So boy,
don't you turn back. Don't you set down on the
steps15 'Cause you finds it's kinder hard. Don't
you fall nowÐ For I'se been goin', honey, I's
still climbin', And life for me ain't been no
crystal stair.20
Paraphrase Translate the poem into your own
words
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Mother to Son Langston Hughes Well, son, I'll
tell you Life for me ain't been no crystal
stair. It's had tacks in it, And splinters, And
boards torn up,5 And places with no carpet on the
floorÐ Bare. But all the time I'se been
a-climbin' on, And reachin' landin's,10 And
turnin' corners, And sometimes goin' in the
dark Where there ain't been no light So boy,
don't you turn back. Don't you set down on the
steps15 'Cause you finds it's kinder hard. Don't
you fall nowÐ For I'se been goin', honey, I's
still climbin', And life for me ain't been no
crystal stair.20
Figurative Contemplate the poem for meaning
beyond the literal
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Mother to Son Langston Hughes Well, son, I'll
tell you Life for me ain't been no crystal
stair. It's had tacks in it, And splinters, And
boards torn up,5 And places with no carpet on the
floorÐ Bare. But all the time I'se been
a-climbin' on, And reachin' landin's,10 And
turnin' corners, And sometimes goin' in the
dark Where there ain't been no light So boy,
don't you turn back. Don't you set down on the
steps15 'Cause you finds it's kinder hard. Don't
you fall nowÐ For I'se been goin', honey, I's
still climbin', And life for me ain't been no
crystal stair.20
Attitude Observe both the speaker's and the
poet's attitude (tone)
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Mother to Son Langston Hughes Well, son, I'll
tell you Life for me ain't been no crystal
stair. It's had tacks in it, And splinters, And
boards torn up,5 And places with no carpet on the
floorÐ Bare. But all the time I'se been
a-climbin' on, And reachin' landin's,10 And
turnin' corners, And sometimes goin' in the
dark Where there ain't been no light So boy,
don't you turn back. Don't you set down on the
steps15 'Cause you finds it's kinder hard. Don't
you fall nowÐ For I'se been goin', honey, I's
still climbin', And life for me ain't been no
crystal stair.20
Shifts Note shifts in speakers and in attitudes
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Mother to Son Langston Hughes Well, son, I'll
tell you Life for me ain't been no crystal
stair. It's had tacks in it, And splinters, And
boards torn up,5 And places with no carpet on the
floorÐ Bare. But all the time I'se been
a-climbin' on, And reachin' landin's,10 And
turnin' corners, And sometimes goin' in the
dark Where there ain't been no light So boy,
don't you turn back. Don't you set down on the
steps15 'Cause you finds it's kinder hard. Don't
you fall nowÐ For I'se been goin', honey, I's
still climbin', And life for me ain't been no
crystal stair.20
Title Examine the title again, this time on an
interpretive level
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Mother to Son Langston Hughes Well, son, I'll
tell you Life for me ain't been no crystal
stair. It's had tacks in it, And splinters, And
boards torn up,5 And places with no carpet on the
floorÐ Bare. But all the time I'se been
a-climbin' on, And reachin' landin's,10 And
turnin' corners, And sometimes goin' in the
dark Where there ain't been no light So boy,
don't you turn back. Don't you set down on the
steps15 'Cause you finds it's kinder hard. Don't
you fall nowÐ For I'se been goin', honey, I's
still climbin', And life for me ain't been no
crystal stair.20
Theme Determine what the poet's message is