Analyzing Poetry

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Analyzing Poetry

• Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history
  (Plato)
• And Dr. Seuss uses it, too!

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Prose

• The ordinary form of spoken or written language,
  without metrical structure, as distinguished from
  poetry or verse.
• Prose is the form of written language that is not
  organized according to formal patterns of verse.
  It may have some sort of rhythm and some devices
  of repetition and balance, but these are not
  governed by regularly sustained formal
  arrangement. The significant unit is the
  sentence, not the line. Hence it is represented
  without line breaks in writing.
• Novels, short stories, articles, works of
  nonfiction

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Poetry

• The art of rhythmical composition, written or
  spoken, for exciting pleasure by beautiful,
  imaginative, or elevated thoughts.
• Literary work in metrical form verse.
• Poetry is language spoken or written according to
  some pattern of recurrence that emphasizes
  relationships between words on the basis of sound
  as well as meaning. This pattern is almost always
  a rhythm or meter (regular pattern of sound
  units). This pattern may be supplemented by
  ornamentation such as rhyme or alliteration or
  both.

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Poetry project due April 21

• This partner-optional project will challenge you
  to use both your left and right sides of the
  brain. The left side, which is analytical, tends
  to see sequences, causes and effects, and
  differences. The right side, however, looks for
  patterns, emotions, images, analogies, and
  pictures.
• For this assignment, you will select a poem that
  is 12-30 lines long from poetryoutloud.org. On a
  sheet of tag board, you will arrange the poem and
  poet in the center and arrange the right- and
  left-brain parts around it.
• The project will be worth 50 points. Please
  refer to the below rubric as you construct your
  project. The assignment is due Thursday, April
  21, in the library (do not bring it to 259 on
  that day).

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Left-Brain Components

• Left-brain components include the following an
  analysis of the poem (see sample on page 7 and
  TP-CASTT explanation in packet), five key facts
  about the poet that are phrases IN YOUR OWN WORDS
  (give credit for this information) and three
  defined words (more credit). Submit all three
  parts to turnitin.com.

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Right-Brain Components

• Right-brain components consist of images from the
  poem and connections to your life (films, songs,
  or literature the poem reminds you of colors
  reactions your original efforts inspired by the
  poem youve chosen.
• These should not just be images printed off the
  Internet. Be creative! Vary textures, colors,
  shapes, sizes.

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Poetry Project Rubric (Remember that the analysis
must be submitted to turnitin.com, and the key
facts need documentation!

• See rubric for expectations
• Use a flat piece of tag board (2 x 3 feet)
• Use a variety of textures and colors (unless
  black and white for artistic effect)
• Do not roll up the project to bring to school
  (please keep flat)
• Begin in the middle and work your way to the
  edges
• Document your sourcesOR NO CREDIT.

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Rhythm in Poetry

• While not all poetry has rhyme, rhythm, or both,
  some does.
• The basic beat of poetry is called a FOOT.
• A foot could have one, two, or three syllables.
  Only one syllable is stressed for each foot.
• A stressed syllable /
• An unstressed syllable U

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Rhythm devices with three syllables

• Anapestic three-syllable foot made of two
  unstressed syllables followed by a stressed
  syllable. An example of this would be comprehend
  (com-pre-HEND).
• Hmmmhow would Dr. Seuss handle the anapestic
  foot?
  

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If I Ran the Zoo by Dr. Seuss

• U U / U U /
• "So I'd open each cage.
• U U / U U /
• I'd unlock every pen.
• U U / U U /
• Let the animals go
• U U / U U /
• And start over again."

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Rhythm devices with three syllables

• Dactylic three-syllable foot made of a stressed
  syllable followed by two unstressed syllables.
  An example of this would be merrily (MER-ri-ly).
• This is like the waltz beat ONE two three, ONE
  two three (think pterodactyl doing the waltz)

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The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

• / U U / U U / U U /
• "I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees."

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Rhythm devices with two syllables

• Iambic two-syllable foot made of an unstressed
  syllable followed by a stressed syllable. An
  example of this would be regard (re-GARD).
• Shakespeare used this, and so did Robert Frost.
  What about Dr. Seuss?

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• U / U / U / U /
• I do not like green eggs and ham.
• U / U / U / U /
• I do not like them, Sam I Am."

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Rhythmic devices with two syllables

• Trochaic two-syllable foot made of a stressed
  syllable followed by an unstressed one. Think
  Poe's The Raven! An example would be raven
  (RAV-en).
• So Poe liked this. Did Dr. Seuss? What do YOU
  think?

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• / U / U / U / U
• "One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish.."

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Name the rhythmic device

• And to think that I saw it on Mulberry Street.
• Anapestic
• U U / U U / U U / U
  U /
• And to think that I saw it on Mulberry
  Street.

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Name that rhythmic device

• I saw a pair of pale green pants
• With nobody inside them.
• Iambic
• U / U / U / U /
• I saw a pair of pale green pants

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Name the TWO rhythmic devices

• Now Sam McGee was from Tennessee,
• Where the cotton blooms and blows
• Iambic and anapestic
• U / U / U U /
  U /
• Now Sam McGee was from Tennessee

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Name the rhythmic device

• Tyger! Tyger! Burning bright
• In the forest of the night!
• Trochaic
• / U / U / U /
• Tyger! Tyger! Burning bright!

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Name the rhythmic device

• Had I but all of them, thee and thy treasures,
• What a wild crowd of invisible pleasures!
• Anapestic
• / U U / U U / U U
  / U
• Had I but all of them, thee and thy treasures

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Whats a foot in poetry?

• The number of stressed beats in a line of poetry
  is a foot. Most poems have more than one foot
  per line
• Dimeter (two beats)
• Trimeter (three beats)
• Tetrameter (four beats) Green Eggs and Ham by
  Seuss
• Pentameter (five beats)SHAKESPEARE!
• Hexameter (six beats)
• Septameter (seven beats)
• Octameter (eight beats)The Raven by Poe

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How many feet in these lines?

• Robert Services The Cremation of Sam McGee
• Now Sam McGee was from Tennessee, where the
  cotton blooms and blows.
• Emily Dickinsons Because I Could Not Stop for
  Death
• Because I could not stop for Death, he kindly
  stopped for me.
• Robert Brownings The Laboratory
• Had I but all of them, thee and thy treasures.
• Dr. Seuss The Sneetches
• Now the star-bellied Sneetches had bellies with
  stars,
• But the plain-bellied Sneetches had none upon
  thars.
• William Blakes The Tyger
• Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
• In the forests of the night

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SOUND DEVICES--what helps with rhyme? sound
pictures?

• Alliteration Repetition of initial sounds of
  words in a row. Example Peter Piper picked a
  peck of pickled peppers. (Of course, alliteration
  is not always so concentrated)
• Assonance Repetition of internal vowel sounds of
  words close together in poetry. Example I made
  my way to the lake.
• Consonance Repetition of internal or ending
  consonant sounds of words close together in
  poetry. Example I dropped the locket in the
  thick mud.

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Onomatopoeia Words that sound like their
meaning. Example splash, boom, whizz
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Rhyme

•  True rhyme words that rhyme with all ending
  sounds Example trouble and bubble.
• Sight rhyme words that look alike but do not
  rhyme. Example though and bough good and food
• End rhyme words that rhyme and occur at the ends
  of different lines of poetry
• Internal rhyme two words that rhyme within one
  line of poetry
• ex. We were the first that ever burst

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Rhyme Scheme

• the pattern of rhyme in a poem. To get the rhyme
  scheme, each line in the poem is assigned a
  letter. The first line gets an "A". If the next
  line rhymes with the first, give it an "A" also.
  If not, give it a "B". Continue throughout the
  poem, following the same rules if the end word
  rhymes with anything before, match that letter.
  If not, give it the next unused letter of the
  alphabet.

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Alone by Edgar Allen Poe

• From childhoods hour I have not
  been             aAs others were I have not
  seen                        aAs others saw I
  could not bring                         bMy
  passions from a common spring.                
  bFrom the same source I have not
  taken            cMy sorrow I could not
  awaken                          cMy heart to joy
  at the same tone                      dAnd all
  I loved, I loved alone.                           
  d
• What is the scansion (type of rhythm and number
  of feet)?
• Iambic tetrameter

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Beyond simile, metaphor, hyperbole, and
personification

• Apostrophe Words that are spoken to a person who
  is absent or imaginary, or to an object or
  abstract idea. The poem "God's World" by Edna St.
  Vincent Millay begins with an apostrophe O
  World, I cannot hold thee close enough!/Thy
  winds, thy wide grey skies!/Thy mists that roll
  and rise!
• Conceit A fanciful poetic image that likens one
  thing to something else that is seemingly very
  different. An example of a conceit can be found
  in Shakespeare's sonnet Shall I compare thee to
  a summer's day? and in Emily Dickinson's poem
  There is no frigate like a book.
• Litotes A figure of speech in which a positive is
  stated by negating its opposite. Some examples of
  litotes no small victory, not a bad idea, not
  unhappy. Litotes is the opposite of hyperbole.

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• Metonymy A figure of speech in which one word is
  substituted for another with which it is closely
  associated. For example, in the expression The
  pen is mightier than the sword, the word pen is
  used for the written word, and sword is used
  for military power.
• Synecdoche A figure of speech in which a part is
  used to designate the whole or the whole is used
  to designate a part. For example, the phrase all
  hands on deck means all men on deck, not just
  their hands. The reverse situation, in which the
  whole is used for a part, occurs in the sentence
  The U.S. beat Russia in the final game, where
  the U.S. and Russia stand for the U.S. team and
  the Russian team, respectively.

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Which type of figurative language?

• "for life's not a paragraphand death I think is
  no parenthesis" (e.e. cummings).
• I should have been a pair of ragged
  clawsScuttling across the floors of silent seas
  (T.S. Eliot)
• But the hand!
• Half in appeal, but half as if to keep
• The life from spilling (Robert Frost)
• Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what
  you are (Mother Goose)
• This flea is you and I, and thisOur marriage
  bed, and marriage temple is (John Donne).

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TPCASTT A way to analyze poetry

• Title
• Paraphrase
• Connotation
• Attitude
• Shifts
• Title
• Theme

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Title

• Ponder the title before reading the poem.
  Make up questions about the title. There are two
  kinds of titles interactive titles and naming
  titles. Interactive titles are have some sort of
  interplay with poem itself and can affect its
  meaning. Naming titles may give less crucial
  information. If a poem lacks a title, you can do
  this step with the first line of the poem or skip
  it.

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Paraphrase

• Translate the poem into your own words. And I
  mean translate! Word for word! Find synonyms for
  every possible word. Summarizing is NOT
  paraphrasing (see page 7 of the packet for a
  sample).

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Connotation

• Contemplate the poem for meaning beyond the
  literal. Identify and figure out the figurative
  language. Look for symbols and conceits (extended
  metaphors). Here also is where you will examine
  the form (rhythmic devices, for example).

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Attitude

• After identifying a subject/topic of the poem,
  figure out how the speaker (and/or the poet)
  feels about it.
• Look at word choice. Is the diction formal or
  informal?
• Look at tone. Is the poem ironic?
• Dont assume the speaker and the poet are the
  same. Who is the narrator of the poem? Male or
  female? Young or old?

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Shifts

• Note transitions in the poem. Shifts in subject,
  attitude, or mood. Look for words like but or
  then.
• Look at the punctuation, like questions and
  answers
• Look for a change in verb tense (said to says)
  or person ( I to you, or I to he or she?)
• Look for a change in time

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Title (second time)

• Examine the title again, this time on an
  interpretive level. Answer your questions. Figure
  out how the title illuminates the poem. Remember
  a "naming title" may not mean much. Remember you
  can do this with the first line of a poem if it
  lacks a title or you can skip this step
  altogether.
•                      

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Theme (NOT A MORAL!)

• After identifying a subject/topic of the poem,
  determine what the poet thinks about the subject.
  What is the poet saying about life? Remember, it
  cannot be a command (no bossing the reader).
• Theme Imagination can be powerful.
• Moral Let your child daydream.

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Sample paraphraseno figurative language
allowedand no big words!

• I enjoy seeing it drink up the miles and use its
  tongue to consume the valleys. Then it pauses to
  eat at a watering tank. After that it takes a
  gigantic step around some mountains while
  haughtily peeking into some crudely built huts on
  the roadsides. It slices through an open pit of
  rocks just enough to squeeze itself through. It
  complains constantly with a repetitive sound and
  then speeds down the hill, making a thunderous
  noise. Right on time it stops, nicely and
  powerfully, at its shed.

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Sample connotationanalyze!

• I Like To See It Lap the Miles is an extended
  metaphor because the train is compared to a
  horse. In fact, train engines were referred to
  as iron horses, which is probably where
  Dickinson got the idea for this poem. The
  feeding tanks are the water and coal needed to
  fuel the engine, the complaints and neighs are
  the sounds a train makes as it goes up and down
  hills or toots its whistle. The stable door is
  the station. In order to make the engine seem
  like a living creature, Dickinson uses
  personification. A train engine does not have a
  tongue, so it cant lap the Miles or lick the
  Valleys up. It doesnt have a mouth or stomach,
  so it could not feed itself at Tanks. The
  language gives the engine many attributes of a
  horse mouth, stomach, eyes, legs, and vocal
  chords. Dickinson also uses an allusion in the
  phrase neigh like Boanerges. Boanerges means
  son of thunder and is what Jesus called James
  and John, the sons of Zebedee, in the New
  Testament.
• Besides imagery, the poet uses sound
  devices. The second and fourth lines of each
  verse either rhyme or have near rhyme up and
  step, Star and door. The entire poem is
  iambic, with the first and third lines in
  tetrameter and the second and fourth lines in
  trimeter. Dickinson also uses alliteration
  like to see it lap and horridhooting.

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Sample attitude

• The speaker of the poem seems to be a child with
  a good imagination. Many of the words are
  simple, though supercilious, prodigious,
  Boanerges and omnipotent require most people
  to find a dictionary. Still, a child growing up
  in a religious household in the nineteenth
  century would have been familiar with these
  words. The speaker may have been describing this
  scene to a friend or to a parentor may have
  simply been wondering aloud.

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Sample shift

• The poet uses "then" four times. Each time the
  train stops what it has been doing and begins
  another activity. This is similar to the many
  stops a train makes during the day. In fact,
  steam engines had to stop every seven miles,
  which is why so many towns in rural areas are
  only seven miles apart.

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Sample theme

• The theme seems to be the power of imagination or
  wonder of a child. Just as the speaker is able
  to compare a steam engine to a horse, children
  have the capability of pretending that one object
  is really something else.