The Poetry Question

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The Poetry Question

• Where to begin?

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Background

• Expect an essay question on poetry.
• In the past it has been the first or the second
  question.
• It will probably be a poem that is unfamiliar to
  you but you may be familiar with the poets
  writing or the time period or poems structure.
• Like the prose analysis, you are answering the
  questions how and why?

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Read the prompt! Really!

• Read the prompt CAREFULLY!
• Rewrite the PROMPT IN YOUR OWN WORDS- What are
  you being asked to do?
• Refer back to the prompt and your rewrite in
  order to make sure that you are completing the
  task.
• ANSWER THE IMPLIED QUESTION! .

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Poet and Speaker

• The Poet is not the Speaker the Speaker is not
  the Poet.
• The Poet uses literary devices and the speaker,
  well- he or she speaks.

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Read and Reread!

• Remember to read the poem more than once.
• Look for the shift in tone.
• Common poetic devices include
• Figurative language (metaphors, similes,
  personification, hyperbole, etc.)
• Imagery
• Devices of sound (rhyme, rhyme scheme meter,
  assonance, consonance, alliteration, onomatoepia)
• Structure and form
• Varieties of syntax and diction

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AVOID!

• Making simplistic statements
• The rhyme scheme is AAB, AAB and then CCD, CCD.
  This is a structure used to keep the rhythm of
  the poem.
• The simile comparing life to a tree is very
  interesting and moves the poem along.
• The poet uses iambic pentameter making the poem
  flow rhythmically
• SO WHAT? WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT.

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Do not just list the devices!

• ANALYZE the device- DONT JUST LIST
• Why does the writer intersperse formal and
  informal diction?
• Why does the poem shift in tone at line______
• Why are there allusions to historical events?
• AND--------
• Dont just state the theme , but how the devices
  directly work to convey meaning.

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Remember to use your tools!

• All the framed statements!
• TPCASTT- Title, Paraphrase, Connotation ( how
  words work), Attitude (tone), Shifts (in
  structure, tone), Title, Theme
• Framework for understanding poetry
• Textual Rendering for poetry
• CUP- Collaborate Understanding of Poetry
• Description, Analysis, Arriving at Theme,
  Judgment

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1976 Question One
Poetry of Depart-ures

• What are the two ways of living? How does the
  poets diction reveal his attitude towards the
  two ways of living?

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Larkins Poetry of Departures conveys the
speakers belief that spontaneous movement
outside of ones comfort zone is appealing in
theory, but ultimately, wrong and against human
nature.
ThesisState-ment
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