Guidelines to Analysing a Poem

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Guidelines to Analysing a Poem

• SPET/SLIMS

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SPET

• S subject matter
• P - purpose
• E - emotion
• T techniques used by the poet (SLIMS)

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SLIMS

• S structure
• L language
• I - Imagery
• M movement
• S - sounds

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S Subject Matter

• What event, situation or experience does the poem
  describe or record?

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P - Purpose

• What is the poets purpose in writing this? What
  message does he or she want to communicate?

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E Emotion/Mood/Feeling

• What is the main mood of the poem? Does the mood
  change during the poem? What emotions does the
  poet seek to evoke in the reader?

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T - Techniques

• What skills are used by the poet?
• CONTinued - SLIMS

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S - Structure

• How is the poem structured? Does it have a
  conventional structure such as a sonnet or ode?
  Does it have stanzas (verses)?

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L - Language

• Is the poets use of words vivid, striking,
  effective or predictable?

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I Imagery

• Does the poet use
• - similes
• - metaphors
• - personification?
• To what effect?

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M - Movement

• Does the poem have a regular rhythm? What is the
  effect?

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S - Sounds

• Does the poet help you hear it does the poet
  use
• - onomatopoeia
• - alliteration
• - assonance?
• Does the poem Rhyme?