writing centre

Reading

This is not meant to be a substitute for a reading of the poem, but it should help you engage in the poem and hopefully enjoy it more thoroughly. There are always more questions you can ask about certain poems and no one poem will answer all these questions. If you do find some other questions or techniques that are useful in reading, write them down and share them with others. In answering these questions don’t let the answers stand on their own; ask supporting questions like why? to what end? how does that effect/shape the poem? how does that shape my reading of the poem? If you find these questions actually take away from the pleasure of reading the poetry, ask yourself why. What is it that makes a poem pleasurable that is destroyed by analyzing it “too thoroughly” ?

There are a number of sites on the web that will assist you if you are having problems with the terminology used below. Check out UVic’s Guide to Critical Reading. It has excellent links to a glossary of literary and poetic terms. Kentucky University also has an extremely useful site that defines literary terms and explains the use of rhetorical devices.

1. RESPONSE

What was your initial response to the poem? Were there specific parts that you found more difficult to understand than others? Were you frustrated, angry, puzzled, confused, pleased? Did you feel left out? What is the poem about generally? Is there a “theme,” a basic idea that presents itself immediately?

2. AUDIENCE

Does there appear to be a specific audience for this poem? What does the situation, occasion (time and place) suggest about the audience? Is there a listener (or interlocutor)? Does the speaker appear to be internalizing the speech? speaking only to him/herself?

3. DICTION/ LANGUAGE LEVELS (the vocabulary, the sources and implications of the word choice and phrasing) writing centre

How many kinds of words? Where do they come from? (formal conversation? ordinary conversation? vulgar conversation? slang? jargon? dialect? other poetry? scripture? technical or esoteric language? instruction? prayer? How Latin (aureate)? How abstract? How concrete? Are there proper nouns? Are the references historically culturally, geographically specific? Does the poem use quoted dialogue? Does the “normal” word order appear to be changed?

REMEMBER: A good dictionary can be your greatest ally.

4. SOUND LEVEL & SCHEMES (the musical dimension)

Is it metrical? How closely does the rhythm match the meter? What is the significance of the variants? Is it rhythmical? How regular is the rhythm? Are there rhythmic units? Are there end ? Internal rhymes? Eye-Rhymes? Half-Rhymes? Where do the rhythms come from? (speech? poetry? jazz? etc.) Are certain sounds repeated? (throughout? in certain sections?) How often? Are certain sounds alliterated? What is the use of consonance and/or assonance? onomatopoeia? Is rhyme used? (end, internal, or visual rhyme?) How familiar are the rhymes? How unusual? Witty? Comic? What is their effect? Does the poet repeat certain sounds more than others?

5. STRUCTURE (lines, , verse paragraphs, overall shape, form)

How is the formed? (counting feet? counting stresses? counting syllables? some other way?) Do the lines being at the left margin? (be careful — an indented portion of a line may be intentional and not simply done by the printer because of a lack of space) What words begin the lines? What words end the lines? Are there breaks or points of interest in the middle of lines? How many lines in each writing centre

, in each verse paragraph, in the poem as a whole? Is the poem structured visually? What is the relation of the sentence structure to the verse structures? Do sentences fit exactly into stanzas? Are lines end-stopped? enjambed? (do the “sentences” continue beyond 2nd line of the ?) What kind of punctuation? What kinds of sentences are used (simple, compound, complex, fragments)? Is the syntax formal? casual? unidiomatic? disjointed? witty? scrambled? Is there a significant turning point in the poem as a whole? A climax? in the middle? at the end? somewhere else? Is there more than one turning point or climax? Would you describe the form or structure of this poem as open or closed? Is the form repetitious?

6. IMAGE/FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

What kinds of images are used (visual, auditory, tactile, etc.)? How many are there? Do they appear throughout? regularly? Are they related to each other? Are they decorative? Functional? Thematic? Structural? How are the images built? Metaphors? Similes? Adapted from other sources (biblical? mythical?) Is there personification?

7. VOICE/PERSONA

Who is speaking? Is there more than one voice? Is a character created as a mask for the poet? In other words, is there a persona? Does the poet fictionalize him/herself? Does the poet draw attention to him/herself? Is the voice introverted? Meditative? Does the poem imply a particular context or setting or set of circumstance? How are they presented? How private are the circumstances? How general? writing centre

How is the sound, syntax and/or structure used to help shape the voice? What tone does the speaker adopt? Is the voice controlling? powerful? weak? playful? ignorant? naive? What is the point of view? Is there more than one point of view being presented?