| An Easy Way To Begin Poetry is the dramatization
of experience in metrical language. To study or
analyze poetry, one must consider many elements.
A good way to start is by reading the poem
silently. Then read the poem a second (third,
fourth) time aloud. Reading the poem aloud makes
its meaning clearer and you will hear the various
poetic sound devices such as alliteration, rhyme,
rhythm, etc. Then try writing down a brief
summary to make sure that you are understanding
the poem. Remember to read sentence by sentence
not line by line.
Questions To
Answer Before Writing
| 1. |
Who is speaking? |
|
10. |
End rhyme scheme? |
| 2. |
To whom? |
|
11. |
Alliteration? |
| 3. |
About? |
|
12. |
Assonance? |
| 4. |
Tone? |
|
13. |
Consonance? |
| 5. |
Examples of abstract
imagery? |
|
14. |
Caesura? |
| 6. |
Examples of concrete
imagery? |
|
15. |
Enjambment? |
| 7. |
Examples of denotative
language? |
|
16. |
Theme? |
| 8. |
Examples of the 5 figurative
devices? |
|
17. |
Rhythm / Meter? |
| 9. |
Examples of rhetorical
devices? |
|
18. |
Syntax? |
Writing Your Paper
The actual writing
of the paper is probably the easiest task because
you have already identified everything that needs
to be covered. You may wish to cover all the
important items in your own order, however, the
order listed above does work well.
Most likely you
will not be able to simply write a few lines for
each device, rather you must group these devices
together. A proper order of paragraphs may flow
like this:
| |
A. |
Who is speaking? |
| |
B. |
To whom is that
speaker speaking? |
| |
C. |
What is the
situation? |
| |
D. |
What is
the speaker's tone? |
| |
|
|
| IV. |
Diction (word
choice) |
| |
A. |
Connotation
(suggested meaning of words) |
| |
B. |
Denotation
(dictionary definition) |
| |
C. |
Abstract (can only
be understood intellectually) |
| |
D. |
Concrete
(words describing physical objects) |
| |
E. |
Kinds of
language |
| |
|
|
a. |
Metaphor (implied
comparisons) |
| |
|
|
b. |
Simile
(comparison using 'like' or 'as') |
| |
|
|
c. |
Personification
(giving human characteristics to an
inanimate object) |
| |
|
|
d. |
Metonymy
(the use of an attribute or quality of an
object to represent the object itself) |
| |
|
|
e. |
Synecdoche
(substitutes a significant part of
something for the thing itself) |
| |
|
|
a. |
Irony (opposite of
what is meant) |
| |
|
|
b. |
Hyperbole
(exaggeration) |
| |
|
|
c. |
Allusion
(reference to something) |
| |
|
|
d. |
Pun (play
on words) |
| |
|
|
e. |
Paradox
(contradictory) |
| |
|
|
f. |
Oxymoron
(self contradictory term) |
| |
|
|
g. |
Litotes
(form of understatement) |
| |
|
|
|
|
| V. |
Syntax (sentence
structure) |
| |
A. |
Length |
| |
B. |
Transposed
elements |
| |
C. |
"Unusual"
sentences |
Remember, when you
are writing this paper you should use direct
quotes wherever you can, you should vary your
sentence structure, and all rules of grammar
still apply.
|
