Poetry Analysis TPFASTT

Getting Started… This is a process to help you organize your analysis of poetry. Together, we are going to analyze “Still I Rise” using T-PFASTT.

T is for TITLE Analyze the title first. What do you predict this poem will be about? We will reflect on the title again after we have read the poem. The next step is often omitted, but it is the most important!!!!

NOW READ THE POEM

Still I Rise By Maya Angelou You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I'll rise. Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? 'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells Pumping in my living room. Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I'll rise. Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops. Weakened by my soulful cries. Does my haughtiness offend you? Don't you take it awful hard 'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines Diggin' in my own back yard. You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I'll rise. Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise That I dance like I've got diamonds At the meeting of my thighs?

Continued… Out of the huts of history's shame I rise Up from a past that's rooted in pain I rise I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise.

P is for PARAPHRASE Paraphrasing is putting something in your own words. After reading the poem, rewrite it in your own words, stanza by stanza. This might be three sentences or a page, depending on the particular poem.

F is for Figurative Language imagery Analyze the figures of speech and sound effects of the poem. These are the literary terms we have already studied. These elements add to the meaning and emphasis specific points. anaphora diction personification simile theme repetition Rhetorical question HYPERBOLE metaphor

Still I Rise By Maya Angelou *Come up to the smartboard and identify literary devices. You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I'll rise. Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? 'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells Pumping in my living room. Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I'll rise. Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops. Weakened by my soulful cries. Does my haughtiness offend you? Don't you take it awful hard 'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines Diggin' in my own back yard. You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I'll rise. Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise That I dance like I've got diamonds At the meeting of my thighs?

*Come up to the smartboard and identify literary devices. Continued… *Come up to the smartboard and identify literary devices. Out of the huts of history's shame I rise Up from a past that's rooted in pain I rise I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise.

A is for ATTITUDE Tone is the attitude of the speaker toward the subject of the poem.

S is for SHIFT If there is a change in… Time Tone Mood Speaker This should always be noted as this will also affect the meaning.

Shifts in Mood Mood is how the poem makes the reader or the listener feel. For example, at the beginning of the poem, the mood is ___________________as the speaker describes __________. However, the mood becomes more _____________ when the speaker details _________________________.

T is for TITLE (again) At this time, you should reconsider the meaning of the title. Were you right in your predictions? What other meanings might the title have in light of your analysis? Next, the biggie….

T is for THEME As you already know, theme is the underlying message in a give poem or story. It does not make a judgment. example: “Don’t do drugs” is not a theme. It merely states something that is true to life and the human condition.

How do I find the THEME? Look at the other parts of TPFASTT. What insight are all of these working together to convey? What is the poet trying to say about life?