Please take out your notebooks or a sheet of paper

TPCASTT Poetry Analysis Technique

What is TPCASTT? TPCASTT is an acronym of steps used to analyze poetry. The results of TPCASTT can be used to write an essay analyzing a poem or comparing and contrasting two poems. There are seven steps in the TPCASTT process.

T -- Title Ponder the title before reading the poem At first---consider the meaning of the title without the benefit of knowing what the rest of the poem is about. Look at the title and attempt to predict what the poem will be about.

P -- Paraphrase Translate the poem into your own words Make sure you understand the literal plot or message of the poem. Look for denotative meanings of the words. When you paraphrase, it is helpful to write notes in the margin beside each major section of the poem so you can review these later

C -- Connotation Contemplate the poem for meaning beyond the literal level. Go deeper. Look for any and all poetic devices and try to see how those devices contribute to the meaning, the effect (or both) of the poem. Sample devices: Metaphor, simile, personification, alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia, rhythm, rhyme, symbolism, diction, irony, etc. Circle the devices and write their meanings in the margins. Think of the connotations---the abstract meanings intended.

A -- Attitude Observe both the speaker’s attitude and the poet’s attitude (this may or may not be obvious---) This is how the author develops TONE. Remember that these attitudes will probably shift or be mixed in the poem. Label all you see, especially if you see a shift.

S -- Shift Note shifts (changes) in speakers or attitudes Find the places where your poem(s) exhibits a shift of any kind, and make a note of it. See your handout for more information about indicators of shifts

T – Title (again) Re-examine the title. Try to see how the title fits with the work as a whole. This time, you are interpreting the title, not just predicting or looking at it literally.

T -- Theme Determine what the poet is saying THIS IS NOT THE MORAL OF THE POEM, but the transcendant message---think “big picture” Identify the theme by recognizing the human experience, motivation, or message of the poem. Note that one work may have several possible themes

Weaving it together TPCASTT can help you to write poetry analysis Now that you have an understanding of the basics of the poem, you are ready to pick and choose pieces of the TPCASTT process to answer whatever the writing prompt has asked you to address. You may not need everything you’ve labeled.

The Road Not Taken ~Robert Frost Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth;  Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference