Poetry Analysis An example

Our poem The Night Before Mourning For this activity, we will read “The Night Before Mourning” by Matt Rappolt

Step One: Title The Night Before Mourning When we first look at the title, what do we think it might mean? (beginning of TPCASTT) What do you notice about “mourning?”

Step 2: Your words Read the poem 2-3 times. The Night Before Mourning Read the poem 2-3 times. Write a summary of the poem. What does it mean to you? What words or phrases are important? Write them down.

Step 3: Finding Meaning Answer the questions on the sheet The Night Before Mourning Answer the questions on the sheet Most poems tell us about a poet’s understanding of an experience so the beginning will be different then the end. The change may be in feelings, language (slang to formal), or connotation (positive to negative). Explain how these shifts convey the poem’s message.

Step 4: Poetic devices The Night Before Mourning Answer the questions on the sheet: where do you see metaphor, personification, alliteration, imagery? (they are all there) What about tone, point of view?

Step 5: Identifying Theme The Night Before Mourning What is the central idea of the poem? (this is the tricky part)

Step 6: Look at the title again The Night Before Mourning Does it have a different meaning than when we looked at it before?

Step 7: Begin your analysis Remember that poem titles always go between quotation marks “The Night Before Mourning” Remember that when you refer to the author you write their full name in the introduction and then going forward, their last name Eg: In “The Night Before Mourning,” Matt Rappolt writes… Rappolt conveys…

Step 8: Historical and cultural context It is important to always include background to your author so that your audience can understand where the author is coming from. In the case of Matt Rappolt, his bio is here -> As for your own analysis, you will write about YOURSELVES Matt Rappolt (1945- ) served as the U.S Poet Laureate from 2008 to 2012. He is the author of eight poetry collections, including The Best of it: New and Selected Poems (Grove Press, 2010), which won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.

Questions??