English I Mr. Curran
No, not who is the author, but who is speaking? ◦ Is it specific? ◦ Is it a person? ◦ Gender? Act as a detective, you must identify the voice of the poem!
Who is the speaker talking to? Can you narrow down the audience? Is there direct address? Could it be both to someone specific and to you as the reader?
What is the author or the speaker, or both perhaps, talking about? Is there a distinct theme to the poem? Why was it written and what does it communicate? For all the following slides: Consider how each choice relates to the subject when you analyze
Adding to why was it written…how does the time period influence its construction? Why would the poet specifically write it during his or her time?
Poetry uses it very specifically How does it divide up ideas, lines, thoughts? Ask yourself: Why did the poet make these specific choices?
How is the narrator and/or author’s attitude reflected in the poem? Does it change at all? ◦ Be careful to address stanzas individually ◦ Is there an overall theme that carries throughout? ◦ Could each stanza stand alone?
Where does rhyme occur? End rhyme? Slant rhyme? What does it add to the poem? Are words repeated? Which words? What is repeated most? What effect does that create for the reader? Are repeated words symbolic?
Abstract? Concrete? Just like our discussion of grammar and the types of nouns, think of the examples we discussed. Is it relatable to other images, in the poem or outside the poem?
Symbolism ◦ For example-Seasons signifying the stages of life ◦ You freshmen are in the springtime of your life Simile ◦ Comparisons using like or as ◦ “Her eyes they shine like the diamonds!” Metaphor ◦ Comparisons that do not utilize like or as ◦ “The lips are two blushing pilgrims” Personification ◦ “Mother Nature wrapped her cool, gentle arms around us” Pun ◦ the humorous use of a word or phrase so as to emphasize or suggest its different meanings or applications, or the use of words that are alike or nearly alike in sound but different in meaning; a play on words. ◦ Did you hear about the guy who had his whole left side cut off? He’s all right!
Alliteration ◦ “Let us go forth, to lead the land we love.” -JFK ◦ Repetition of initial consonant sounds Assonance ◦ Repetition of vowel sounds within lines ◦ Remember “Sound,” it has to be what you can hear Date and Fade. Hot and Pod. Anaphora ◦ The repetition of initial words or phrases in successive phrases, clauses, or lines ◦ Sonnet 66-Shakespeare
Anadiplosis ◦ Repetition of a word or words that ends one phrase and begins the next ◦ "Men in great place are thrice servants: servants of the sovereign or state; servants of fame; and servants of business." Francis Bacon Apostrophe ◦ A sudden turn from the general audience to address a specific group or person, often abstractly ◦ Direct address of the dead, generally
Consonance ◦ Repetition of ending consonant sounds ◦ Think and Blank Climax: arrangement of words, phrases, or clauses in an order of ascending power. Often the last emphatic word in one phrase or clause is repeated as the first emphatic word of the next. ◦ "One equal temper of heroic hearts, ◦ Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will ◦ To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.“ Tennyson, " Ulysses"
Euphemism: The substitution of a soft, agreeable term as opposed to the harsh or unpleasant ◦ “Pass away” instead of “die” Irony: expression of something which is contrary to the intended meaning; the words say one thing but mean another. Onomatopoeia: the concordance of sounds and meaning. ◦ "Snap, crackle, pop." Transposition: rearrangement of normal word order for effect ◦ “I the apple ate” vs. “I ate the apple”