TPCASTT To acquiesce tone in poetry

Nothing but..  Prose condensed into a smaller space  Fear of being wrong  Everyone is always correct about meaning

Poetry is one of the most difficult genres to understand.  Every word counts and every image has limitless possibilities. While no one system of analysis has all the answers, the TP-CASTT system devised by the College Board offers a tool for entering a poem, understanding its parts, and internalizing its significance to the human experience.  Title - Ponder the title before reading the poem.  Paraphrase - Translate the poem into your own words.  Connotation - Contemplate the poem for meaning beyond the literal.  Attitude - Observe both the speaker’s and the poet’s attitude (tone).  Shifts - Note shifts in speakers and in attitudes.  Title - Examine the title again, this time on an interpretive level.  Theme - Determine the poet’s message about what it means to be human.

TITLE  POET--Background  Socio  Economic  Political Does the title mean anything to you? Think about it!

PARAPHRASE  In your own words for comprehension  Dictionary  Line by line

CONNOTATION  Word choice  Denotation direct from dictionary  Connation is what the word is meant to mean according to the poet  Don’t be literal; think figuratively  Activity: word play—1/2 piece of paper write words below and any synonyms write words below and any synonyms you can think of AT LEAST THREE FOR EACH you can think of AT LEAST THREE FOR EACH fat, house, ugly, laugh, king, old fat, house, ugly, laugh, king, old

SCANSION  cs/scansion.html

ATTITUDE  Who is the speaker?  What does the poet want you to think?  TONE

SHIFTS  White space  Punctuation  Capitalization  Tense  Change in attitude— positive positive negative negative neutral neutral  Change in speakers

TITLE AGAIN  Figuratively  Interpretativily  After all the “stuff above” Do you think or feel differently about the title?

THEME  What is the poet trying to tell the reader about being human?  What does poet want reader to learn?  What is he/she trying to change?  How does poem apply to society?

ACTIVITY  Group of three—all 3 own paper  Read poems….  Half-sheet of paper. Tpcastt on front  Paragraph about theme on back  THE GROUP CANNOT HAVE THE SAME THEME PARAGRAPH.  Will present to class