1. Theme Development, Student Samples, and Think aloud…oh my!
Poetry ICE Review
Theme Development, Student Samples, and Think aloud…oh my!

2. Developing Theme in 4 Steps: A Review
Step 1 Identify important symbols in the poem.

3. Developing Theme in 4 Steps: A Review
Step 2 Define the meaning of the symbol.

4. Developing Theme in 4 Steps: A Review
Step 3 Determine what happens to the symbol.

5. Developing Theme in 4 Steps: A Review
Step 4 Develop the thematic statement and use poetic devices to support it.

6. Get organized and move! Find a partner.
Take your handout and something to write with.
Sit across from one another.

7. Student Sample 1
Thesis: Despite the multiple literary devices used to display the theme in Julia Noboa Polanco’s “Identity,” the theme of being yourself through individuality is clearly portrayed through the use of similes, metaphors, and imagery. The vivid imagery that is used heavily throughout the poem contributes greatly to creating the theme in the poem. “I’d rather be a tall, ugly weed, clinging on cliffs, like an eagle wind-wavering above high, jagged rocks.” (4-6). The poet is indicating their desire to be free and outside the social “norms” of the world. They intend to be free in themselves and not limited to the “pot of dirt” (3) that is society’s way.

8. Sample 1 Class Assessment
Thesis Statement Is the argument effective? Body Paragraph Does the paragraph address the prompt using clear, organized analysis?

9. Student Sample 2
Thesis: Although there are many aspects of a poem that contribute to the theme in “Identity” by Julio Noboa Polanco, the theme that one must be able to express himself freely without society’s influence is most prominently shown through metaphors, similes, and imagery. The theme of Polanco’s poem is displayed through the reoccurring metaphors and the comparisons they make. This is shown when Polanco describes the majority of society. “Let them be flowers, / Always watered, fed, guarded, admired, / But harnessed to a pot of dirt” (1-3). After reading the first stanza, readers realize Polanco is using a metaphor to compare the popular portion of society to a flower pot. Although both are well nurtured on the outside, there is something restraining them from being completely free. Polanco implies that he looks down upon this lack of freedom, which helps develop the idea in the theme that one must be able to express themselves freely. The aspects of life holding people back, “the pot of dirt” is shown as something negative through the metaphor.

10. Sample 2 Class Assessment
Thesis Statement Is the argument effective? Body Paragraph Does the paragraph address the prompt using clear, organized analysis?