What should I include?
The 10 questions below will help you analyse and comment on a poem that you have never seen before.
1. What is the significance of the TITLE? (What does it imply about content or tone? Is it concrete or abstract...?)
2. What is your initial REACTION to the poem?(Are you uncertain, amazed, angry, disgusted, surprised ...?)
3. Who is the VOICE and how do they speak? (person, tense, monologue, dialogue, ...?)
4. What TONE is adopted? (angry, polite, confessional, regretful, inquiring, ironic...?)
5. How does the poem SOUND? ( metre, rhyme, monosyllabic, Latinate ...?)
6. What is the STRUCTURE of the poem? (stanzas, chronology, question & answer, scenes ...?)
7. What use is made of IMAGERY? (sight, smell, sound, touch, taste ...?)
8. What TECHNIQUES are used and what is the effect of these? (metaphor, simile, enjambment, alliteration, ...?)
9. What key THEMES is the poet addressing?
10. Does the poem remind you of any GENRE that you have read before? (sonnet, ballad, dramatic monologue...?)
How can I remember this?
These 10 questions can be abbreviated to:
TITLE
REACTION
VOICE
TONE
SOUND
STRUCTURE
IMAGERY
TECHNIQUES
THEMES
GENRE
Click here to read a completed set of notes under these headings for Patience Agbabi's "Eat Me".
You can use these questions / prompts to start your analysis of any poem. You may wish to copy and paste them into your own document and fill out for all the poems you study. You may develop a different list in class or at home. (Click here for Mrs E's colourful version!) The important thing is to have a system for reading a poem that supports you in your preparation work and ultimately in the exam.
The 10 questions below will help you analyse and comment on a poem that you have never seen before.
1. What is the significance of the TITLE? (What does it imply about content or tone? Is it concrete or abstract...?)
2. What is your initial REACTION to the poem?(Are you uncertain, amazed, angry, disgusted, surprised ...?)
3. Who is the VOICE and how do they speak? (person, tense, monologue, dialogue, ...?)
4. What TONE is adopted? (angry, polite, confessional, regretful, inquiring, ironic...?)
5. How does the poem SOUND? ( metre, rhyme, monosyllabic, Latinate ...?)
6. What is the STRUCTURE of the poem? (stanzas, chronology, question & answer, scenes ...?)
7. What use is made of IMAGERY? (sight, smell, sound, touch, taste ...?)
8. What TECHNIQUES are used and what is the effect of these? (metaphor, simile, enjambment, alliteration, ...?)
9. What key THEMES is the poet addressing?
10. Does the poem remind you of any GENRE that you have read before? (sonnet, ballad, dramatic monologue...?)
How can I remember this?
These 10 questions can be abbreviated to:
TITLE
REACTION
VOICE
TONE
SOUND
STRUCTURE
IMAGERY
TECHNIQUES
THEMES
GENRE
Click here to read a completed set of notes under these headings for Patience Agbabi's "Eat Me".
You can use these questions / prompts to start your analysis of any poem. You may wish to copy and paste them into your own document and fill out for all the poems you study. You may develop a different list in class or at home. (Click here for Mrs E's colourful version!) The important thing is to have a system for reading a poem that supports you in your preparation work and ultimately in the exam.
