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How to Analyze Poetry
Literal versus Figurative Meaning
Can the poem be paraphrased on the literal level?
Is there any evidence (key words, repetition of images, symbols, etc.) which leads you to suspect that the poem must be taken beyond paraphrase?
Does the poet's tendency to compress his material create the possibility for multiple interpretations?
Are there deliberate ambiguities which allow for multiple interpretations?
Imagery
Is the poem free of images? Does direct language dominate the poem?
Does the author primarily use purely images, those which appeal to the senses?
Is the imagery based on association (the psychological process whereby you are led to link two elements)?
Which of the following figures of speech (all of which involve association) are being used in the poem--simile,metaphor, symbol, allusion, personification? How do they function in the poem?
Do the images fall into patterns related to the meaning? Do these patterns in effect become dominant symbols lifting the reader beyond the literal level?
Diction
What general term would you use to describe the author's choice of words--artificial an stilted, highly ornate, Latinate, archaic, abstract, conversational or colloquial, rhetorical sentimental, intensely emotional, trite, etc."
Does the author rely heavily on unusual words? Why?
Does he rely heavily on simple colloquial language? Why?
What words seem significant--connotative or suggestive of figurative meaning? How are these words related to their context?
Does the poet's desire to present musical effects (meter or rhyme) influence his choice of words? If this influence is heavy, is the quality of the poem marred?
Does the author's time or environment have anything to do with the language he uses? Do any of the words he uses have different meanings today?
Can you substitute words of your own for some used by the author? Which are better? Why? Does the experiment help you understand the difference between poetic diction an ordinary diction?
Musical Characteristics-Rhythm
Can you determine a pattern of stress? Does the pattern fit any of the traditional patterns, such as iambic?
Does the pattern vary? If so, are these variations due to carelessness, or do they have purpose (in terms of meaning, emotional intensity, etc.)?
Is the pattern irregular enough to be called free verse?
What functions do pauses perform in the sound pattern?
Step 1: Read more than once, and pay close attention to your reactions as you read.
Where were you the most engaged while reading?
What confused you? These passages are often the most important.
If you were bored, where and why? Boredom is important.
Step 2: Pay close attention to the page (or pages) in front of you.
What parts of the story or poem (situations, language, characters) seem most significant?
What formal structures encourage you to view them that way?
What major transitions do you notice? (Such as those described by Gerber.)
Do certain situations, motifs, or symbols recur? (Such as the scaffold in the Scarlet Letter)
What parallels can you discover?
What contrasts do you notice?
Step 3 (Optional): Consider how your reactions, noted in step 1, might be related to the structures you spotted in step 2.
Sometimes your reactions and the form won't be related, but when they are, it gives you a powerful insight into how the poem, story, or novel works.
If you discuss the effect a textual structure has on readers, it's generally best to use phrases like "Dimmesdale's sudden revelation encourages readers to reevaluate his moral stature," rather than phrases like "Dimmesdale's sudden revelation makes readers reevaluate his moral stature." Different readers, after all, may react differently.
Step 4: Try to identify large patterns.
If you were mapping the novel, story, or poem, what would be the major landmarks? What forces shape and change the landscape?
Or, if it were a symphony, what would the major movements be? Where are the solos? What are the most important moments?
Step 5: Relate forms to themes.
What themes are highlighted by patterns and forms you've identified? How do the forms and the themes reinforce one another?
Step 6: Start Writing!
Assume that your audience has read the story, novel, or poem you're discussing, but hasn't noticed the things you have. Point them out for us. Let us see the big picture--what the overarching form is and how it is related to the themes the literature explores.
More information
How to Analyze Poetry
Poetry is a way of expression. It is a language of its own. This language is one that is open to interpretation, and it is one of the best things about poetry. Although the author might have a specific idea that he or she is trying to convey, you, as the reader can also interpret the poem based on your own experience and understanding. You can take it for its figurative meaning or for its literal meaning. Some of the things I often use to help me analyze poetry are the following:
Read and understand the Title.
Figure out who the speaker is.
Think about all of the literary techniques, and elements such as characterization, ****phor, simile, and alliteration among others, that might help you better understand what the author is trying to say.
Keep important literary concepts in mind.
Think about the imagery in the poem; try to draw a picture in your head of what the poem is describing.
Even though it might be difficult, try to make the poem relative to you. This will help you relate to the theme or topic of the poem and help you get a better grasp of what you are reading.
Always keep in mind, the action that is taking place as well as the mood of the poem (dark, gloom, happy, joyful).
Go back to the title and try to think of what in the poem gave the title its meaning.
Lastly, read the poem as often as you have to until you are confident that you have fully understood the concept of the poem.
Literary Concepts
Speaker- is the narrative voice in the poem.
Sound- alliteration, consonance, assonance.
Rhythm- is the pattern that is created by the author through the arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables.
Images- pictures that are described and painted through the poem.
Figurative Language- simile, metaphors, and personification.
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