Poetry Analysis Packet: Keep track of the poems you read in class by completing the following activities. Keep this packet to study for your final exam.
Keirn-Swanson’s poetry analysis tips: 1. What is the title of the poem? How does the title help me figure out the theme or meaning? 2. What kinds of words do I see in the poem? What feeling do I get from these words? How does the mood hint at the meaning? 3. What are the last two or three lines of the poem? Why did the poet end this way? Does this help me figure out what the poem means? 4. What literary elements does the poet use? How does this affect how the poem sounds?
“Richard Cory” by Edward Arlington Robinson
Literary terms: narrative poetry—tells a story using elements of character, setting, and plot to develop a theme; characterization—characters are developed through their physical description, actions, words, thoughts, feelings, other characters’ actions, words, thoughts, feelings; theme—main message or central idea about life or people and their actions
What message I think the poem is conveying:
What story does the poet tell about Richard Cory?
Theme of the poem as discussed in class:
“Miniver Cheevy” by Edward Arlington Robinson
What message I think the poem is conveying:
How does the poet characterize Miniver Cheevy?
Theme of the poem as discussed in class:
“We Wear the Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar
Literary terms: symbol—a person, place, or object that has concrete meaning in itself and also stands for something beyond itself, such as an idea or feeling
What message I think the poem is conveying:
What do you think the mask symbolizes? (Think about who is wearing the mask and why and the feelings that the mask hides.)
Theme of the poem as discussed in class:
“Sympathy” by Paul Laurence Dunbar
Literary terms: tone – the attitude of the poet toward the subject
What message I think the poem is conveying:
What do you think the caged bird symbolizes? Cite evidence from the poem that supports your interpretation.
What is the tone of the poem?
Theme of the poem as discussed in class:
“If We Must Die” by Claude McKay
Literary terms: mood—feeling or atmosphere that the writer creates for the reader; figurative language—language that communicates ideas beyond the literal meaning of words (simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole); extended metaphor—a comparison between two things that is developed at some length and in several ways
What message I think the poem is conveying:
What type of death does the speaker argue for or against?
Which figurative expressions created strong impressions in your mind? What do you think they meant?
What did we learn about this poem in class?:
“A Black Man Talks of Reaping” by Claude McKay
What message I think the poem is conveying:
What is the mood of this poem? What words help you establish mood?
Which figurative expressions created strong impressions in your mind? What do you think they meant?
What did we learn about this poem in class?:
“I, Too” by Langston Hughes
Literary terms: imagery—descriptive words and phrases that a writer uses to re-create sensory experiences; simile—a comparison of two dissimilar things (that have something in common) using “like” or “as”; metaphor—a direct comparison of two dissimilar things that have something in common; repetition—recurrence of words, phrases, or lines
What message I think the poem is conveying:
What line does the poet repeat and why?
What do you believe the poem is saying about America?
What did we learn about this poem in class?:
“Harlem” by Langston Hughes
Why is the poem called Harlem?
What is a “dream deferred”?
What message do I think the poem is conveying?
What figurative expressions have the greatest impact and how do they help me understand the meaning of the poem?
What did we learn about the poem in class?:
“After great pain, a formal feeling comes” by Emily Dickinson
Literary terms: personification—a figure of speech in which an object, animal, or idea is given human characteristics; style—the distinctive way in which a work of literature is written, refers to how something is written (not what is written), word choice, sentence length, tone, imagery, and use of dialogue can all contribute to an author’s style
What message do I think the poem is conveying?:
What do I notice about Dickinson’s style? How does her style affect the sound and meaning of her poem?
How does the speaker feeling after her loss?
“I heard a fly buzz when I died” by Emily Dickinson
What message do I think the poem is conveying?
How would you describe the view of death presented in the poem?
How does the poem end? What is your reaction to this? How does the ending make the portrayal of death realistic?
“Because I could not stop for death” by Emily Dickinson
What message do I think the poem is conveying?
What is being personified in this poem? How is it personified? How does this affect the poem?
In the third stanza of the poem, the carriage passes the school, fields of grain, and the setting sun. What might these objects symbolize?
Based on the three poems you have read, what are your impressions of Dickinson as a person?
“Acquainted with the Night” by Robert Frost
Literary terms: alliteration—the repetition of initial consonant sounds in words of close proximity
What message do I think the poem is conveying?:
Describe the mood of the poem. List words that establish mood.:
Do you feel sorry for the speaker? Why or why not?
“Mending Wall” by Robert Frost
What message do I think the poem is conveying?:
How do the speaker in the poem and his neighbor differ?
Do you think the wall separates the neighbors or brings them closer together? Explain and cite examples from the poem.:
What is repeated in the poem? Why is this important?
“Out, Out” by Robert Frost
What meaning do you think the poem conveys?:
Find an example of alliteration in the poem. How does this affect the poem?
How does the speaker seem to feel about the boy’s death?
The title of this poem is an allusion, or indirect reference, to a famous speech from Shakespeare’s Macbeth. How do you think the following quotation relates to the poem?
… Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more.