Poetry Interpretation Template

  1. FORM
  2. What is theTYPE OF POEM?
  3. Narrative (story)
  4. Ballad – folk, oral tradition; often a song that tells a story (refrain)
  5. Epic – oldest narrative form; large, grand in scale(think Odyssey)
  6. Lyric –expresses subjective feelings and personal emotions of poet

(note – not all lyric poems need to be labelled as one of the following types)

  1. Ode – an emotional, dignified, stylized poem of praise (oldest form)
  2. Elegy –mournful, contemplative poem centered on death
  3. Sonnet – rhymed 14 line structured poem; muses on or argues a theme
  4. Epigram – rhymed, short, whimsical, satirical poem (wry)
  5. Limerick – rhymed, short humorous folk poetry characterized by off-color, risqué, crude humor
  1. Lyrical Ballad – a fusion of the lyric and ballad forms that has some qualities of both.
  1. What is the VERSE FORM?
  2. Free Verse: (most contemporary poems) follows no rules or restrictions
  3. Structured Poems
  4. Blank Verse (Shakespearean plays)
  5. Rhymed (see sound patterns)
  6. Metered has a pattern of accented/unaccented syllables and a syllable count
  7. Prose Poem:poems that read like conventional prose (oxymoron) identified by formal observance of conventions (capitalization, punctuation, sentence structure). Free verse and structured poems can be prose poems.
  1. What is the STRUCTURE? (Write directly on the poem to distinguish these items.)
  2. Sections: outline/divide the poem into sections of meaning and label each section with a purposeful title/phrase; these may be obviously arranged or identifiable only through carefully reading the poem.
  3. Transition Words/Phrases: identify and mark them
  4. Contrasts/ Juxtapositions/ Tensions/ Oppositions (often = IRONY)
  5. Repetitions (Anaphora-repeated opening word / phrase at the beginning of lines.)
  6. Parallelism: a structural arrangement of parts of a sentence, paragraph, stanza, or some other unit of composition by which one element of equal importance with another is similarly developed and phrased.
  7. Key lines: most poems have them. Mark them.
  1. What is the SITUATION?
  2. Speaker? Does it appear to be the poet?
  3. To whom is he or she speaking?
  4. Setting & Occasion for composing the poem?
  1. DEVICE & TECHNIQUE
  2. What is the key Imagery and what are the Connotative Words & Phrases?Sight, Sound, Touch, Taste, Hearing, Feeling. Does any sense/reference dominate? Note words/lines. Imagery is often tied in with figurative language.
  3. Syntax: the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-informed sentences
  4. Diction: the choice of specific words or phrases used by a writer
  1. Do you see any of the following devices at work?
  2. Paradoxical / Ironic Lines? (contradictions that nonetheless true)
  3. Allusions? References to famous historical or literary figures & events.
  1. What examples of Figurative Language/Poetic Devices do you see?
  2. Metaphors/Similes
  3. Personification – human qualities are ascribed to non-human things
  4. Conceit – an elaborate analogy or comparison that makes a striking parallel between two seemingly dissimilar things; it is extended and may even form the framework for an entire poem
  1. TONE
  2. Identify/create multiple tone words, typically adjectives. They can be words in the poem ormore often words you must create. Seldom does a single word cover the tone.
  3. Is the tone changing (dynamic) or consistent (static)?
  4. Identify specific lines which create the tone.
  5. Is the poem:
  6. Didactic – instructional or moral
  7. Pure Poetry – pure, artistic for pleasure
  1. GENERAL IDEA/IMPLIED THEME
  2. This is a statement that explains the meaning or purpose of the poem. Do not just summarize the contents of the poem.
  3. Is there anySIGNIFICANCE TO THE TITLE? (Explain this in a statement.)