W-Questions DIDLS TPFASTT Poetry Analysis Guide

In the absence of a specific assigned analysis topic, try the thesis blueprint:

AP LIT:In [poet’s name] poem [title of poem – in quotation marks], [literary devices] create a complex tone of [tone word and tone word] revealing [the author’s argument or purpose with this poem]

AP LANG:In [poet’s name] poem [title of poem – in quotation marks], [literary devices] create a complex tone of [tone word and tone word] revealing the author’s attitude/purpose/argument, that [introduce your claim of the attitude/purpose/argument]

W-Questions / DIDLS / TPFASTT
Who?
Who is the speaker? Audience? Who are the “characters?” Though it may seem to talk to or about someone in particular, who is it really talking to or about? / Diction Word choice and connotative meanings of significant words. Explain why are chosen words important? / Title: Before reading, make a guess about the poem based upon the title. What are your expectations? Are there any connotations?
What?
What is the plot (paraphrase)? What is the subject and/or main idea of the poem? What happened before the poem that caused the poet to write (falling in love, a war, etc)? / Imagery Appeals to the five senses. Explain what the imagery evokes (makes the reader feel). / Paraphrase the poem into your own words Describe what actually happens, no deeper meanings. (On the poem or your own paper).
When?
What elements of time are significant? Is it set at a specific time? Does it cover a span of time? Is it about a particular period of time (i.e. someone’s youth, a season, etc)? / Details Specific important facts that are included or omitted that affect our understanding of the poem. / Figurative Language: Now look for deeper meaning to the poem.
Think of various figurative language devices – imagery, allusion, point of view, symbolism, irony, sarcasm or other humor, etc.
Also think about sound devices – rhyme, rhythm, onomatopoeia, alliteration, assonance, consonance, etc.
Where?
Where does the poem take place? Does it refer to a place? Is the place(s) specific or general (i.e. Atlanta or a small town, in the Titanic at Southampton Harbor or a forest in a northern country)? / Language Use of language as a whole, slang, jargon, dialogue, etc. How does this use of language influence the meaning of the poem? Also, other forms of figurative language. / Attitude: What is the speaker’s attitude toward the subject(s) or character(s)? List specific words that indicate that attitude.
Why?
Why does the poet write this poem? What is its purpose? Theme? / Structure: Free verse or fixed form?
Sentence structure: simple or complex sentences, run-on, declarative, interrogative, enjambment. How these affect meaning. / Structure/Shifts: What can be determined by the particular structure/form of the poem? Is there a point(s) in the poem where there are noticeable changes?
Watch for the following: key words, (but, yet, however, although); significant punctuation; stanza divisions; changes in line or stanza length; irony; changes in sound that may indicate changes in meaning; changes in diction
How?
How does the poet “tell” the poem: Figurative language (diction, imagery, allusion, symbolism, metaphor, etc.) Structure, Prosody: (meter, rhythm, rhyme), Pattern: Does something appear often, like a series of images or metaphors? Does it compare the general with the specific? Near and far? Light and dark? / Title: Reanalyze the title. How does it contribute to your understanding of the poem?
Theme: See thesis blueprint above