Poem Essay

610 Words3 Pages
Steps to approaching poetry Here are eight simple steps to help you and your students to approach poetry. 1. Title What ideas are suggested by the title? Mind map all the possible interpretations and connotations of the title. Read the poem quickly to see if any of the words, phrases and ideas support your interpretation of the title. Highlight those that do. Check the opening and closing lines more thoroughly. Do these link to the title in any way? 2. Shape Look at the shape of the poem on the page. Does it have a recognisable form... is it a sonnet, a ballad, a narrative? If so, how does that add to your ideas about the title? Does it have stanzas? Is it an odd shape? What are the line lengths like – all equal or very different? Can you make predictions about the poem based on your answers to these questions? 3. Personal response Read the poem again and decide what you think the poet was trying to do. Is there a message? Is it an emotional response to an event? Is it trying to create an emotive response from you? Is it for someone else? Can there be different interpretations? Many of the best poems have different interpretations. 4. Voice Who seems to be speaking the poem? Is there a clear persona? What type and tone of voice do you imagine? Check The Poetry Archive online to see if there is an audio version of the poem. Prepare a reading of a short part of the poem and exaggerate the tone and emotions you want to convey. Which part/s of the poem are most powerful aloud? As you were reading you may have noticed sound effects such as alliteration and assonance. What effect do these create? 5. Vocabulary Are there any words or phrases that you find interesting? Find a couple and share your reasons why they stand out to you. Now, can you trace any others that link to the ones you first chose? You can often find
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