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How to Analyze a Poem
If poetry is not your thing, then you will dread the assignments that ask you to analyze poetry.
However, even though you "hate" poetry, your ultimate analysis may find you citing lines from Emily Dickinson or Edgar Allen Poe. Whether you like it or not, the beauty of poetry is that there are so many types of the art form. With such a selection, you are bound to find some that you like, some with which you associate, and even others that you may remember. And if not, there are aspects to poetry analysis that you will inevitably find doable.
Some students have trouble with sight-reading poetry because they don't know where to start. For example, they see the word "death" in the first line and "tomb" in the third and jump to the conclusion that the poem must be about mortality. Then they spend the next ten minutes trying to make the poem fit these gloomy expectations, when, in fact, the poem is actually a sentimental lover's pitch to a woman who has turned him down.
To avoid jumping to conclusions, try going through each poem asking the following plan :
If poetry is not your thing, then you will dread the assignments that ask you to analyze poetry.
However, even though you "hate" poetry, your ultimate analysis may find you citing lines from Emily Dickinson or Edgar Allen Poe. Whether you like it or not, the beauty of poetry is that there are so many types of the art form. With such a selection, you are bound to find some that you like, some with which you associate, and even others that you may remember. And if not, there are aspects to poetry analysis that you will inevitably find doable.
Some students have trouble with sight-reading poetry because they don't know where to start. For example, they see the word "death" in the first line and "tomb" in the third and jump to the conclusion that the poem must be about mortality. Then they spend the next ten minutes trying to make the poem fit these gloomy expectations, when, in fact, the poem is actually a sentimental lover's pitch to a woman who has turned him down.
To avoid jumping to conclusions, try going through each poem asking the following plan :
