Help With Writing About Poems
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Writing About Poems
Poems can be challenging to write about because they involve careful examination of all of the factors of the poem and a good deal of interpretation. One important thing to remember when writing about poetry is that everything in the poem is there for a reason, and it is your job to break down all of the facets of the poem and put them back together again for two purposes: to support your thesis and illustrate that you understand what the author was trying to convey.
- Your Initial Look at a Poem
- Look up any words that you do not understand. This is important because there may be more than one meaning for a word, and you need to understand the language the author uses.
- Pay close attention to detail. Remember that everything in the poem may be important so do not let anything escape your attention.
- Question why the author uses certain metaphors, figures of speech, tense, etc. and why they are used.
- Identify the speaker of the poem, keeping in mind that the author is not necessarily writing from his or her own point of view; the speaker could be almost anyone.
- When You Begin Analyzing the Poem
- Is there a specific audience for the speaker?
- What motivated the author to write the poem and present the speaker in that particular manner?
- What is the setting? Both time and place are important. Does the setting play an important role in the meaning of the poem?
- What is the main theme or main point of the poem?
- What is the tone of the poem?
- What is the structure of the poem, and why is this important to the meaning of the poem?
- What are the meter and rhythm of the poem?
- Listen to the rhythm and sound of the poem and determine if the way that it is read corresponds to the ideas presented in the poem.
- Starting to Write
- Break the poem down into stanzas and summarize the meaning of each stanza
- Think about the diction, word choice, of the poem. Examine any words that are particularly descriptive or well chosen and explain why they are used
- Think about the imagery of the poem. Why is it effective?
- Point out and explain symbols -- if the poem is allegorical then explain the allegory
- Examine all literary devices
- In the End
- Now that you have broken down the poem into all of its parts, focus on how all of these factors contribute to the meaning of the poem as a whole.
- Examine what the poem does. Looking at the entire poem, what is the overall effect of the poem on the reader?
- Form a thesis, and then bring all of the parts of the poem together that support this thesis.
Writing effectively about a poem requires a thorough analysis of the entire poem. You must get beneath the surface to uncover what may have been missed by a superficial reading. In order to do this, you must dissect the poem, keeping in mind that every word, phrase, and even mark of punctuation is there for a reason. Do not look simply at what is presented, but analyze why that author placed certain things in certain places. Why did the author couple images together? Why did he/she use a certain word instead of another one that would convey the same meaning? Why doesn't the author identify the speaker? What is the significance of the setting?
All of these things must be thought about when analyzing and writing about a poem. One thing to remember however, is not to be afraid of voicing your own personal interpretation, because poems can be seen in many different ways by different people.