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Position:Home>Poetry> General Advice on how to dissect poems?Question: General Advice on how to dissect poems!? What should you look for other than imagery/mood/structure, should you spend some time in the beginning discussing what the poem is about!? Is it appropriate to add some personal connections in your poem analysis!?
Yeah so I'm basically asking this stuff cuz i'm going to have to analyse a poem for my english exam, there's no general rules or guidelines, they just give you a poem and you analyze it!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Look for the theme, or message, of the poem as well!. Most poems presented in a classroom environment will have one!. Go ahead and discuss what the poem is about, as well as personal connections!. These are both important in the meaning of the poem!. Poetry is often intended to touch us on a personal level!. Look at assonance (similar sounds, not rhyme: The sound of cows about town), if it's there and if it creates an effect!. For example, repeated round tones (as in the example) in a poem about the moon accentuate the roundness and fullness of the moon!. also look at metaphor!. Metaphor can be a really big one!. A complex, extended metaphor is called a conceit, if you want to impress your teacher with your high-falutin' vocabulary!. Basically, the best advice i can give you is this: don't focus on the literary devices themselves!. Focus on how they are used, why they are used!. What effect do they create!? How do they contribute to the meaning of the poem!? For the beginning of your analysis, focus on mood and theme!. From there, go through the poem, looking at tone, imagery, metaphor, rhyme, etc!. and find what the poet does, what techniques he applies, to give the poem that mood and theme!.Www@QuestionHome@Com My advice would be to concentrate on the form first: rhythm pattern, rhyme pattern (and even sound pattern: are there any alliterations / assonance!?), number of lines / stanza, length of lines, length of sentences, run-on-lines!.!.!. Then, the language: type of vocabulary, words, type of sentences (no verb, exclamatory, questions, etc!.!.!.)!. Imagery: metaphors, similes, network of images (words relating to the same ideas)!. Abstract / concrete!. I am probably forgetting things!. Once you have all this, you can start looking for meaning!. But meaning in poetry is not just reached through the contents, it is a combination of all this!. So, it depends on each poem, its structure, etc!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Only advise I can remember from doing A Level English is, not to just point out the rhythm, rhyme scheme etc!. - you must question 'why'!? Why did the writer choose that rhythm, that rhyme, those particular words!. Was the poem successful!? is another good one - you could then input a personal comment about whether the poem worked for you, and if not why not!.Www@QuestionHome@Com 1!. How does it sound!? Readability!? 2!. Does the vocabulary match the premise (Little Idea-Big Words) 3!. Does it conjure up images!? 4!. Does it have a message!? 5!. Did you ENJOY reading it!?Www@QuestionHome@Com |