SEARCHING FOR MEANING Analyzing Poetry

OFTEN WE STRUGGLE TO DETERMINE WHAT A POEM REALLY MEANS. IT IS ALWAYS HARD TO SAY FOR SURE WHAT THE POET IS TRYING TO CONVEY. WHILE THE MESSAGE OF THE POET MAY BE IMPORTANT, THE MESSAGE YOU RECEIVE FROM THE POEM, REGARDLESS OF INTENT, IS ALSO IMPORTANT. WHAT SOMETHING MEANS TO YOU, DOESN’T MEAN THE SAME TO OTHERS. What does it mean?

HOW MANY OF YOU HAVE RE-READ A BOOK OR POEM? DID YOU RECEIVE A DIFFERENT MESSAGE FROM EITHER? DID CERTAIN PARTS SEEM MORE IMPORTANT OR INTERESTING? AS OUR LIVES AND EXPERIENCES CHANGE, IT GIVES NEW MEANING TO DIFFERENT WORKS OF ART. WHAT MAY HAVE BEEN ABOUT LOVE ONCE, MAY BE ABOUT PAIN OR HURT WHEN YOU READ IT AGAIN. DEPENDING ON OUR OWN EXPERIENCES, THE MEANINGS OF POEMS CAN CHANGE FORM PERSON TO PERSON Transactional Analysis

WHEN WE ARE ANALYZING POETRY, IT IS IMPORTANT TO TAKE STEPS TO HELP US UNDERSTAND WHAT THE POET IS REALLY TRYING TO SAY. POEMS OFTEN USE FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE, AND WE MUST DECIPHER WHAT POSSIBLE MEANINGS THE POEM CAN HOLD. THIS MAKES POETRY MORE THAN JUST WORDS ON A PAGE, IT GIVES THESE WORDS MEANING THAT EVERY HUMAN BEING CAN RELATE TO. Analyzing Poetry

Helpful Steps to Analysis 1. Title- Ponder the title before reading the poem 2. List words and phrases that seem important or stand out 3. Paraphrase- translate the poem into your own words 4. Connotation- contemplate the poem for meaning beyond the literal 5. Attitude-observe both the speaker and the poet attitude (tone) 6. Shifts- note shifts in speaker and in attitudes 7. Title- re-examine the title again, this time on an interpretative level 8. Theme- determine what the poet is saying

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost Title- Ponder the title before reading the poem List words and phrases that seem important or stand out Paraphrase- translate the poem into your own words Connotation- contemplate the poem for meaning beyond the literal Attitude-observe both the speaker and the poet attitude (tone) Shifts- note shifts in speaker and in attitudes Title- re-examine the title again, this time on an interpretative level Theme- determine what the poet is saying TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare Title- Ponder the title before reading the poem List words and phrases that seem important or stand out Paraphrase- translate the poem into your own words Connotation- contemplate the poem for meaning beyond the literal Attitude-observe both the speaker and the poet attitude (tone) Shifts- note shifts in speaker and in attitudes Title- re-examine the title again, this time on an interpretative level Theme- determine what the poet is saying Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd; But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou growest; So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

i carry your heart by E.E. Cummings Title- Ponder the title before reading the poem List words and phrases that seem important or stand out Paraphrase- translate the poem into your own words Connotation- contemplate the poem for meaning beyond the literal Attitude-observe both the speaker and the poet attitude (tone) Shifts- note shifts in speaker and in attitudes Title- re-examine the title again, this time on an interpretative level Theme- determine what the poet is saying i carry your heart with me(i carry it in my heart)i am never without it(anywhere i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done by only me is your doing,my darling) i fear no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true) and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant and whatever a sun will always sing is you here is the deepest secret nobody knows (here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide) and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein Title- Ponder the title before reading the poem List words and phrases that seem important or stand out Paraphrase- translate the poem into your own words Connotation- contemplate the poem for meaning beyond the literal Attitude-observe both the speaker and the poet attitude (tone) Shifts- note shifts in speaker and in attitudes Title- re-examine the title again, this time on an interpretative level Theme- determine what the poet is saying There is a place where the sidewalk ends And before the street begins, And there the grass grows soft and white, And there the sun burns crimson bright, And there the moon-bird rests from his flight To cool in the peppermint wind. Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black And the dark street winds and bends. Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow, And watch where the chalk-white arrows go To the place where the sidewalk ends. Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow, And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go, For the children, they mark, and the children, they know The place where the sidewalk ends.

I know why the caged bird sings by Maya Angelou Title- Ponder the title before reading the poem List words and phrases that seem important or stand out Paraphrase- translate the poem into your own words Connotation- contemplate the poem for meaning beyond the literal Attitude-observe both the speaker and the poet attitude (tone) Shifts- note shifts in speaker and in attitudes Title- re-examine the title again, this time on an interpretative level Theme- determine what the poet is saying A free bird leaps on the back Of the wind and floats downstream Till the current ends and dips his wing In the orange suns rays And dares to claim the sky. But a BIRD that stalks down his narrow cage Can seldom see through his bars of rage His wings are clipped and his feet are tied So he opens his throat to sing. The caged bird sings with a fearful trill Of things unknown but longed for still And his tune is heard on the distant hill for The caged bird sings of freedom. The free bird thinks of another breeze And the trade winds soft through The sighing trees And the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright Lawn and he names the sky his own. But a caged BIRD stands on the grave of dreams His shadow shouts on a nightmare scream His wings are clipped and his feet are tied So he opens his throat to sing. The caged bird sings with A fearful trill of things unknown But longed for still and his Tune is heard on the distant hill For the caged bird sings of freedom.

Life is Fine by Langston Hughes Title- Ponder the title before reading the poem List words and phrases that seem important or stand out Paraphrase- translate the poem into your own words Connotation- contemplate the poem for meaning beyond the literal Attitude-observe both the speaker and the poet attitude (tone) Shifts- note shifts in speaker and in attitudes Title- re-examine the title again, this time on an interpretative level Theme- determine what the poet is saying I went down to the river, I set down on the bank. I tried to think but couldn't, So I jumped in and sank. I came up once and hollered! I came up twice and cried! If that water hadn't a-been so cold I might've sunk and died. But it was Cold in that water! It was cold! I took the elevator Sixteen floors above the ground. I thought about my baby And thought I would jump down. I stood there and I hollered! I stood there and I cried! If it hadn't a-been so high I might've jumped and died. But it was High up there! It was high! So since I'm still here livin', I guess I will live on. I could've died for love-- But for livin' I was born Though you may hear me holler, And you may see me cry-- I'll be dogged, sweet baby, If you gonna see me die. Life is fine! Fine as wine! Life is fine!