The Seven Questions That Will Help You Achieve Success Poetry Explication The Seven Questions That Will Help You Achieve Success

Does Poetry Stress You Out? How am I supposed to know what the author was thinking? How can I understand what my teacher thinks the poem means? Why should I even try?

Seven Questions For Poetry Analysis Who is the speaker? To whom are they speaking? What is the poet’s tone? What is the mood/atmosphere created by the poem? What is the theme expressed in the poem? What patterns exist that help construct meaning in the work? What style elements contribute to the overall effect of the work?

One Art Elizabeth Bishop The art of losing isn’t hard to master; so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost that their loss is no disaster. Lose something every day. Accept the Fluster of lost door keys, the hour badly spent. The art of losing isn’t hard to master. Then practice losing farther, losing faster: places, and names, and where it was you meant to travel. None of these will bring disaster. I lost my mother’s watch. And look! my last, or next-to-last, of three loved houses went. I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster, some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent. I miss them, but it wasn’t a disaster. —Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture I love) I shan’t have lied. It’s evident the art of losing’s not too hard to master though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.

Seven Questions Answered #1 – Who is the speaker? A person who appears to have recently experienced the end of a relationship An older person who has a vast array of life experiences (loss of mother, lived in various places) Most likely female as implied by the ownership of her mother’s watch

Seven Questions Answered #2 – To whom are they speaking? The person formally involved in the relationship is addressed, but no expectation that they are actually present exists Rather the speaker seems to be most concerned with convincing herself of the truthfulness of her claims The poem contains universal appeal to both experienced and young readers

Seven Questions Answered #3 – What is the poet’s tone? The attitude of a realist emerges at first, not overly sentimental or emotional Determined to logically work through a difficult situation Detached until the last stanza when emotion comes through in the need to force the final words out

Seven Questions Answered #4 – What is the mood/atmosphere created by the poem? Reassuring at first as a sense that life’s inconveniences should not be blown out of proportion is comforting Somewhat depressing by the end as empathy for the speaker is a natural reaction to the poem #5 – What is the theme expressed by the poem? Love is more precious than material possessions; thus its loss much more difficult to accept

Seven Questions Answered #6 - What patterns exist that help construct meaning in the work? Usage of an alternating refrain “Loss is no disaster.” “The art of losing isn’t hard to master.” Progression from insignificant to significant Keys/time/plans never fulfilled/places/relationships Progression from concrete to abstract

Seven Questions Answered #7 - What style elements contribute to the overall effect of the work? Hyperbole in stanza five “Some realms I owned” “Two rivers, a continent” Apostrophe in stanza six “Even losing you” Parentheses to reveal emotion in stanza six

The Seven Questions That Will Help You Achieve Success Poetry Explication The Seven Questions That Will Help You Achieve Success

Homework Assignment Select a poem or song on your own that you feel it would be fun to analyze with the seven questions as we did today in class. No profanity No inappropriate subject matter