Poetry Analysis Using TPCASTT

Getting Started… This is a process to help you organize your analysis of poetry. Later, you are going to analyze a poem in a group using TPCASTT.

T is for TITLE Analyze the title first: Write down your predictions. What do you predict this poem will be about? Write down your predictions. We will reflect on the title again after we have read the poem.

READ THE POEM!!!!

P is for PARAPHRASE Paraphrasing is putting something in your own words. After reading the poem, rewrite it in your own words & summarize it. This may be three sentences or a page, depending on the particular poem. While this may seem tedious and boring, it is a way to make you think about the poem line by line.

C is for CONNOTATION Sound Terms: Alliteration, assonance, consonance, end rhyme, internal rhyme, diction Figurative Language: Personification, metaphor, simile, synecdoche, hyperbole, symbolism, imagery, understatement, irony, paradox Analyze the figures of speech and sound elements of the poem. Use the terms we went over last time in class How do these elements add to the meaning? Be able to explain why these devices exist!

A is for ATTITUDE Tone is the attitude of the speaker toward the subject of the poem. What is the tone of this poem? Need to pick specific phrases and lines that lead you to this argument– support your ideas!

S is for SHIFT If there is a change in… Time Tone Speaker This should always be noted as this will also affect the meaning. Check your poem for shift words or clues.

T is for TITLE (again) At this time, you should reconsider the title. Were you right in your predictions? What other meanings might the title have in light of your analysis? If you still have no clue as to what the title means, reread the poem because you are missing something big.

T is for THEME As you already know, theme is the general insight into life conveyed by the author through his/her work. It does not make a judgment. Ex. “Don’t do drugs” is not a theme; it is a moral. It merely states something true to life and the human condition. Think about the “BIG” picture & beyond the poem

How do I find the THEME? Look at the other parts of TPCASTT. What connections do you notice between these lit elements? What insight are all of these working together to convey? Ask yourself: What is the poet trying to say about life?

One Last Step Once you have completed your TPCASTT you need to always get in the habit of writing about what you have analyzed. This does not mean you need to write a several page paper! Choose one aspect or device that you noticed about the poem and write a paragraph– always do this! Follow the TEC format: Thesis / Topic Statement, Evidence (direct references to the poem), and Commentary (adding your own analysis)

Review: TPCASTT Make predictions based on the Title Paraphrase the poem Determine Connotation by searching for literary terms Analyze the speaker’s Attitude to determine the tone of the poem Search for Shifts in time, tone, and speaker Analyze the Title again in light of you reading the poem. Determine the Theme of the poem based on your readings and the other steps of TPCASTT. When you finish, write one paragraph about what you noticed