1. TP-FASTT
A suggestion for analyzing poetry...

2. TP-FASTT: A Method for Poetry Analysis
T - Title - Examine the title before reading the poem. Consider allusions and connotations.
P - Paraphrase - Translate the poem into your own words. Resist the urge to jump to
interpretation. A failure to understand what happens in the poem inevitably leads to
misinterpretation. Look for syntactical units (complete sentences) rather than line-by-line
units. Look for enjambment (run-on lines) and end-stopped lines.
F - Fonnotation - Examine the poem for meaning beyond the literal. Identify words that
build emotional responses. Look at imagery, figurative language, sound devices, rhythm,
and so on.
A - Attitude - Or tone. Examine both the speaker's and the poet's attitudes. Do not
confuse the speaker (persona or character) with the poet (author). Look for: speaker's
attitude toward self, other characters, subject; attitudes of characters other than the
speaker; attitudes of poet toward characters, subject, and reader.
S - Shifts - Note shifts (changes) in speaker and attitude. Shifts can be signaled by:
transition words (but, yet, however, although); punctuation (dashes, periods, colons,
ellipsis); stanza divisions; changes in line/stanza length; irony (sometimes irony disguises a
shift); a change in diction; a change in sound (rhyme, rhythm, sound devices).
T - Title - Examine the title again, this time on an interpretive level.
T - Theme - First list what the poem is about (subjects), then determine what the poet is
saying about each of those subjects. Remember, theme must be expressed as a complete
sentence with a universal message.

3. Mother to Son Langston Hughes Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,5
And places with no carpet on the floorÐ
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,10
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps15
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall nowÐ
For I'se been goin', honey,
I's still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.20
Title: Ponder the title before
reading the poem
Paraphrase: Translate the
poem into your own words
Figurative: Contemplate the
poem for meaning beyond the
literal
Attitude: Observe both the
speaker's and the poet's attitude
(tone)
Shifts: Note shifts in speakers
and in attitudes
Title: Examine the title again,
this time on an interpretive
level
Theme: Determine what the
poet's message is

4. Mother to Son Langston Hughes Title: Ponder the title before
Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,5
And places with no carpet on the floorÐ
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,10
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps15
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall nowÐ
For I'se been goin', honey,
I's still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.20
Title: Ponder the title before
reading the poem

5. Mother to Son Langston Hughes Paraphrase: Translate the poem
Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,5
And places with no carpet on the floorÐ
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,10
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps15
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall nowÐ
For I'se been goin', honey,
I's still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.20
Paraphrase: Translate the poem
into your own words

6. Mother to Son Langston Hughes Figurative: Contemplate the poem
Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,5
And places with no carpet on the floorÐ
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,10
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps15
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall nowÐ
For I'se been goin', honey,
I's still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.20
Figurative: Contemplate the poem
for meaning beyond the literal

7. Mother to Son Langston Hughes Attitude: Observe both the
Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,5
And places with no carpet on the floorÐ
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,10
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps15
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall nowÐ
For I'se been goin', honey,
I's still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.20
Attitude: Observe both the
speaker's and the poet's attitude
(tone)

8. Mother to Son Langston Hughes Shifts: Note shifts in speakers and
Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,5
And places with no carpet on the floorÐ
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,10
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps15
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall nowÐ
For I'se been goin', honey,
I's still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.20
Shifts: Note shifts in speakers and
in attitudes

9. Mother to Son Langston Hughes Title: Examine the title again, this
Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,5
And places with no carpet on the floorÐ
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,10
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps15
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall nowÐ
For I'se been goin', honey,
I's still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.20
Title: Examine the title again, this
time on an interpretive level

10. Mother to Son Langston Hughes Theme: Determine what the poet's
Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,5
And places with no carpet on the floorÐ
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,10
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps15
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall nowÐ
For I'se been goin', honey,
I's still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.20
Theme: Determine what the poet's
message is