1. Winter Night: Edinburgh
To understand how to approach an unseen poem including annotation, planning and writing.

2. 5 Steps to Analysing Poems
Subject
Work out the subject of the poem
How is the poem written and who is it addressing
Purpose, Theme or Message
What is the poet saying? Why?
What is the purpose or what message is it trying to get across?
Emotions or Feelings
Identify the main feelings and the techniques used to show them.
Techniques
Impact
What effect does the language have?

3. Winter Night: Edinburgh / Andrew Forster
Similes
Metaphors
Semantic Fields
Winter Night: Edinburgh / Andrew Forster
Night falls quickly as turning back a clock But the City is alive with light Shops and cafes deny the darkness, throw light at the street like baited hooks. Offices spill workers onto pavements, The yellow drip of lamps washing colour From their faces as they pass beneath. Cars, trapped in a magnetic flow, controlled By coloured lights, thrust beams at the blackness. It can be seen for miles, this Metropolis: Glowing orange like a prehistoric fire.

4. Analysing the Poem What is the message of the poem?
What feelings does the poet try to evoke in the reader?
How do the techniques help relay the message and evoke the feelings?

5. What is the poet saying about Edinburgh on a winter’s night?
Responding to the Poem
What is the poet saying about Edinburgh on a winter’s night?
A point, including the name of the poet, the title of the poem, the technique used and its purpose
At least one piece of evidence that is supporting the point
An explanation of the figurative and literal meaning of the evidence
An explanation of how the evidence proves the point
An analysis of the language used, including the connotations of keywords
An analysis of the technique used, including the effect of the technique
An analysis of the poet’s intentions, including their effect on the reader

6. What is the poet saying about Edinburgh on a winter’s night?
Responding to the Poem
What is the poet saying about Edinburgh on a winter’s night?
In his poem “Winter Night: Edinburgh,” Andrew Forster says that the city is…
This can be seen in the line…
Literally, the line says that… Figuratively, the line means…
The line shows that the city is…
The word “…” connotes… Another word, “…” connotes…
Forster’s use of … shows that…
Forster wanted the audience to feel/think of…