1. Poetry Analysis Using TP-CASTT

2. Getting Started…
TP-CASTT is a process to help you organize your analysis of poetry.
When successful, you will reveal true and deeper meanings in a poem; thus, write stronger literary analysis essays.

3. 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.

4. READ THE POEM!!!!

5. P is for PARAPHRASE
Paraphrasing is putting something in your own words.
After reading the poem, rewrite it in your own words.
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.

6. 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 your literary terms for analyzing
How do these elements add to the meaning?

7. A is for ATTITUDE
Tone is the attitude of the speaker toward the subject of the poem.
What is the tone of this poem?

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. T is for THEME
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.

11. 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?

12. Review: TP-CASTT 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 TP-CASTT.