1. TP-COAST
Poem Analysis

2. T: TITLE
An integral part of the poem Consider every word (and any multiple meanings)

3. P: PARAPHRASE
Put the poem into your own words Timed exam: only the rough parts

4. C: CONNOTATIONS
Find some of the meaning beyond the literal Check the title, the last line, the first line

5. O: ORGANIZATION What are the parts of the poem?
fixed form? (sonnet / sestina / villanelle…]
in stanzas?
let the punctuation guide you
follow the rhythm and rhyme

6. How does the poet organize the parts ?
visually (on the page)
by content (story/thought)
temporal
spatial

7. Pay attention to the ‘unexpected’
breaks in the established rhythm
breaks in the prevailing rhyme
words used with a sudden new sense

8. A: ATTITUDE (TONE)
What is the tone of:
the speaker
the poet
(twofold)

9. S: SHIFTS
tone
setting
syntax
diction
speaker
form (rhythm/rhyme)

10. T: THEME
What is the meaning of the poem—the comment on human existence?
universal
theological
psychological
social

11. EHCOES ?
Bible
myth
Literature
HISTORY

12. Abilene ISD ♦ Skip Nicholson