1. Intro to Analyzing Poetry
Poetic Devices and Steps for Analyzing Poems

2. Poetic Devices- Figurative Language
Alliteration: repeating an initial sound several words in row “Tall trees trembled”
Allusion: reference to another text, an event, or place. Sometimes used for effect or to make a comparison. The reader then makes the connection.
“Betrayed by a kiss”
Assonance: repeating the vowel sound of a word to make an internal rhyme in a word or phrase. “Quite like.”
Consonance: repeating internal consonant sound- “chuckle and fickle”

3. Poetic Devices- Figuarative Language
Imagery: descriptions and descriptive words that provide a mental picture of a scene, setting, or character. May include other forms of figurative language for effect. Sense words are common in imagery.
Metaphor: a comparison between unlike things that does not use “like” or “as.”
Simile: a comparison of unlike things, using like or as.
“She slept like a baby”
Irony: When one outcome is expected, and the opposite occurs/exists
Pun: Play on words that creates humor. Ex: “The other day I held the door open for a clown. I thought it was a nice jester.”

4. Poetic Devices- Figurative Language
Onomatopoeia- words that mimic a sound- “clap”
Repetition- the repeating of a word or phrase- “She was young the way an actual young person is young.”
Personification- Giving human qualities to objects or animals
“The breeze waltzed through the woods.”
Symbolism- when an object, person, or situation as a meaning other than its literal one- heart=love
Diction- word choice (look for words with strong connotations)

5. Meter
The rhythm established by a poem, not only the number of syllables but the way those syllables are accented
“Yesterday upon the stair I met a man who wasn’t there He wasn’t there again today I wish, I wish he’d go away”

6. We real cool. We/left school. We/lurk late. We/strike straight.
Rhythm
The arrangement of spoken words alternating between stressed & unstressed syllables—regular, repetitive sounds
We real cool. We/left school. We/lurk late. We/strike straight.

7. A group of lines forming a unit of poetry aka a POEM PARAGRAPH
Stanza
A group of lines forming a unit of poetry aka a POEM PARAGRAPH
I had no time to hate, because The grave would hinder me, And life was not so ample It Could finish enmity. Nor had I time to love; but since Some industry must be, The little toil of love, I thought, Was large enough for me.[5]

8. Theme (Review)
The central idea (in sentence form) of a piece of writing that the author is trying to get the reader to think about

9. Tone (Review)
The attitude of the author as opposed to the narrator or the speaker toward his subject matter and/or his audience. The tone may shift at some point in a poem.

10. The atmosphere established by a piece of writing.
Mood (Review)
The atmosphere established by a piece of writing.

11. How to analyze a poem
Read through the poem once. Read through the poem again and paraphrase its meaning Read through the poem analyze for devices- ANNOTATE THE POEM! Read through the poem a fourth time to analyze it. Determine how the author established a mood, tone (including shifts in tone) or theme through the use of poetic devices.