1. Poetry Analysis See Chapter 7 in Arguing Through Literature
English 1302 Ebersbaker
See Chapter 7
in Arguing Through Literature

2. Review of Poetic Elements
Sound Patterns
Rhyme
Alliteration
Assonance
Consonance
Line breaks
Syntactic pressure
enjambment

3. Poetic Meter
Scansion – marking stressed & unstressed syllables to determine meter
1 metric foot = 2 syllables (dimeter, trimeter, tetrameter, pentameter)
iamb = u /
Trochee = / u
Spondee = / /
Pyrrhic = u u

4. Methods of Poetry Analysis
TPCASTT
Title – before you read
Paraphrase – line by line literal meaning
Connotation – interpret deeper meaning, symbolism, metaphoric content, etc.
Attitudes – of speaker, author, characters
Shifts – in speaker, attitude, topic
Title – after analysis
Theme – universal message
p. 540 – Dunbar’s “We Wear the Mask”

5. Methods of Poetry Analysis
Tone Analysis
Tone = attitude
Diction = word choice
Image = figurative language (metaphor, simile, onomatopoeia, symbol, personification, etc.)
Detail = specific facts, description
Theme = universal message of poem
(P Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est”)
Tone
Diction
Image
Detail
Theme

6. Poetry Exam
The poetry exam will be a cold tone analysis essay that you will write in class on April 14 for another 10% of the grade. The poem will be similar to those we will have discussed in class.