1. PD-FASSST Poetry Analysis
If it’s in pink, make sure it’s written down.

2. Pretty Darn - FASST Pretty Darn - FASST
On the AP English test and in many college courses, you are required to read a poem and plan, write, and proofread a critical essay within a 40 minute time frame.
It is often difficult when working under time restraints and pressure to remember the numerous elements that a poem contains.
Using this method, you may be able to do all of that …
Pretty Darn - FASST

3. P Paraphrase the poem.
When you get right down to it, a poem is no different than a short story or a novel. They all have a plot.
Put the situation – the “plot” – of the poem into your own words. Once you know what’s going on, the easier it becomes to analyze.
Be sure to determine the speaker of the poem and examine the connotations the title may have.
Question:
What is the difference between “denotation” and “connotation?”

4. It’s all in the words Denotation Connotation Clown: Clown:
This is the dictionary definition of a word.
Clown:
a : a fool, jester, or comedian in an entertainment (as a play); specifically : a grotesquely dressed comedy performer in a circus
The emotional implications and associations that a word may carry.
Clown:
A freaky, face-painted harbinger of doom; a thing of nightmares.

5. Yeah, not funny!

6. D Diction
Examine the words in the poem. Are they heightened or plain? Modern or Antiquated?
Examine their connotations.
Always describe the diction of the poem by using adjectives (at least two)
In his poem “Those Winter Sundays,” poet Robert Hayden employs diction that is reflective, nostalgic, and melancholy to express the speaker’s longing for the chance to share his long-unspoken appreciation of his father.

7. F Figurative language
language that uses words or expressions with a meaning that is different from the literal interpretation
Find all that you can …

8. Acronyms within Acronyms
I x 2 PASS U MOP
Imagery
Irony
Personification
Allusions *
Simile
Symbols
Understatement *
Metaphor
Oxymoron *
Paradox *
* We will get more “in depth” with these devices in the weeks to come.

9. S Sound Devices
also known as musical devices, are elements of literature and poetry that emphasize sound.
The sounds created by these devices are typically either:
Euphonious (Euphony) – pleasing to the ear
Cacophonous (Cacophony) – harsh, discordant sounds

10. Still More Acronyms … ACORA Alliteration Consonance Onomatopoeia Rhyme
Assonance

11. S Syntax How are the sentences in the poem structured? Short? Medium?
Long?
Inverted?
A combination of all?
Why?
Yep, we’ll work the syntax, too, so if this doesn’t make sense to you yet, it will.

12. S Shifts
Look for shifts in speaker, tone, location, or other shifts you can find.
Only rarely will a poem stay the same throughout.

13. T Theme
Determine the theme of the poem. Write it in one complete sentence.
“Love” is not a theme. “Death” is not a theme. Those are thematic devices.
EX:
“Deep, enduring love is the result of time, practice, and compromise,” is a theme.
“How one faces death is just as important as how one faces life,” would also be a theme.