1. A Poetry Analysis Method
TPS-FASTT
A Poetry Analysis Method

2. TPS-FASTT TITLE First examine the title of the poem
May give clues about content
Crucial Information
Examples
An Author to Her Book
The Road Not Taken
Still I Rise
Oops! I Did It Again

3. TPS-FASTT PARAPHRASE Means to “put into your own words”
Resist the urge to interpret the figurative language
Just describe the literal action

4. TPS-FASTT SPEAKER Who is the SPEAKER of the poem narrator?
Distinguish the SPEAKER from the POET author.
Very often, the poet writes from the point of view of someone/something other than him or herself.

5. TPS-FASTT FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
Identify language that is not used literally
Includes: metaphor, simile, personification, imagery, allusion, symbolism, etc…
Includes sound devices: alliteration, onomatopoeia, rhyme, assonance

6. TPS-FASTT ATTITUDE (or TONE)
The SPEAKER’s attitude toward the SUBJECT of the poem
Identify “charged” words

7. TPS-FASTT SHIFTS Note shifts (switches) in speaker and attitude
Setting
Punctuation
Key turn words (“yet” “but”)
Changes in stanza length
Anything that indicates a question is being answered

8. TPS-FASTT
TITLE
Re-examine the title, this time on a figurative or interpretive level.

9. TPS-FASTT THEME List what the poem is about - subject
Determine what the poet is saying about each of those subjects - theme
* Remember that the THEME must always be expressed as a complete sentence! *