Analyzing poetry

Everything leads to tone & theme –

What is the author’s attitude toward the subject? (tone)

What message or point is the author trying to make about the subject? (theme)

Tone & theme

Is the theme readily apparent? Why did the poet make it easy or difficult to discern?

Are the theme and tone complementary?

Tone & theme

Look at the words and images on a literal level, and then think about them abstractly

Look critically at the poem to decide what the poet is trying to say.

Focus on these areas

Think abstractly

Who is the speaker?

Who is the speaker addressing?

Why?

How does the speaker serve the tone and theme?

The speaker

Is the poem’s diction (word choice) sophisticated or simple? Why?

Note any words with especially strong connotation, especially modifiers.

Adjectives & adverbs “color” the meaning of another word or word group, so poets chose modifiers carefully.

Diction (word choice)

After visiting my gray father

In the bald glare of Intensive Care,

I reluctantly watched the leafless ash trees

Tremble and creakily bend their limbs to earth.

Diction

How does the figurative language deepen readers’ understanding of tone and theme?

Imagery & figurative language can add a deeper layer of meaning to a poem, making it more vivid & providing the reader with mental images and sensations. The writer’s choice of figurative language and images also can reveal his or her attitude toward the subject.

Imagery/Figurative Language

How does the figurative language deepen readers’ understanding of tone and theme?

Know these terms:ImagerySimileMetaphorHyperbolePersonification

Figurative Language

How do sound devices support theme & tone?

Alliteration

Onomatopoeia

Repetition/refrain

Meter

Sound devices

What type of poem is this?

How is that tied to the theme?

Structure