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Aug 16, 2021 · How to Analyze Poetry: 10 Steps for Analyzing a Poem. Written by MasterClass. Last updated: Aug 16, 2021 • 5 min read. From flowing words to rhythmic beats, poems have a lyrical quality that is pleasing to the ear. But to truly understand poetry, you must unpack it—examine each element on its own to discover what a poem means.
- Click on William Blake’s “Tyger” to read and compare the two versions of the poem. The one on the left is a draft; the other is the final published version.
- Take a look at this excerpt from An Essay on Criticism. Read it aloud if you can. Listen to the rhythm, and identify why the rhythm is appropriate to the meaning.
- Read the attached stanza from Arthur Hugh Clough’s poem “Natura Naturans” and consider the following questions: Flashed flickering forth fantastic flies,
- Read “Love from the North” (1862) by Christina Rossetti. What is the poem about, and how does the rhyme contribute to the meaning and overall effect?
- Step 1: Reading The Text and Identifying Literary Devices
- Step 2: Coming Up with A Thesis
- Step 4: Writing The Body of The Essay
- Step 5: Writing A Conclusion
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The first step is to carefully read the text(s) and take initial notes. As you read, pay attention to the things that are most intriguing, surprising, or even confusing in the writing—these are things you can dig into in your analysis. Your goal in literary analysis is not simply to explain the events described in the text, but to analyze the writi...
Your thesis in a literary analysis essay is the point you want to make about the text. It’s the core argument that gives your essay direction and prevents it from just being a collection of random observations about a text. If you’re given a prompt for your essay, your thesis must answer or relate to the prompt. For example: Your thesis statementsh...
The body of your essay is everything between the introduction and conclusion. It contains your arguments and the textual evidence that supports them.
Theconclusionof your analysis shouldn’t introduce any new quotations or arguments. Instead, it’s about wrapping up the essay. Here, you summarize your key points and try to emphasize their significance to the reader. A good way to approach this is to briefly summarize your key arguments, and then stress the conclusion they’ve led you to, highlighti...
If you want to know more about AI tools, college essays, or fallaciesmake sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!
- Read the Poem. First, of course, you should read the poem. This may seem obvious, but many readers need to be reminded that when analyzing a poem, it helps to read through it once, without stopping to look for symbols or do too much analysis.
- Identify the Type of Poem. Being familiar with the different types of poems can be helpful when it comes to analyzing poetry. Although in contemporary poetry the rules are less binding, some themes are typically associated with specific forms.
- Consider the Title. You can also look to a poem’s title for important clues. They might hint to a poem’s theme, or work ironically in opposition to the poem’s main idea.
- Who Is the Speaker? The speaker can provide lots of insight to the point of view and perspective from which the story is told. If the poem is told in the first person, for example, the text automatically takes on a more personal feel.
- Read the Poem Aloud. Poetry has a long oral history. Poets often utilize sound techniques which are easier to detect when reading the poem aloud.
- Identify the Type of Poem. There are several different types of poems, but all poems fall into three overarching categories: free verse, formal verse, and prose poems.
- Mark It Up. There is no one correct way to mark up a poem. You can underline lines which stand out to you. You can take notes in the margins identifying poetic techniques as you see them.
- Consider Poetic Techniques. Read the poem several times, considering a single poetic technique at a time. For example, free verse and formal poems use line breaks.
Feb 1, 2013 · All you really want to do is get a basic understanding of the poem. This can be the easiest step in literary analysis. Basically, you are starting broad, and then, as you go through each reading of the poem, you are taking it apart bit by bit. William Shakespeare is one of the most influential poets in literature.
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Feb 29, 2024 · After analyzing the poem, you can now easily write a poem analysis. Following a structure will help to write a well-organized and detailed essay. Check out the 4 steps provided below for writing a poem analysis. Step 1: Read the poem. Step 2: Analyze the poem thoroughly and note the necessary details.
