Poetry analysis
Natasha Thomas, Contributor

Hello, once again! This week, I would like us to look at the topic of poetry analysis. I'm sure you're not one of those students who shy away from poetry. Exploring a poem is a wonderful experience; language is brought alive through the choice of words that the poet uses.

The poetry question on Paper 2 of the English A examination is one way in which your comprehension may be tested. As such, we will be looking at the steps you should take in exploration of a poem.

In the exam, you should not attempt to answer the questions after just one reading of the poem. Your first reading of the poem will introduce you to the main ideas or theme(s) in the poem. Your second reading should provide you with the feelings and emotions (tone and mood) in the poem. Finally, your third reading will show you the images and other devices the poet uses to appeal to the reader. It is normally after this reading that you are able to fully experience the poem through your senses.

Consider the following guideline as you analyse a poem:

Understand what the poem is about

In order to understand what is taking place in the poem, you should ask yourself the question: "What is this poem about?" Generally speaking, a poem may cover some aspect of one of the following themes:

• People (how they behave).
• Life (how it is lived; one's attitude to it).
• Death (how it occurs; one's attitude to it).
• Love (for people and things).
• Man's treatment of/attitude towards nature.

Look for meanings below the surface

You should "read between the lines". The language that the poet uses will be loaded with meanings that are not always literal.

Locate the use of imagery in the poem

Imagery is what you can 'see' or picture in the poem. Locating the imagery is done through your senses (sight, touch, taste, hearing and smelling).

Look for particular words and phrases and examine their effect

Normally, the exam will require you to explain or examine the effectiveness of words or phrases in the poem. You would need to say how these words/phrases make whatever is being described more vivid.

Explore poetic devices used by the poet

Some of the devices with which you should be familiar are:

• Metaphor - An implied comparison between two things.
• Similie - A direct comparison between two things expressed by the use of 'like' or 'as'.
• Personification - Human attributes being given to inanimate objects or to something that is not human.
• Onomatopoeia - The use of words whose sounds suggest their meanings. (E.g. buzz, sizzle, hiss, boom).
• Alliteration - The repetition of speech sounds at the beginning of words. (E.g. If you slip, you slide).
• Euphemism - a mild or vague expression substituted for one thought to be too harsh or direct. (e.g. 'Pass away' for 'die'.)
• Repetition - A device in which a word or phrase is repeated for emphasis.

Identify the tone and mood of the poem

Tone is the persona's or poet's attitude towards a subject/issue. It is created by deliberate use of language. Tone conveys the overall attitude, spirit or character of a piece of writing. In poetry, you can use the following words to describe the tone: happy, pleasurable, reassuring, angry, frustrated, sad, impatient, fearful, anxious, enthusiastic, sarcastic.

• Poets can signal or evoke a particular mood by conscious and careful choice and arrangements of words. The mood is the effect that the poem has on the reader. The main difference between tone and mood is that the latter is related to how the reader feels about the issues raised in the poem, while the former is related to how the persona or poet feels. Words to describe mood include: happy, sombre, lively, nostalgic, light-hearted, pensive, reflective.

Give a personal response to the poem

Sometimes a question may require you to explain something in your own words. This is where your personal response is relevant. However, be careful to use evidence in the poem to support your ideas.

I want you to look back at a previous lesson on metaphors in which I gave you the poem entitled 'Silver Wedding'. Use the guideline to help you to analyse that poem. In next week's lesson, we will look at another poem and some questions related to it.

Here are the answers to the exercise on equivalent sentences given to you in last week's lesson:

1. C

2. D

3. B.

Did you get them right?

Thought: A quitter never sees the day of success.

Have a blessed week!

Cadets from Herbert Morrison Technical High School stood at attention as they participated in the school's Jamaica Day Celebration recently. - Photo by Sheena Gayle