Methods of Textual Analysis

Analyzing Poetry

You can find a lot of good information about analyzing poetry at the Perdue Online Writing Lab. Definitely check out the various headings there to see more about poetic devices, poetic techniques, and other methods of analysis.

TPCASTT

TPCASTT is an introductory method for analyzing poetry by looking at the poetic devices used in conjunction with the poem as a whole. Each letter in this method stands for a part in the analysis. The chart for the TPCASTT method can then be used to write an essay analyzing the poem.

Title

What the title means to you before you read the poem. What do you think it might be about? What kind of feeling do the words used give you?

Paraphrase

Put the poem into your own words, line by line, or stanza by stanza. Do not look for any deeper meanings. Use the literal meaning of the author’s words to explain it to explain it to yourself in words you would use.

Connotation

Look for deeper meaning in the author’s words. Now you look to see if the author means something more than the literal meaning of a word.

Attitude

Look at how the author and/or narrator are speaking in the poem. “Attitude” is another word for “tone.” How are things being expressed in the poem?

Shifts

Find any shifts in tone, action, or rhythm of the poem. If there was a certain tone you recognized at the beginning of the poem, is it the same tone at the end? Do all the lines start out long and flowing but become more choppy and short by the end?

Title

Examine the title again, this time having read the poem. Does the title mean the same thing you as you initially thought? Can you see why the author chose that particular title?

Theme

Determine what the poem is saying. What is the message of the poem? What is the point of writing it?

Feel free to make a copy of the following document to use for analyzing poetry or hymns.

TPCASTT Chart.docx

Critical Lenses

Using Critical Lenses is another great way to analyze a text, whether it is poetry, myth, other fiction, or even non-fiction. It looks more in depth at a text and its interaction with the author and reader than the TPCASTT method does. You can read more about various Critcal Lenses at the Perdue Online Writing Lab.

Below are some comon lenses that may be particularly useful for analyzing hymns, myths, and other spiritual works.

Historical Lens

This lens is useful for reading an anayzing a text based on the historical context in which it was written.

Important Questions to Consider:

Who is the author and what was their worldview?
Is there an authorial bias in the writing?
What else was going on at the time of the writing (political/economic history? period of intellectual history)?
Does the context of this text change the initial meaning that you found from it?
Does the text change your understanding on of the historical event or time period?

Psychological Lens

This lens is useful for reading a text based on the common behaviors that humans exhibit.

Important Questions to Consider:

Do characters act in a way that is believable?
Why do characters act or respond the way they do?
Think of common traits associated with each stage of life: do the characters act in accordance with their life stage?
How do human emotions effect the meaning of the text?
What moral or ethical choices do characters encounter?

New Criticism Lens

This lens is what we most commonly think of when we discuss anaylsis of a text, and looks very directly at the complexity of the text

Important Questions to Consider:

What poetic devices (simile, metaphor, personification) are in the text and how do they influence the reading of the text?
What themes are present?
What symbolism or allusions are present?
What happened at various points in the plot?
What are the strength and weaknesses of the text? Does it accomplish its intended purpose?
Does the story fit within a genre of work, or introduce common archetypes?

Spiritual Lens

This lens looks at a text in order to consider its relation to faith and other spiritual issues

Important Questions to Consider:

How does this text relate to one's faith in the divine?
Can it be compared to other religious texts?
If there is the precense of the divine in the text (deities/other spirits), how does that divine entity speak to the reader or other characters within the text
How does the text compare to various world religions?
What does the text say about faith, love, hope, our virtues, etc?

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