Reading & Responding to Poetry

I love poetry.

Carl Sandburg wrote, “Poetry is the opening and closing of a door, leaving those who look through to guess about what was seen during a moment.” Voltaire called poetry “the music of the soul.” However, you define it, poetry is personal. Poems can be written in too many different forms and styles, on too many different subjects and emotions, and with too many different motives to describe it in a single definition.  

If poetry defies definition, then how can it be studied?  Poetry can tell a story, express an idea, define a character, convey an emotion, describe a setting, examine a situation – singly or all at once.  Ideally, good poetry evokes an intellectual and emotional response from you – the reader.

Poems are the musical side of writing. They make use of musical language—rhythm and rhymes—so it’s not surprising that most song lyrics are poetry put to music.  Poems are full of sound. They use assonance, alliteration, onomatopoeia, consonance (just to use a few literary terms). They beg to be read out and are particularly satisfying to read aloud.

Strategy #1 – Reading Actively

QUESTION   What is the poem saying?  What questions come to mind as you are reading?  Poets use language to create new ways of seeing things.  In doing so they often use figurative language, language that is not meant to interpreted literally.  Why does the writer include certain words and details?  How does the language make you feel?  How does it contribute to the meaning of the poem?  Look for answers to your questions as you read. 

USE YOUR SENSES   What images is the poet creating?  How are these images developed?  Let your imagination see the pictures in your mind, and let your senses respond to the poet’s language. 

LISTEN   Much poetry is musical.  Read the poem aloud so that you can hear the sound of it and feel its rhythm.  Often the words and rhythm suggest a mood or feeling.  Let the sound of the poem pull you into it. How does the sound affect you?  What is the effect of sound devices such as alliteration, onomatopoeia, and assonance?  How do they contribute to the meaning of the poem?

CONNECT   Bring your own experience and knowledge to the poem.  What images are familiar?  Which are new to you?  How can you connect the theme to your life?

PARAPHRASE   Put the poem in your own words.  When you can express a poem in your own words, you will better understand its meaning.

RESPOND   How does the poem make you feel as you read?  Respond to the poem as a whole, and decide what it says to you.  Many poems convey an important idea or insight about life.  What do you think is the message of the poem?  What special meaning does the poem have for you?

TASK:

• Review the notes on TPCASTT and an example looking at how someone else would use this strategy to approach a poem here: "Janet Waking" by John Crowe Ransom and wiki-how for another way to analyze poetry.

• Then try TPCASTT yourself looking at (one of the most obvious poems of all time) "The Road Not Taken". This poem is chosen because you don't have to try to hard to figure it out - instead you can concentrate on trying the strategy. Go to this link to try it, and check your answers. PLEASE KEEP A COPY OF YOUR RESPONSES - DON'T JUST DO IT IN YOUR HEAD.

• Write a reflection discussing what you think about the TPCASTT strategy for approaching a poem. How do you feel about poetry in general? Can you see any other applications for this kind of analysis? Etc.