Students move beyond literal meanings of words to figurative ones as they review how to analyze metaphors, similes, personification, and hyperboles from previous years. Toward the middle of the unit, students are pushed even more to explain the themes of poems. Unlike in texts from the elementary years, the themes are often subtle and developed over the course of the text rather than obvious and revealed early on in the text. Moreover, students are challenged to analyze how imagery, figurative language, contrast, and repetition help to crystalize the deeper message of the poem.