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20 Tips for your Poetry Analysis Test
Strategies to Help You Improve and Achieve your Best Results on the Test
Poetry Analysis Test Tip #1
Answer all of the assigned questions. Do not leave any
question blank or unanswered!
There will be two short answer questions and one paragraph
response question on the test.
Poetry Analysis Test Tip #2
Make sure that you understand the definition of tone and
theme, and that you review the definitions for the various figurative language forms that we studied in class. If you are
confused, ask questions!
Poetry Analysis Test Tip #3
Read the poem carefully, and more than once, before you
begin answering the test questions. Make sure that you understand what the poem is
about before you start to write.
Poetry Analysis Test Tip #4
Upon your first and second reading of the poem,
underline/highlight words and lines that you think are
important. Write directly on the test paper. This will help you
when you are referring back to the poem for quotations.
Poetry Analysis Test Tip #5
Make sure that you are answering what the question is asking. Do not
get off-topic. You only have 37 minutes to write the test. Use part
of the question to begin your response in order to help you focus on what information you should be
including in your answer.
Poetry Analysis Test Tip #6
Ensure that your answers are detailed, thoughtful, and that you
support all of your points with direct evidence from the poem
(quotations). Do not simply refer to the line – You must include a
quotation in quotation marks to prove your points for each question.
Poetry Analysis Test Tip #7
Pay attention to how many marks each question is worth (5 marks or 10 marks), and from that, plan how
much information to include (5 points for a question worth 5 marks and 10 points for a question worth 10 marks), and how much time you
should spend on each question.
Poetry Analysis Test Tip #8
When deciding how much time you should spend on each
question, consider that a 10 mark question should take you approximately 12-14 minutes, and a 5 mark question should take you approximately 7-9
minutes.
Poetry Analysis Test Tip #9
Do not use personal pronouns in your responses. This is not a time for personal reflection.
This is a time to be analytical! Be objective in your word choice and demonstrate your ability to
be a keen critical thinker.
Poetry Analysis Test Tip #10
You do not need to cite your quotations on the test. For a
typed evaluation like a formal paragraph or a literary essay, this is required, but on a test with distinct time constraints,
citations are not required.
Poetry Analysis Test Tip #11
Bring a dictionary with you in case you struggle with some of
the vocabulary in the poem. You are allowed to use this
during the test, but you are not allowed to use your class notes.
However, dictionaries will not be provided for you.
Poetry Analysis Test Tip #12
Be sure to choose the best possible tone descriptor to indicate how the
speaker of the poem feels about his/her subject matter and/or the
reader. Do not make up words. Make sure that you can support
your chosen tone descriptor with a quotation from the poem.
Poetry Analysis Test Tip #13
Remember to refer to the theme of the poem in more than one
word. If you think that the poem is about love, consider what
kind of love is being discussed, and what key message the
speaker is attempting to convey to the reader about love.
Poetry Analysis Test Tip #14
It is not enough to simply identify an example of figurative
language without explaining how and why it is used in the
poem. Remember to analyze the purpose and effect of each
figurative language device that you examine on the test.
Poetry Analysis Test Tip #15
Double-space your responses on the foolscap paper (long,
lined paper) provided in class. Do not forget to do this on the test, because it enables me to
write you more legible feedback.
Poetry Analysis Test Tip #16
Answer all questions on the foolscap paper provided,
number your pages, put your name on all of the paper you use, and put your pages in
the correct order upon submission.
Poetry Analysis Test Tip #17
Place the poem’s title in quotation marks, according to proper formatting. For
example, Rudyard Kipling’s poem, “If”…
Poetry Analysis Test Tip #18
Lead into your quotations thoughtfully! Do not just plunk
them in your answers because you know that you need to use
quotations. Provide context – i.e. This is proven in the poem when the
speaker says, “…” (transition carefully)
Poetry Analysis Test Tip #19
If you have any time remaining in the test after you have
finished the questions, proofread your writing for errors
prior to submission. Look for spelling mistakes, punctuation
errors, missing words, etc.
Poetry Analysis Test Tip #20
Stay calm and do your best. You have had a lot of
practice analyzing poetry over the course of this unit.
You can do this!