How I Experience a Poem Slide 2 Step 1 Get out a pencil! Slide 3
Step 2 Look at the poem - the architecture- note: Stanzas?
Patterned or varied? Divisions? Numbered? Line lengths? Anomalies?
Reflect/associate - i.e. four parts. What else comes in fours?
Slide 4 Step 3 Read the title Reflect/Associate - double meaning?
Slide 5 Step 4 Read the poem through, preferably aloud. Breathe
Reflect- Have I been taken somewhere? Moved? Asked a question?
Shown a place? If possible write a literal summary. Slide 6 Step 5
Apply DIDLS Didls = Diction Circle words that stand out or are
repeated. Note their connotations. Mark shift words and
punctuation: yet, but, so, however, then, although - poems rarely
begin and end in the same place. Slide 7 Step 6 dIdls = Imagery:
vivid descriptions that recreate sensory experiences Reflect- What
is the speaker trying to convey with these sensory details? What is
the mood created by them? Slide 8 Step 7 diDls = Details What
details are included and what are left out? Why? This can inform us
about the attitude of the speaker towards the subject. Slide 9 Step
8 didLS = Language and Syntax Language is the choice of words as a
whole- formal? colloquial? Syntax is the sentence structure. This,
along with punctuation, governs rhythm. Sentence length? Sentence
beginnings?Arrangement of ideas? Slide 10 Step 9 SOAPStone Based on
steps 1-8 what can I determine about:
Speaker-Occasion-Audience-Purpose-Subject and finally what is the
tone of the poem? Slide 11 Step 10 Get a cold drink Take a nap
