Poetic AnalysisLooking at Innovation Through Poetry

What Is Poetic Analysis?Poetic analysis is a detailed discussion of how the language of a poem contributes to its meaning.

To analyze a poem, you will need to correctly identify the poetic devices in the poem as well as give a very detailed close reading of the poem.

StepsPoetic analysis can be done in five easy steps.

1. Read the poem silently to yourself.2. Reread the poem aloud.3. Read the poem again silently to yourself.4. Decide what you think the poem is about. If

you have no idea, paraphrase the poem line by line to help you figure it out.

5. Identify the poetic devices you see in the poem using the knowledge rating we did in class and mark them on the poem.

P.E.E. Paragraph You can write an analysis of a poem in 3 easy steps.

Just remember to P.E.E.! P.E.E. stands for:

PointEvidenceExplanation

Step 1- PointWhat is the topic of the

paragraph? The first sentence must make it

clear what the paragraph will be about.

For example: At the beginning of “A Christmas Carole,” Scrooge is a nasty and uncaring man.

Step 2- Evidence What words or phrases or events prove

or illustrate your point? The next sentence should give evidence

from the text. It must relate directly to your point!

For example: Charles Dickens describes him as “hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire”(2).

Step 3- Explanation What does the author want the reader to

think or feel by using those words? Explain how the evidence illustrates or

proves your point. For example: This gives the impression

that Scrooge is more like stone or metal than a human being. Dickens uses the simile to point out to the reader how uncaring and mean Scrooge is. It also shows that he is not a warm or generous man and one expects that he will be the villain of the story.

The Whole Paragraph ReadsAt the beginning of “A Christmas

Carole,” Scrooge is a nasty and uncaring man. Charles Dickens describes him as “hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire”(2). This gives the impression that Scrooge is more like stone or metal than a human being. Dickens uses the simile to point out to the reader how uncaring and mean Scrooge is. It also shows that he is not a warm or generous man and one expects that he will be the villain of the story.

Point

Explanation

Evidence

Step Up To Writing Paragraph Outline Format I. Topic Sentence (what is the paragraph about?)

a. Main Idea/Key Point #1

i. Example/Explanation/Detail

ii. Example/Explanation/Detail

b. Main Idea/Key Point #2

i. Example/Explanation/Detail

ii. Example/Explanation/Detail c. Main Idea/Key Point #3

i. Example/Explanation/Detail

ii. Example/Explanation/Detail

d. Concluding Sentence

Poem: “Fear” by Gabriela Mistral (translated by Doris Dana) I don’t want them to turn

my little girl into a swallow.

She would fly far away into the sky

and never fly again to my straw bed,

or she would nest in the eaves

where I could not comb her hair.

I don’t want them to turn

my little girl into a swallow.

I don’t want them to make

my little girl a princess. Gabriela Mistral (1889-1957)

In tiny golden slippers

how could she play on the meadow?

And when night came, no longer

would she sleep at my side.

I don’t want them to make

my little girl a princess.

And even less do I want them

one day to make her queen.

They would put her on a throne

where I could not go to see her.

And when nighttime came

I could never rock her …

I don’t want them to make

my little girl a queen!

eaves (noun): the lower edges of a roof

Gabriela Minstral’s poem “Fear,” describes a mother’s fear of her daughter growing up and leaving her through the use o repetition and alliteration. One of many examples of repetition is, “I don’t want them to turn/ My little girl a princess” (line 9-10). In this statement the mother expresses the dreaded thought of her little girl growing up and leaving her. This shows that the mother’s whole world revolves around her daughter and she is worried about losing her to a man. An example of alliteration from this poem is, “She sleeps at my side” (line 14). This line talks about how the mother wants to keep her little girls close to her at all times. This is important because the mother knows that eventually she will have to let go of her daughter no matter how much she yearns to keep her close. It is clear that the poem “Fear” by Gabriela Minstral uses literary devices to express a mother’s fear of her daughter growing up.

Still I Rise By Maya Angelou (1978)

You may write me down in historyWith your bitter, twisted lies,You may trod me in the very dirtBut still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?Why are you beset with gloom?'Cause I walk like I've got oil wellsPumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,With the certainty of tides,Just like hopes springing high,Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?Bowed head and lowered eyes?Shoulders falling down like teardrops.Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?Don't you take it awful hard'Cause I laugh like I've got gold minesDiggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,You may cut me with your eyes,You may kill me with your hatefulness,But still, like air, I'll rise.

Out of the huts of history's shameI riseUp from a past that's rooted in painI riseI'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.Leaving behind nights of terror and fearI riseInto a daybreak that's wondrously clearI riseBringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,I am the dream and the hope of the slave.I riseI riseI rise.

Poetic Devices Found Repetition Rhyme Rhyme Scheme Simile Symbolism Imagery Hyperbole Metaphor

Your TaskUse either writing method to construct a poetic analysis for “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou. You may use some of the devices we discussed or look for more.