Poetry analysis

ENL lecture - poetry analysis 09/29/23

Literary analysis

Considering now the poems shapes an experience of reading that prompts us to think about the poem's topic differently.

Context

What the poem says and means

• Topics, themes, and ideas

• The meaning of the words

• What entities (objects, humans, animals, etc.) are represented in the poem

Form

How the poem says and means (the "literary devices “ or "literary terms “ )

Semantics (form).

Literary devices such as metaphor, allusion, personification, imagery, etc.

Visual (form)

Literary devices and elements such as lines, stanza, shape , font, etc.

Sonic (form)

Literary devices such as rhyme, alliteration, cadence, stress, etc.

Grammatical choices (form).

Pronouns, syntax, verbs, nouns, propositions, etc.

Juxtaposition

the fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect

Hyperbole

Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken Literally

Euphemism

a mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing

Dysphemism

a derogatory or unpleasant term used instead of a pleasant or neutral one, such as “loony bin” for “mental hospital

Irony

the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect

Content

• Information about the poet

• What poetic tradition or genre this poem was written within

• Where poems like this are intended to be read or heard

• The intended audience for the poem

• The experiences, histories, and culture shared by a particular social group or identity

• Its historical situation and setting

Stress

The stretch of syllables in a word

Rhythm

The pattern or un pattern ways that stressed or unstressed words distributed in a language

Scansion

The process of marking a stressed and unstressed syllable with a slash or u

Meter

A regular rhythm in the poem

A structured system of stressed and unstressed syllables

Often organized by line

Closed form verse

Poem with a meter

Free verse

Poem with out a meter

Rhyme

Correspondence of vowels and Constance sounds at the end of words

End rhyme

Rhymes that occur at the end of lines

Internal rhymes

Rhymes that occur within a line

Sonnet

Generally have 14 lines

Elizabethan sonnet

Line and rhyme scheme:

Three quatrain 4 lines

Simile

Comparison between 2 things using like or as

Does not collapse into 1

Feet

Meter is divided into feet

Feet are typically combinations of two or three syllables

Rhyme scheme

Is usually the pattern of end rhyme in a stanza, with each rhyme encoded by a letter

Allusion

Brief cultural reference

• event, work of arts, Litureture

Paradox

A statement that contradicts itself

Statement that must be true and untrue at the same time

• what ideas is the poem challenging?

Catalogue

A long list where the logical relationship between the listed items is not provided

Parataxis

When phrases, sentences, or lines are placed one after another with no relationship with one another.

• . want the reader to do the work to evaluate relationships

• Wants the reader to take more active role in constructing the meaning of the poem more actively than usual.

Imagery

When the poet writes using the 5 senses to make the reader imagine something in a specific way.

• visual , olfactory , auditory , gustatory, tactile.

Stanza

Grouping of lines together

• represents a coherent thought

• Development.

Tone

The emotionally inflected perspective or attitude through which …

How we interpreta , understand the content

As the tone Chang e

Metaphor

Makes a comparison b/w two like things inferring they're identical rather than just similar

Cadence now

How the poet uses visual literary devices to dictate the tempo and pauses of reading

• period, comas, and slashes