T (the first letter)
Title: consider the title and make a prediction of what the poem/story will be about.
P
Paraphrase: write it in your own words of exactly what happened in the poem/story. Paraphrasing is NOT summarizing.
C
Connotation: refers to the emotional overtones of word choices, but actually means all/any poetic devices, focusing on how such devices contribute to the meaning, effect, or both. Should support the conclusions you draw about the poem/story.
A
Attitude/Tone: examine diction, images, and details that suggest the speaker’s attitude and contributes to your understanding.
S
Shifts: look for punctuation, stanza divisions, changes in sentence length, irony, changes in sound, change in diction, etc.
T (second T)
Title: look at the poem again and check to see if your initial guess on what the poem was about is right. What new insight do you learn?
T (last T)
Theme: What is the poem saying about the human experience? What did you learn? What did the author want us to take away?