Poetry Analysis
poem
1. Poems- unpacking the meaning in poetry
Heaney, “Mid-Term Break,”
Sexton, “The Fury of Overshoes,”
Roethke, “My Papa’s Waltz,”
What is happening? Does the reader’s perception change from the beginning of the poem to the last? What effect do you think the author tried to convey in this poem? Answer these questions for all three poems above.
2. Poetry Analysis Questions
Linda Pastan “Marks”
My husband gives me an A
for last night’s supper,
an incomplete for my ironing,
a B plus in bed.
My son says I am average,
an average mother, but if
I put my mind to it
I could improve.
My daughter believes
in Pass/Fail and tells me
I pass. Wait ’til they learn
I’m dropping out.
1. What is the poem about? Describe the action of the poem.
2. Who is the speaker of the poem? It is not the author necessarily. What can you tell about the speaker from the poem?
3. What is the organization of the poem? Look at lines, stanzas, sentences, and/or rhyme schemes. How does that affect the meaning of the poem?
4. How is language used in this poem? Do you find metaphors, analogies, symbols, alliteration, figures of speech that carry connotations as well as denotations. (Connotations would be the suggested meaning as opposed to denotations which would be the literal meaning—see glossary for literary terms in (The Norton Introduction to Literature by Alison Booth and Kelly Mays.)
5. What do you have problems with or do not quite understand in this poem? Be as specific as possible, and look at what the section might possibly mean. (Hint: use a dictionary if a word isn’t clear; sometimes poets use a word or phrase with a different meaning than the common one.)
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