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"Insights, critical appreciation, linking the poem to our lives and experiences, extrapolating it, uncovering and decoding its depths and hidden meanings, making comparisons, send you to the ranks of the over 90 percenters."

1. Check the roster to see who’s in your group and what poem you’ve been allocated. 2. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, so do your bit! Divide your time/ duties into three equitable tasks! 3. Note that your presentation should be comprehensive and take up the entire period. 4. You may used AV aids such as Youtube, pictures and clipart, sound and music, Powerpoint, charts, OHP, the whiteboard, etc to make your presentation varied and interesting. Make sure you prepare these in advance. 5. Each group is expected to prepare a worksheet to share with the rest of the class. 6. Include in your worksheet 3 possible essay questions. You could provide a model answer for one of them!

Put already-produced Powerpoint slideshows on your page

media type="file" key="08 Track 08.m4a"add an MP3or MPEG-4 audio file


 * 6E AS POETRY GROUP PRESENTATIONS**

//The following guidelines to interpretation of poetry should be considered in no particular order. There is no guarantee that these will apply/ or be found in all 8 poems we’re doing. It’s just a useful tool.//


 * Read** the poem out loud several times.


 * Annotate** a copy of the poem that you should have at all discussion sessions. As you read, write down every observation, question, or feeling you get from the poem. Pay special attention to how the poem begins and ends.

A **title** is rich in meaning and a careful examination of it is necessary and advisable. Consider its significance and/ or relevance to the subject of the poem or try to see how it provides important clues for understanding the piece. Often the title is symbolic and pregnant with meaning, acting as a pointer to what is to follow.


 * Situation** refers to deciding what is happening, who are the participants, where are they, who is speaking and to whom. Remember not to confuse the poet with the “speaker” of the poem. What is the narrative perspective? Why is this perspective effective? More often than not, the speaker is a character, just like in a novel or play.

A **paraphrase/ plot/ summary** is necessary to translate the poem into your own words. Write a sentence or two in your own words for each stanza of the poem. This is an effective starting point to hang other interpretations and comments on.

Is the **speaker** the poet or a specific persona? How is the speaker involved in the poem? Is the speaker an omniscient narrator or casual observer? Does the speaker refer to himself/ herself in the 1st person? Is the speaker from an identifiable time period? How does knowing the historical context of the poem change your understanding of the speaker’s attitude?

The **intention and purpose** of the poet needs to be understood. Is he educating, entertaining, persuading, moralising, sharing or what... What evidence is there to this effect?


 * Setting** needs to be understood to facilitate and maximize ones understanding of the poem. The time, day/ night, season, geographic, physical, cultural setting is important to appreciate the poem’s central concerns. When was the poem written? What were the historical, political, philosophical, and social issues of that time? Does that change your understanding of the poem’s theme? Did poets during that time period follow particular style? Is the poem consistent with the literary conventions of that era? How is it inconsistent?

An **open mind** is important to allow a variety of interpretations. Many modern poems are often dismissed as cryptic, confusing and ultimately unknowable. But being open to the poet’s intentions can lead you to some interesting ideas and questions. Many poems are intentionally open-ended and refuse to resolve their internal tensions. Avoid the notion that there is “one true meaning.” AS examiners reward critical and original insights handsomely! (With support, of course, and provided these interpretations are reasonable)


 * Diction**, which refers to word choice, must be considered as there are no useless words. Poets select each and every word carefully, as all have a purpose in the overall meaning of the poem and have a certain association in the reader's mind. Are they abstract or concrete, literal or metaphorical? You try and work out why he has chosen the words he has. Any ambiguities and double meanings? How would you characterize the poet’s word choice? Is it formal, conversational? Does the poet use a specific dialect for the speaker? Are verbs active or passive? What tense does the poet use? Is it consistent? How does tense consistency (inconsistency) affect the passage of time within the poem?


 * Denotation and connotation** help in contemplating the poem far beyond the literal meaning. What do the words mean beyond the obvious? What are the implications, the hints, the suggestions of these particular word choices? Words have subtle meanings and hidden insinuations.


 * Form and structure** allude to the number of stanzas, lines in each stanza and the general appearance and organization of the poem, and helps in determine the meaning. How is the poem organised e.g. lines, verses, layout and shape? Are stanzas and lines consistently the same length? Why has the poet decided to structure the ideas in this way e.g. the sequence of ideas, length of lines, patterns etc. Focus not only on how, but the effect that this has in furthering meaning. Note anything that is repeated, either individual words or complete phrases. Anything said more than once may be crucial to interpretation. Is there an introduction, a problem or situation? How does the plot develop? Is the problem explained any further? Is there a climax, conclusion, or solution to the problem? How so? Where in the poem is the introduction, problem, climax, resolution? How do the different parts or events in the poem contribute to the overall big picture - the meaning? Does the poem follow a formal poetic structure such as a sonnet, haiku, sestina, ode, blues poem, etc.? If so, what are the characteristics of that form? How does it deviate from that form? Do they follow a particular pattern? Are there any stanzas, lines, words, or that diverge from the pattern?


 * Rhyme and rhythm** enable the reader to appreciate the aural elements of poetry. Does the poem have rhyme? E.g. abab or aabb etc. Does the poem have an identifiable rhythm arranged in the meter (iambs, spondees, trochees, dactyls, etc)? How many syllables are in each line? Does it follow a pattern? What syllables are stressed and unstressed? Does the poem follow an identifiable rhyme scheme corresponding to a specific poetic form? What kind of rhyme is used internal or end rhyme, slant or true rhyme, etc.? Why has the poet chosen this rhyme and rhythm to express these ideas? What other effects does the rhyme have? Is it consistent or scattered throughout? If not, where does the rhyme change or appear and why? What is the overall purpose or effect of the rhyme scheme?


 * Sentence Structure:** Does the poet use complete sentences, fragments, or a combination of both? Is there a pattern? How does the poet’s sentence choices contribute to the understanding of the poem? Within the sentence, is the word order natural or grammatically irregular?


 * Punctuation** deserves close attention too. Most poems use punctuation to help guide the voice of its reader. You need to pay attention because the end of a line is frequently not the end of a sentence. How are lines broken? Are they broken before a grammatical or logical completion of a thought to create an enjambment? How does the use of enjambment create a duality of meaning in the lines? Or are they end-stopped, breaking after the completion of a sentence or other grammatical pauses? Has he used caesura? What are the effects of these techniques? How often does he use commas, brackets, exclamation and quotation marks, ellipsis, one word lines? What are the effects of these? How is punctuation used or not used? Is it consistent with grammatical conventions? What effect does the punctuation create on how the poem is read? How does it affect the speed? Where are the pauses? Does the poet use italics, bold fonts, dashes, or any other uncommon fonts or punctuation devices? If so, why?


 * Sound devices** such as alliteration, consonance, sibilance, onomatopoeia and assonance are appealed to create certain effects? Does your poem have any of these? What are their effects? How does alliteration, assonance, or consonance enhance the rhythm and musicality of the poem?


 * Sensory appeals** are used to evoke certain reactions in the reader? What senses are called into play by the poet? How? What effect is it designed to have? Are the images literal or figurative, abstract or concrete? What sensory experiences are evoked? Are appeals made to the senses of sight, touch, sound, heat, movement, taste, smell? Why?


 * Symbolism** is often used to suggest ideas through concrete objects and images. A cage, chains, the sun, a tree, snake, snow, cross, rose, cow and green may all be considered symbols as they represent abstract ideas or concepts.

a. Metaphor (implied comparisons) b. Simile (comparison using 'like' or 'as') c. Personification (giving human characteristics to an inanimate object) d. Metonymy (the use of an attribute or quality of an object to represent the object itself) e. Synecdoche (substitutes a significant part of something for the thing itself) symbolism.
 * Imagery** is used to conjure up vivid visual images and pictures, to express themes, establish character and setting amongst other things.

a. Irony (opposite of what is meant) e. Paradox (contradictory) b. Hyperbole (exaggeration) f. Oxymoron (self contradictory term) c. Allusion (reference to something) g. Litotes (form of understatement) d. Pun (play on words) h. Rhetorical questions (asked for effect)
 * Poetic devices** are the heart and engine of poetry. Examine any and all, focusing on how such devices contribute to the meaning, the effect, or both, of a poem. (What is important is not that you can identify poetic devices but that you can explain how the devices enhance meaning and effect.)


 * Effects** that the various techniques have on the people, things, ideas, and meanings of the poem are of cardinal importance? What is the poem about? How do the literary terms used help the speaker in the poem convey their message? How effective are the devices/language that he uses?

The **tone and attitude** of the speaker to others, and to the reader and his subject matter are important. Diction, images, and details suggest the speaker's attitude and contribute to understanding. How is the tone of the poem developed through the language used to create imagery? Is it conversational, formal, aloof, sad, jovial, heavy, conspiratorial or... How does diction influence the understanding of the tone? Does the tone change as the poem progresses? Is it consistent at the beginning and ending of the poem?


 * Feelings** expressed by the poet need to be considered. What feeling/s does the poet experience? Why? How are they shown? What feelings does he evoke in the reader? Do these feelings change? How?


 * Tension and conflict** need to be explored. What is the conflict or point of tension in the poem? Is there an external or internal conflict? Physical, spiritual, moral, philosophical, social, etc? How is the tension in that conflict developed with poetic elements? Is it resolved?

A **theme** identifies the poet’s central idea or message. Try to group the ideas in the poem. Is there a story that the poem tells? What do you think the poem is about? What is the poet trying to communicate to the reader? In identifying theme, recognize the human experience, motivation, or condition suggested by the poem.

Your **response** to the poem needs to be explained or discussed. Did you like it? Why? Can you empathize with anyone or any idea in it? What? How did it affect you personally?


 * Shifts in content, style, tone** etc must be considered as rarely does a poet begin and end the poetic experience in the same place. As is true of most of us, the poet's understanding of an experience is a gradual realization, and the poem is a reflection of that epiphany. Trace the changing feelings of the speaker from the beginning to end, paying particular attention to the conclusion. To discover shifts, watch for the following: key words: but, yet, however, although; punctuation: dashes, periods, colons, ellipsis; stanza and/or line divisions: change in line or stanza length or both; irony: sometimes irony hides shifts; effect of structure on meaning, how the poem is "built"; changes in sound that may indicate changes in meaning; and changes in diction: slang to formal language, for instance, or positive connotation to negative; the crux, the one crucial part of the work that stands out, perhaps presenting the complete idea all by itself.