Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Department of European Languages and Literature
Semester 1, 1437/38 - 2016/17
Poetry LANE 447 – Sections BAR & GAR
First Approach in Reading a Poem
Paraphrasing a Poem
The first step in the process of reading, analyzing and writing about poetry is to start with this
approach:
1. Read the poem slowly. It is important to read it more than once!
2. Use your prose reading skills to clarify what the poem is about in general. Think about
what message and emotion the poem communicates to you. This can be achieved by
different ways such as reading each line separately, noting unusual words and
associations, and observing any changes in the form of the poem that might signal a shift
in point of view.
3. Write a prose paraphrase of the poem. The document below demonstrates what a
paraphrase is and how to do such a process:
What is a paraphrase?
“A piece of modern speech you can imagine the speaker of the original poem saying that
conveys in different words exactly and fully every shade of meaning in the original poem, both
what's said and what's implied.”
“Paraphrasing involves taking a set of facts or opinions and rewording them. When paraphrasing,
it is important to keep the original meaning and to present it in a new form. Basically, you are
simply writing something in your own words that expresses the original idea.”
How to Paraphrase a Poem?
1. Before you can even attempt to paraphrase a few lines from a poem, make sure that you are
already familiar with the poem's message. Otherwise, you have to read the poem again and get a
good idea of the message it is trying to give you.
2. After making sure that you already know the poem's message, close your copy of the poem
and try reciting it using your own words. Imagine the poem's message in your head. This way,
you'll be able to have a few words of your own. This is the initial step to effectively
paraphrasing the poem.
3. Next, write a draft of the poem’s paraphrase: Grab a pen and a piece of paper and rewrite the
thoughts that you had in imagining the poem's message. Make sure that you are not taking a peek
at the copy of your poem so that what you'll be writing is independent from the poem's original
text. This is
4. The next step is to take a good look at the original text of the poem and see if there are any
words that you have written down which aren't exactly referring back to the message of the
poem.
5. Edit your initial paraphrase in terms of its sentence structure and message.
Here is an example on how to paraphrase a poem:
Langston Hughes’ “I, Too, Sing America”
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.
Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed-I, too, am America.
A Paraphrased Langston Hughes’ “I, Too, Sing America”
Although the color of my skin may be different than yours, I am also like the rest of my
fellowmen and you. And because we are not any different, I can also eat at the table with the
company of other people. My darker complexion makes me no less beautiful than everybody
else, which should make them feel sorry for treating me like less than the average individual. I am
also like the rest of you.
Another Example of Prose Paraphrasing:
Original Passage:
In The Sopranos, the mob is besieged as much by inner infidelity as it is by the federal
government. Early in the series, the greatest threat to Tony's Family is his own biological family.
One of his closest associates turns witness for the FBI, his mother colludes with his uncle to
contract a hit on Tony, and his kids click through Web sites that track the federal crackdown in
Tony's gangland.
A Paraphrased Passage:
In the first season of The Sopranos, Tony Soprano’s mobster activities are more threatened by
members of his biological family than by agents of the federal government. This familial
betrayal is multi-pronged. Tony’s closest friend and associate is an FBI informant, his mother
and uncle are conspiring to have him killed, and his children are surfing the Web for information
about his activities.
The main point of this passage is that problems within the family are as bad as or even worse
than problems caused by the federal government. Details about this betrayal include one family
member turning informant, a hit being put out on Tony by family members, and Tony’s kids
tracking his activities.
Here is a summary of some of the changes made during the paraphrasing process:





Early in the series = first season
More threatened = greatest threat
Closest friend and associate = one family member
His mother colludes with his uncle = his mother and uncle are conspiring
His kids click through Web sites = his children are surfing the Web
For further information, see
http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-paraphrasing.html#Fi00OkTq1imaKK5o.99