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Strategies for Interpreting Poetry
Foundation Lesson – High School
Close Reading
Skill Focus
Levels of Thinking
Remember
Close Reading
Literary Elements
Detail
Diction
connotation
denotation
Imagery
Plot
conflict
Theme
Tone
Understand
Apply
Analyze
Grammar
Create
Composition
Analysis of a Text
Meaning and Effect related to phrases,
clauses, and syntax
Figures of Speech (grade level)
Sound Devices (grade level)
Literary Techniques
Symbolism
Literary Forms
Verse
Lesson Introduction
The following outline consists of nine steps or strategies that serve as aids in poetry interpretation. At first, students may take brief notes for each step. After several attempts, students will be
able to practice poetry analysis without having to take written notes. A sound practice is to
emphasize certain steps of the outline according to the most important elements that each poem
reflects. A central concept for the student to remember is that an understanding of tone as it is
developed by diction, imagery, details, point of view, and figures of speech is central to understanding the meaning of the poem.
Teachers may wish to begin the lesson by providing students with some background facts about
the author of the poem. This information can be interesting and helpful but often is not absolutely necessary for an understanding of the text.
Students often benefit from doing the activity with a partner or in a group.
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Close Reading
Strategies for Interpreting Poetry
Foundation Lesson – High School
“Let your eyes do the walking” (diction)
1. As you skim the poem for the second time, highlight or read aloud all nouns, verbs,
adjectives, and adverbs.
2. What do these words imply, suggest, or mean to you? What associations do you have with
them? In what contexts have you encountered these words before? What kind of emotional
impact do these words have?
Questions to think about
3. Does the feeling of the poem change from stanza to stanza or from idea to idea?
4. Where do these changes occur? Keep in mind that any changes of this kind (shifts) may
indicate multiple attitudes or tones.
Form and pattern of organization
5. Identify the type of poem.
Types
• tells a story (narrative)
• takes the form of drama (dramatic)
• expresses the personal views or feelings of the poet (lyric)
6. Identify the form of the poem.
Questions to ask about forms
• What is the poet’s plan of organization or development?
• If the poem is divided into stanzas, which idea is developed per stanza?
• Is there dialogue? Between whom?
• Does the poet talk directly to the reader, or is there an additional speaker?
• Does the poet use any methods of argumentation?
• Is there a metrical form to the poem?
ballad
limerick
concrete poem
free verse
Some Poetic Forms Are
dramatic monologue
elegy
sonnet (English) (Italian) ode
Denotation: what does the poet say literally?
7. Use the dictionary to look up any unfamiliar words.
8. Paraphrase the poem.
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epic
sestina
pastoral
villanelle
haiku
Close Reading
First, read the poem aloud to get the full effect of the work as a whole.
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Connotation of words, phrases, all poetic devices, and title
9. Find all literary devices.
Close Reading
10. Establish what they suggest or imply.
Syntax/Sentence structure
11. Does the poet write mainly in simple, compound, complex, compound/complex sentences or
inverted order sentences?
12. How many lines does it take to complete a thought?
13. Does the sentence go beyond one line (enjambment)?
Attitude within the poem (tone)
14. Look for the poet’s attitude or feeling toward the subject.
15. Look for the speaker’s attitude toward the subject. Is the poet’s attitude the same? Justify
your answer.
16. Look for multiple attitudes.
17. Look for shifts in attitude.
18. Look for a prevailing attitude.
Contrasts, stated and implied
19. Look for opposition
a. within the speaker
e. between the speaker and the listener (reader)
b. between the speaker and another person
f. between the speaker and life
c. between the speaker and society
g. between the speaker and fate
d. between the speaker and nature
Universal Message (Theme)
• is seldom directly stated in the poem,
• is larger than the parts (the various poetic elements used by the poet),
• is an “umbrella of thought” that covers all subjects of the poem and applies to all
peoples at all times,
• is the final step in poetry analysis,
Theme differs from the subject of the poem in that it should be stated in a sentence or two.
20. Fill in the blanks (on the student notes page) with three abstract words.
21. Write a one-sentence statement of theme for the poem. Use at least two of the words listed
above.
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Close Reading
Student Notes
Close Reading
First, read the poem aloud to get the full effect of the work as a whole. Then, follow the
detailed instructions in the handout and make notes here.
Background information about the poet
“Let your eyes do the walking” (diction)
Form and pattern of organization
Denotation: What does the poet say literally? Paraphrase the poem in your own words.
Connotation of words, phrases, all poetic devices, and title
Syntax/Sentence structure
Attitude of the poet (tone)
Contrasts, stated and implied
Universal message (theme)
This poem is about
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