Hi, this is Trevor, I helped your group today in class regarding your semester final project. When I explained to your group members about analyzing some of the poetry you will include in your project I mentioned a poetry analysis rubric that my class used last year in Senior AP. I wanted to help out by giving you that rubric for your use if you so wish since you have not received it from Preston yet. The rubric goes as follows: 1.) Dramatic Situation: this is the setting so to say of the poem but a little different. To be specific, it is the setting as well as the narrator, their point of view and sort of where the poet positions the reader within the poem. To give an example, a poem might begin on a dark shoreline. There is setting. The speaker is third person, speaking as if talking to you as you stand on that shore. This, you will find, is often found at the beginning of a poem. Dramatic situation is the first thing you should recognize: you is talking, where are they talking, what are they talking about, where is this place, what led to this, and where are you in this picture? That's the situation.
2.) Structure: This is an easy one. Poems are structured as I assume you know, in stanzas. More importantly, though, is how the poem rhymes, or how many lines per stanza, and where does the poem transition to a new topic or idea if it does so. All of this is structure.
3.) Grammar/Mechanics: This is an obvious one too! Do they use commas a lot? Semi-colons? If they do, what purpose to they serve the poem and its meaning? Are commas used to slow down the pace at which you read to help convey a sad meaning? Think like this about punctuation. Periods often indicate complete, finished ideas within a poem. Often times if an idea continue onto a new line in a poem, it is tied together with a comma. Also, think of what tense the poem is written in: past, present, or future.
4.) Theme: Simple enough; what does the poem mean? What is the central message that the poet is trying to get across? This honestly should be last on the list. I don't know why it is number four! I think because last year we made some acronym for it to remember which involved rearranging the order. Anyway, you should fully analyze the poem with everything above and about to follow this, to determine the theme. Never settle on a theme too soon because you might end up looking for evidence to satisfy your assumed theme. You lose objectivity.
5.) Imagery/Figurative Language: This is simple too. Metaphors, similes, and other literary tools that the poet uses to create that image you get. So, think to yourself, "What in this poem gives me this picture in my head? Is it this simile, or maybe it is this word that gives me this feeling/mood that shapes the image in my head.
6.) Single words/Diction: Diction is word choice. Poets choice specific words that best communicate their meaning. Find those words that particularly stand out and give meaning to the poem. Single words are included because sometimes poets will repeat a single word to give it more meaning. Or a single words will appear constantly throughout the poem to stand out. Diction helps give an image and a meaning to a poem.
7.) Tone: Tone is always mixed up with Mood! Tone is the author or poet's attitude toward what they are writing about or to who they are writing to. Mood is the feeling YOU get when reading. I emphasize YOU because that's the difference! Mood is YOU and Tone is AUTHOR/POET. Tone is very important. You can upset your parents very easily, or any one for that matter, by saying an everyday phrase or word with a "tone" that upsets them. "Don't give me that tone of voice!" Your mother might yell. She says this or, "Don't give me that attitude," because you are communicating your attitude/what you think/opinion of them or what they think in HOW YOU SAY what say or in other words the TONE you use. Get it? That's tone. And a big piece in understanding the poet's meaning. :)
8.) Literary Techniques: This one will be harder because you are not in AP and are not currently studying these techniques. They are a requirement of AP. This is a huge list of words! I will link you a list that you can go through. Let me just say this, a lit. technique is personification. Something you've heard of. But a lit. technique is also anaphora or synesthesia. Two words I don't think most have heard of! Anyway, here is the link, you might find some of these techniques in the poems you have.
Use the second link if the embedded document on the first link doesn't work or if you just prefer the second link :D
9.) Prosody: This is the most confusing probably. It is like the rhythm and stress and metric structure of a poem. Metric meaning meter or count of syllable, not metrics like in science! xD
Lastly, here is a link to a poem I analyzed last year on my blog. I think going through my analysis will better clarify what I mean. Just so you can see it in action so to say. I don't include literary techniques or Prosody however. Sorry.
I hope all of this will help you and do share this with your group members. I don't remember their names, sorry, and so I didn't really find their blogs.
Hi, this is Trevor, I helped your group today in class regarding your semester final project. When I explained to your group members about analyzing some of the poetry you will include in your project I mentioned a poetry analysis rubric that my class used last year in Senior AP. I wanted to help out by giving you that rubric for your use if you so wish since you have not received it from Preston yet. The rubric goes as follows:
ReplyDelete1.) Dramatic Situation: this is the setting so to say of the poem but a little different. To be specific, it is the setting as well as the narrator, their point of view and sort of where the poet positions the reader within the poem. To give an example, a poem might begin on a dark shoreline. There is setting. The speaker is third person, speaking as if talking to you as you stand on that shore. This, you will find, is often found at the beginning of a poem. Dramatic situation is the first thing you should recognize: you is talking, where are they talking, what are they talking about, where is this place, what led to this, and where are you in this picture? That's the situation.
2.) Structure: This is an easy one. Poems are structured as I assume you know, in stanzas. More importantly, though, is how the poem rhymes, or how many lines per stanza, and where does the poem transition to a new topic or idea if it does so. All of this is structure.
3.) Grammar/Mechanics: This is an obvious one too! Do they use commas a lot? Semi-colons? If they do, what purpose to they serve the poem and its meaning? Are commas used to slow down the pace at which you read to help convey a sad meaning? Think like this about punctuation. Periods often indicate complete, finished ideas within a poem. Often times if an idea continue onto a new line in a poem, it is tied together with a comma. Also, think of what tense the poem is written in: past, present, or future.
4.) Theme: Simple enough; what does the poem mean? What is the central message that the poet is trying to get across? This honestly should be last on the list. I don't know why it is number four! I think because last year we made some acronym for it to remember which involved rearranging the order. Anyway, you should fully analyze the poem with everything above and about to follow this, to determine the theme. Never settle on a theme too soon because you might end up looking for evidence to satisfy your assumed theme. You lose objectivity.
5.) Imagery/Figurative Language: This is simple too. Metaphors, similes, and other literary tools that the poet uses to create that image you get. So, think to yourself, "What in this poem gives me this picture in my head? Is it this simile, or maybe it is this word that gives me this feeling/mood that shapes the image in my head.
ReplyDelete6.) Single words/Diction: Diction is word choice. Poets choice specific words that best communicate their meaning. Find those words that particularly stand out and give meaning to the poem. Single words are included because sometimes poets will repeat a single word to give it more meaning. Or a single words will appear constantly throughout the poem to stand out. Diction helps give an image and a meaning to a poem.
7.) Tone: Tone is always mixed up with Mood! Tone is the author or poet's attitude toward what they are writing about or to who they are writing to. Mood is the feeling YOU get when reading. I emphasize YOU because that's the difference! Mood is YOU and Tone is AUTHOR/POET. Tone is very important. You can upset your parents very easily, or any one for that matter, by saying an everyday phrase or word with a "tone" that upsets them. "Don't give me that tone of voice!" Your mother might yell. She says this or, "Don't give me that attitude," because you are communicating your attitude/what you think/opinion of them or what they think in HOW YOU SAY what say or in other words the TONE you use. Get it? That's tone. And a big piece in understanding the poet's meaning. :)
8.) Literary Techniques: This one will be harder because you are not in AP and are not currently studying these techniques. They are a requirement of AP. This is a huge list of words! I will link you a list that you can go through. Let me just say this, a lit. technique is personification. Something you've heard of. But a lit. technique is also anaphora or synesthesia. Two words I don't think most have heard of! Anyway, here is the link, you might find some of these techniques in the poems you have.
http://drprestonsrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/p/lit-terms.html
http://kerhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/p/literature-terms.html
Use the second link if the embedded document on the first link doesn't work or if you just prefer the second link :D
9.) Prosody: This is the most confusing probably. It is like the rhythm and stress and metric structure of a poem. Metric meaning meter or count of syllable, not metrics like in science! xD
Here are some links to better explain this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosody_(linguistics)
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prosody
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/prosody
Lastly, here is a link to a poem I analyzed last year on my blog. I think going through my analysis will better clarify what I mean. Just so you can see it in action so to say. I don't include literary techniques or Prosody however. Sorry.
ReplyDeletehttp://tjhrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/2012/03/remix-text-book-poetry-analysis.html
I hope all of this will help you and do share this with your group members. I don't remember their names, sorry, and so I didn't really find their blogs.
Anyway, good luck!
-Trevor