How to study a poem

• English
• Upper Secondary (Key Stage 4)
• Lower Secondary (Key Stage 3)
• Further Education (Key Stage 5)
• GCSE

Introduction

This is designed as an introduction to studying poetry for a variety of levels, please adjust to suit your learners!

How to Study Poetry

Learning goals

• To develop confidence in studying poetry
• To think of the kind of questions you need to ask yourself to study poems
• Being able to write analytical sentences about poetry.

Starter - "Noice"

• Let's take a journey to the world of the meme....
• You find a lot of people say they don't like poetry....
• But this isn't actually true.
• Saying you don't like poetry is like saying you don't like food ....there's such a huge variety there's going to be something you like....

Starter - Hot Food

• You may recognise Michael Rosen, famous children's poet and meme icon.
• Watch his performance of the legendary 'Hot Food' and respond to the activities that follow.
  

01:03

Very simple question....do you like this poem?

How do you feel listening to this poem?

How do you feel listening to this poem?

How do you feel listening to this poem?

YES

NO

How do you feel when you hear this poem?

Type in your words!

Analysing Poetry

You've just responded to a poem....

Watch the video again and and answer the questions.

00:00

What do you think is the message of the poem?

Analysing Poetry

When reading a poem for the first time it's about asking yourself questions.

Questions to ask yourself when studying a poem

Type in your words!

Analysing Poetry

1. What is the poem about?
2. Who is the 'voice' or 'voices' of the poem?
3. What is the message of the poem?
4. How is the poem structured?
5. What literary techniques are being used and to what effect?

Analysing Poetry

It's normal to read a poem for the first time and thing "what am I going to write about????!!!!"

It's about how you respond to that moment - don't give up.

Remember you are allowed your own ideas - some poems don't always have a clear answer!

Analysing Poetry

Let's try a classic poem next.

We are going to use Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven. 

Watch the video of the poem and answer the questions.

Analysing Poetry

Some poetic forms:

Ballad = A poem that is structurally like a song. expect

SOME EXAMPLES OF POETIC FORM

NARRATIVE POEM

A form of poetry that tells a story.

BALLAD

This poetic form closely resembles a song. It could be set to music. It rhymes and may even have a chorus or refrain (repeated stanza)

LYRIC

A short poem that is also songlike but expresses personal feelings

SONNET

A fourteen line poem that can be divided up into sections that offer different takes on the poem's theme. There's a block of 8 lines and a section of 6 lines in a Petrarchan sonnet. A Shakespearean sonnet divides up into three 4 line parts with a rhyming couplet at the end

ODE

This is a poem written in dedication to someone or something

FREE VERSE

A form of poetry with a very loose or even 'spoken' structure.

ELEGY

A poem written about a real person who has died

Lisa Simpson says Poe is establishing the mood. But what is the mood? How is that mood created?

Which of the poetic forms is The Raven?

Lisa Simpson says Poe is establishing the mood. But what is the mood? How is that mood created?

Which of the poetic forms is Hot Food?

Lisa Simpson says Poe is establishing the mood. But what is the mood? How is that mood created?

In your own words, compare the ways in which Michael Rosen and Edgar Allen Poe use the narrative form to bring meaning to their poems

Analysing Poetry

There are other ways to analyse a poem, but these can be covered in more detail in a future session. These include rhyme schemes and rhythm and expanded terminology.

You already have most of what you need to analyse and discuss any poem! Remember it's how you respond to it, and keep thinking of those questions to ask yourself!

00:31

Lisa Simpson says Poe is establishing the mood. But what is the mood? How is that mood created?

Lisa Simpson says Poe is establishing the mood. But what is the mood? How is that mood created?

00:57

Which of the following is not true of the second stanza?

Click the donut to see the second stanza!

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December;

And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.

    Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow

    From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore—

For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore—

            Nameless here for evermore.

1. The narrator's love has died
2. Poe has used archaic (old-fashioned) language
3. Lenore was an angel
4. This stanza features internal rhyme

01:14

 And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain

Thrilled me—filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;

    So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating

    “’Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door—

Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door;—

            This it is and nothing more.”

GLOSSARY

HYPERBOLE = exaggeration for effect

INTERNAL RHYME = rhyming inside lines

EPISTROPHE = repeating words or phrases at the end of lines or sentences

PERSONIFICATION = a type of metaphor that gives an object human qualities.

Personification

Epistrophe

Hyperbole

Internal rhyme

01:36

What or who do you expect to see behind the door?

Lenore

A raven

Nothing

A demon

An axe-wielding maniac

01:44

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,

Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;

    But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,

    And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, “Lenore?”

This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, “Lenore!”—

            Merely this and nothing more.

The makers of The Simpsons cut this stanza. What does it add to the poem?

Why do you think the makers of the Simpson's cut this stanza?

02:00

This is a gothic poem. Why do you think the symbolism of doors and windows is a feature of gothic literature?

This is a gothic poem. Why do you think the symbolism of doors and windows is a feature of gothic literature?

02:19

What does Poe's use of archaic (old fashioned) language add to the poem?

What does Poe's use of archaic (old fashioned) language add to the poem? 

1. It creates humour
2. The poem was published in 1845
3. It gives a greater sense of the past
4. Poe is showing off his vocabulary

02:40

In this stanza Poe uses anthropomorphism. This is presenting an animal or object as having human qualities. Upload an image of an anthropomorphic animal!

In this stanza Poe uses anthropomorphism. This is presenting an animal or object as having human qualities. Upload an image of an anthropomorphic animal!

02:54

This version skips the next 5 stanzas. In the last of these five, the narrator wonders what is the meaning of the raven's name 'Nevermore'. Read the stanzas. What do you think the meaning of the Raven's name is?

This version skips the next 5 stanzas. In the last of these five, the narrator wonders what is the meaning of the raven's name 'Nevermore'. Read the stanzas. What do you think the meaning of the Raven's name is?

03:09

From the context of its use in this poem, 'Nepenthe' is an ancient Greek medicine (possibly not real!) that causes.....

From the context of its use in this poem, 'Nepenthe' is an ancient Greek medicine (possibly not real!) that causes.....

1. hair growth
2. super-strength
3. resurrection
4. loss of memory

01:44

Why is Bart wrong?

Why is Bart wrong?

00:34

How does the narrator's persona differ to Michael Rosen's?

01:02

Which of the following are true of the poem Hot Food?

TRUE

FALSE

This poem is aimed at children

The poem features repetition

The poem rhymes

The poem only features one character

The poem has no structure

Write down something new you've learned today.

Write down something new you've learned today.

Write down something you feel you want to know more about.

Ask something you want to know more about.

How confident are you in your understanding of antithesis?

How confident are you in your understanding of similes and metaphors?

How confident do you feel in analysing a poem?

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