Other Pages

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Tear it apart; Help on understanding poetry

When I look at a poem that I 've never read before I make sure I study it carefully so that I can understand it fully. Here is the way I go about studying a poem:

After I read through it a couple times and get a good understanding of what it's about, I begin to look at details.

The title. Is it intriguing? Does it make me want to read more? Is it dull? Could I come up with a better title?
The format. Is it annoying? Does it go with the poem, for instance a funny poem to have funny formatting? What would make it more visually appealing?
The content. Is the point of the poem clear (it doesn't have to be of course)? Did I feel confused while I read it? If so, did the confusion cause some sort of feeling at the end? Was this written this way to bring across an idea?
Me. What did I learn from this poem? How can I use this poem to help my own poetry? How did I feel after the  poem?

Of course there are TONS of other questions you could ask. This is just giving you a base. When you ask one question it usually leads to another one. So enjoy! My tip is: Read lots of poetry. It will help you write your own.

1 comment:

  1. I love the look of your new blog. Did you realize that you analisis (that's Spanish) instead of analysis (that's English). LOL. Just wait til you start mixing it up with French too!
    TMP

    ReplyDelete