Analysing an unseen poem

STEP ONE: Work out what the poem is about…
1. What is the subject of the poem?
2. Who is speaking?
3. Who is the narrator speaking to?
STEP TWO: Identify the themes and message of the poem…
1. Why has the poet written the poem?
2. What are they trying to say?
3. What ideas are they using?
4. Is it an emotional response to something that’s happened?
5. Is it trying to get an emotional response from the reader?
6. Is it portraying a message or opinion on a subject or event?
STEP THREE: Identify the attitudes and feelings in the poem…
1. What are the different emotions and feelings of the narrator or poet?
2. What is the mood or atmosphere of the poem (e.g. sad, angry, etc.)?
3. How has the poet used different poetic techniques to show these attitudes and feelings?
STEP FOUR: Identify the poetic techniques used in the poem…
1. What are the different poetic techniques that the poet has used to show the attitudes and feelings in the poem?
2. How has the poet shown these feelings through form and structure (e.g. rhyme, rhythm, line length, stanza length, etc.)?
3. How has the poet used poetic devices to show these feelings (e.g. metaphors, similes, caesura, enjambment, alliteration, juxtaposition, personification, etc.)?
STEP FIVE: Explore your personal response to the poem…
1. How do you feel about the poem?
2. How well does the poet get the message across in the poem?
3. What is the impact of the poem on the reader (refer to ‘the reader’, rather than ‘I’ when talking about the impact of the poem)?
4. Are there any other ways the poem could be interpreted?

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Analysing an unseen poem

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	Created by Areeba_786 almost 10 years ago