Poetry - What's in it?

The overarching question is WHY? WHY has the author done this? To what effect?

In the process of reading / analysing, consider the following:

·        * The title (of the poem / collection)

        à No title

        à Somebody's name à real person à Who were they? What is their story? (e.g. Anne Hathaway, Mrs Darwin – all specific examples here by Carol Ann Duffy)

                                           à Biblical / mythical (e.g. Delilah, Salome)

                                           à imaginary person (e.g. Elvis’s Twin Sister, Mrs Rip Van Winkle)

         à A word à Concrete (e.g. Text) or abstract (e.g. Rapture)

         à A place name (e.g. Cockermouth and Workington) à Importance? What is the story?

·        * Shape à prose poem / shape poem / stanzas / line breaks / length of lines / placement of line and stanza breaks

·        * Form à free verse or structured

      à meter / rhythm à Does it stay the same or vary? Does the author stick rigidly to a pattern or play with it?

      à well-known structure vs something the author has invented

     à telling a story or paining a picture

·        * Choice of words à colloquial or formal / English only or including other languages / double meanings / homonyms and homophones / connotations (positive, negative or neutral) / collocations / sound effects ( onomatopoeia, alliteration, assonance, etc.) / word play / ambiguity

·        * Punctuation / capitalisation / italics / font size / etc.

·        * Literary devices à allusion: to what / whom? + What is that story?

   à symbols: shared or culturally dependent or personal

   à similes / metaphors: clichés or something new

   à ???

·       *  Local colour à Does the author’s background shine through? (In short stories / novels à Is it important when and where it happens?)

·        * Tone and mood à Why and how? Does it stay the same all through or change for any reason?

·        *  Speaker à 1^st, 2^nd or 3^rd person

  à Writer themselves or a different persona?

  à Any changes? To what effect?

·        *  What is the poet trying to make the reader feel / think about / question?

à What do YOU feel / think when reading this?

à How would somebody with a different background / beliefs (religious, political, spiritual) / life experience interpret this?

·       * Has the author themselves offered any explanations / analyses? What is the prevalent stand of literary critics?

·       * ???

·       *  Does the title suit the poem? Why / Why not?

If it had no title, what title would you give to it? Why / Why not?