DIFFERENT WAYS TO ANALYSE A POEM – REFLECTING THE HISTORY OF LITERARY CRITICISM

TEXT-CENTRED CRITICISM

1. Read the poem aloud. Try to hear the sounds in your head.
2. Underline the key words, phrases, images.
3. Analyse sentence structure – what effect does it have? Punctuation?
4. What type of figurative language is being used – metaphor, simile, personification, onomatopoeia, anthropomorphism, oxymoron ("A terrible beauty is born"), juxtaposition, extended metaphor.
5. Is poet appealing to our senses directly – touch, sight, smell?
6. Are devices such as repetition, alliteration, and assonance being used? What is their effect?
7. Are there any symbols used?
8. What form is the poem in?
9. Analyse the tone of the poem. How does the speaker feel toward the subject?
10. What is the mood of the poem? How do you feel as you read it?

READER-CENTRED CRITICISM

1. Write down the title of the poem you are about to read. Write down any associations you make with that title. Connotations?
2. What experiences have you had that can help inform the meaning of this poem?
3. How do you feel about what you are reading?
4. What is the poem saying about your life?
5. In what way could this poem be a poem about you or someone you know?
6. Can you relate this to other texts you have read or to personal anecdotes?
7. Based on your own experiences decide what you think this poem is about.

STRUCTURALISM

1. Carve up the text into its constituent parts.
2. Who is the subject – the person who is the focus of the narrative?
3. Who is the object – the person or thing or goal that defines the subjects’ task?
4. Who or what is the donor – the person or thing that provides materials or information crucial to the subject's success?
5. Who is the receiver – the person who receives the donor’s gift or advice?
6. Who or what is the helper, which accompanies and assists the subject?
7. Who or what – thing, person or place – which stands in the way of the subject and must be overcome?
8. Which ideology is present here?
9. Are there any patterns, which fit the poetry genre? Is there any variation in this?

POST-STRUCTURALISM / DECONSTRUCTIONISM

1. What do you feel is the dominant reading of the poem?
2. What has influenced the ideology of the poem – gender, class, ethnicity, and power?
3. What are the assumptions and values regarding the above in this poem?
4. Which binary oppositions are present?
5. What do these indicate about the speaker and the agenda of the poet?
6. Which ‘myths’ does it challenge, about people or ideas or society?
7. How is power distributed in this text?

• stereotyping – which characters are assigned powerful, dominant characteristics?
• Are they made to appear natural?
• marginalisation – which characters are distanced from the main action, socially or psychologically?
• Authority control – to what extent is the ruling power exerting an influence over the writing and the reading of the text?