SIFTT: A POEM ANALYSIS
STRATEGY
IN POETRY ANALY SIS ,
SIFTT STANDS FOR…
S = Symbols
I = Imagery
F = Figurative Language
T = Tone/Mood
T = Theme
IMAGERY
 Words that appeal to the five senses.
• Sight
Smell
Taste
Touch
Sound
 When a poem shows you something instead of just telling you.
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
REVIEW
 Metaphor: Comparison between two things
• Our vacation was heaven.
 Simile: Comparison using like or as
• “She grew up slow, like American honey.”
• The tree is as strong as an Army tank.
Hyperbole: Extreme exaggeration
• I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.
 Personification: Un-human things take on human traits
• The walls listened to our conversation.
TONE
 What is the author’s attitude toward the subject of the poem?
 Imagine the way the author’s voice would sound as they read the poem’s words.
 Tone must be inferred from the author’s word choice.
Mood
 What does the poem make you feel?
 Tone is them (the author)
 Mood is me
 Mood/Tone Video
THEME
 What is the deeper meaning behind the words of the poem?
 What is the poem trying to teach you?
Examples:
I learned that loyalty is an important part of friendship.
I learned that families can take on many shapes and forms.
T O N E : W H AT I S T H E S U B J E C T
OF THE POEM?
W H A T I S T H E AU T H O R ’ S
A T T I T U D E TOWA R D T H E
SUBJECT?
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
Reminder:
Tone- The author’s
attitude toward the
subject.
Theme- The lesson
about life or deeper
meaning behind the
words.
T O N E : W H AT I S T H E S U B J E C T
OF THE POEM?
W H AT I S T H E AU T H O R ’ S
AT T I T U D E T OWA R D T H E
SUBJECT?
Reminder:
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
Tone- The author’s
attitude toward the
subject.
Theme- The lesson
about life or deeper
meaning behind the
words.
M O O D : H OW D O E S T H E P O E M
M A K E YO U F E E L ?
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
MOOD
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
T H E M E : C H O O S E A T H E M AT I C
IDEA.
WHAT DO WE LEARN ABOUT
THAT IDEA?
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
Reminder:
Theme- The lesson
about life or deeper
meaning behind the
words.
Emily Brontë
Love is like the wild rose-briar,
Friendship like the holly-tree—
The holly is dark when the rose-briar blooms
But which will bloom most constantly?
The wild rose-briar is sweet in spring,
Its summer blossoms scent the air;
Yet wait till winter comes again
And who will call the wild-briar fair?
Then scorn the silly rose-wreath now
And deck thee with the holly’s sheen,
That when December blights thy brow
He still may leave thy garland green.
ROSE BRIAR
HOLLY
ROSE BRIAR
HOLLY