Directions for essay:
Read the poem many times. Pay attention. Mark up the poem: underline stuff, circle important words and
images, write notes in the space next to the poem. Try to collect and to organize your thoughts. Then
write a well-organized essay that discusses what the poem is about or where the poem takes you. Always
be specific. Use details from the poem to support your ideas. Choose your own focus for the essay.
Think: How does the poet show the reader what to think about and what to feel? What emotions do the
images and sounds in the poem evoke? How do the images, sounds, and even the story (if there is one)
capture the spiritual intensity of the speaker’s experience(s)?
Remain close to the poem. Do not go off on a tangent that takes you away from the poem’s words. Open
yourself up to the many possibilities of the poem. Understand that poetry works on many levels:
intellectual, emotional, spiritual, sensual, and musical.
Concentrate. Be sensitive. Write well.
And remember: Poetry is feeling.
Some things to keep in mind:
*Details (showing not telling)
*Images: writers appeal to the senses (that’s how they get at our insides: heart soul, spine, whatever).
*Sound: poetry is singing; it’s making noise for the purpose of communicating something: an idea, a
feeling)
*Mood: reader’s feelings
*Tone: speaker’s attitude towards his subject. (Ask yourself: Who is the speaker? Don’t refer to the poet
as the speaker.)
*Diction: word choice
*How is the poem set up? Why is it set up this way? (Consider line breaks and stanzas.)
*Make connections between images and ideas. (For example, how does something in the first stanza
affect your understanding of something later on?)