“Poetry Out Loud” Assignment
Due Date:
Monday, November 24 (A Day)/ Tuesday, November 25 (B Day)
Point Value: 20 points for recitation (rubric below)
50 points for written poetry analysis (rubric and model attached)
RECITATION
Students will recite a selected poem to the class. The poem does not need to be
memorized unless a student is participating in the national contest, but the student does
need to show evidence of multiple rehearsals of and familiarity with the poem. The
recitation will be judged using this rubric. **
WRITTEN POETRY ANALYSIS
Students will write an analysis of their selected poem.
Requirements: 2 paragraphs
250-500 words
Typed, double-spaced, standard margins, 12-pt font
This paper is to present YOUR explanations and understanding of the poem and YOUR
connection to it. THIS IS NOT A RESEARCH PAPER. DO NOT USE ANY
OUTSIDE SOURCES, EITHER IN PREPARING TO WRITE OR IN THE
PROCESS OF ACTUALLY WRITING YOUR ANALYSIS. In other words, it is
NOT okay to go online to “read about” your poem to “help you understand it.” I want to
know YOUR understanding of the poem.
Paragraph One: Explanation and Understanding
 Begin by naming the title, in quotation marks, and the author of the poem
Then, include answers to these questions if they apply to your poem. If a question
doesn’t apply, then skip it. Don’t take up space listing literary devices your poem
doesn’t include; simply talk about what it does include.
 How many lines does the poem contain?
 Does it have a rhyme scheme?
 Who is the speaker in the poem?
 What is going on in the poem? Is the speaker telling a story (narrative poem) or
sharing feelings (lyric poem)?
 What is the poem’s theme or message?
 What is the poem’s tone? What specific words (diction) does the poet use to give
the poem this tone?
 Does the poem contain figurative language (similes, metaphors, personification)?
If so, how does it add to the poem’s meaning?
 Does the poem use sound devices (alliteration, onomatopoeia, internal rhyme)? If
so, how does it add to the poem’s meaning?


How does the title of the poem relate its meaning?
Are there any symbols or allusions? If so, how do they add to the meaning?
Paragraph Two: Your Connection
Simply put, why do you find this poem interesting? Here are questions you can ask
yourself (and answer in your paper).
 Does the poem’s theme relate to something you’ve thought a lot about?
 Does the poem describe an experience similar to an experience you’ve had or
feelings similar to feelings you’ve had?
 Did the poem move you in some way?
 Does the poem pose a question you find interesting in some way?
 Do you agree (or disagree) with the poem’s point for some reason?
Please attach a copy of the poem to the BACK of your analysis. Please don’t just print
the entire page right off the Poetry Out Loud website. Copy and paste it into a separate
word document.
Poetry Out Loud assignment – Due November 24th/25th
Assignment: Choose a poem – Find 3 poems you like on the site: www.poetryoutloud.org
and answer the questions in regards to each one. Then, circle your selection on this
paper. Be sure that you like this poem because you are going to be analyzing it, writing
about it and reciting it to the class for a grade.
Your poem must be at least 14 lines long.
Poem #1: Title __________________________________
Author:
_________________________
Theme – what lesson might one learn from reading this poem? If you don’t know, are you going
to be able to figure out the theme?
Voice – who is the speaker in the poem? How do you know? How would you portray this voice if
you were reading it aloud?
Vocabulary – Are there any words you don’t know? Write them down here so that you are sure
to understand the entire meaning of the poem.
Figurative Language –
Is there alliteration that helps you hear repetition of similar sounds? List it here:
Is there any imagery that helps you to SEE what the author is talking about? List it here:
Are there any similes or metaphors that help you to understand any comparisons? List
them here:
Are there any allusions that the author makes to outside events from history, literature,
etc.? List them here:
Does the author use any symbolism to represent ideas?
Poem #2: Title __________________________________
Author:
_________________________
Theme – what lesson might one learn from reading this poem? If you don’t know, are you going
to be able to figure out the theme?
Voice – who is the speaker in the poem? How do you know? How would you portray this voice if
you were reading it aloud?
Vocabulary – Are there any words you don’t know? Write them down here so that you are sure
to understand the entire meaning of the poem.
Figurative Language –
Is there alliteration that helps you hear repetition of similar sounds? List it here:
Is there any imagery that helps you to SEE what the author is talking about? List it here:
Are there any similes or metaphors that help you to understand any comparisons? List
them here:
Are there any allusions that the author makes to outside events from history, literature,
etc.? List them here:
Does the author use any symbolism to represent ideas?
Poem #3: Title __________________________________
Author:
_________________________
Theme – what lesson might one learn from reading this poem? If you don’t know, are you going
to be able to figure out the theme?
Voice – who is the speaker in the poem? How do you know? How would you portray this voice if
you were reading it aloud?
Vocabulary – Are there any words you don’t know? Write them down here so that you are sure
to understand the entire meaning of the poem.
Figurative Language –
Is there alliteration that helps you hear repetition of similar sounds? List it here:
Is there any imagery that helps you to SEE what the author is talking about? List it here:
Are there any similes or metaphors that help you to understand any comparisons? List
them here:
Are there any allusions that the author makes to outside events from history, literature,
etc.? List them here:
Does the author use any symbolism to represent ideas?
Poetry Analysis—“Altruism” by Molly Peacock
The poem “Altruism” by Molly Peacock consists of one 16-line stanza.
In the first three sets of four lines, every other line rhymes, but in the last
four lines the rhyme scheme changes so that lines 13 and 14 form a rhyming
couplet, as do lines 15 and 16. The speaker in the poem wonders aloud what
the world would be like if we “got outside ourselves,” which is part of what
the word “altruism,” taking action that benefits someone other than oneself,
means. To represent the idea of “getting outside ourselves,” the speaker
talks about looking from one’s own back yard into the neighbor’s back yard
and seeing the smoke emanating from the neighbor’s backyard grill. The
smoke is a symbolic reminder of the presence of someone else in the world
besides oneself. The speaker then takes the point to a less literal and more
figurative level and talks about how important altruism is if one is going to
have an ability to truly love someone else. In order to be able to make the
“decision” to love, one must “endure the endless walk through self.” Walking
through the neighbor’s yard to get to his grill, to see where the smoke is
coming from, becomes a metaphor for taking the time to really get to know
another person. Perhaps this is why the rhyme scheme at the end of the
poem is tighter than it is at the beginning; the speaker is in better unity with
his neighbor.
This poem appeals to me because I like the unique imagery and
metaphors the poet uses. I’ve often heard the phrase “where there’s smoke,
there’s fire,” but I never really considered that one could use the image of
smoke as a metaphor for another person. In my own experience, I have
found that many people do not look past their own back yards when they are
entering into a relationship; they approach another person’s “backyard grill,”
but it is almost as if they are too busy looking back towards their own grill,
making sure whatever they left on it is not burning, to really care about the
other person. Maybe the poet is suggesting that when you want to get to
know another person you should make sure you are finished with what you
are cooking on your own grill. Or maybe she is suggesting that you should
take it with you and share it with your neighbor. Sharing is part of altruism
too, after all.
“ALTRUISM” BY MOLLY PEACOCK
What if we got outside ourselves and there
really was an outside out there, not just
our insides turned inside out? What if there
really were a you beyond me, not just
the waves off my own fire, like those waves off
the backyard grill you can see the next yard through,
though not well -- just enough to know that off
to the right belongs to someone else, not you.
What if, when we said I love you, there were
a you to love as there is a yard beyond
to walk past the grill and get to? To endure
the endless walk through the self, knowing through a bond
that has no basis (for ourselves are all we know)
is altruism: not giving, but coming to know
someone is there through the wavy vision
of the self's heat, love become a decision.