Poetic Analysis
An introduction
Warm up: Prepare to take notes in your binder.

Poetic Analysis
Poetic analysis is a detailed discussion of how the language of a poem contributes to its meaning.
To analyze a poem, you will need to correctly identify the poetic devices in the poem as well as give a very detailed close reading of the poem.

Poetic Analysis
Poetic analysis can be done in five easy steps.
1. Read the poem silently to yourself.
2. Reread the poem aloud.
3. Read the poem again silently to yourself.
4. Decide what you think the poem is about. If you have no idea, paraphrase the poem line by line to help you figure it out.
5. Identify the poetic devices you see in the poem using the knowledge rating we did in class and mark them on the poem.

Poetic Analysis
Let’s analyze the following poem together:
My Sister Sybil
By Colin West
Sipping soup, my sister Sybil
Seems inclined to drool and dribble.
If it wasn’t for this foible,
Meal-time would be more enjoiable!
Read the poem silently to yourself.

Poetic Analysis
My Sister Sybil
By Colin West
Sipping soup, my sister Sybil
Seems inclined to drool and dribble.
If it wasn’t for this foible,
Meal-time would be more enjoiable!
• What is this poem about?

Poetic Analysis
My Sister Sybil
By Colin West
Sipping soup, my sister Sybil
Seems inclined to drool and dribble.
If it wasn’t for this foible,
Meal-time would be more enjoiable!
• What poetic devices do you see in this poem?

Poetic Analysis
My Sister Sybil
By Colin West
Sipping soup, my sister Sybil
A
Seems inclined to drool and dribble.
A
If it wasn’t for this foible,
B
Meal-time would be more enjoiable!
B
Imagery

Poetic Analysis
• Now try it on your own.
• At your table, do a poetic analysis of “Jim Who
Ran Away From His Nurse, and Was Eaten by a
Lion.”
• What is the poem about?
• Which poetic devices were used?
• Why did Belloc use these devices?

Poetic Analysis Writing
Now let’s use the analysis you’ve done to write about poetry.

Poetic Analysis
You can write an analysis of a poem in 3 easy steps.
• Just remember to P .
E .
E .!
• P .
E .
E . stands for:

Step 1-

Step 2-
• What words or phrases or events prove or illustrate your point ?
• The next sentence should give evidence from the text. It must relate directly to your point !
• For example: Charles Dickens describes him as
“hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire”(2).

Step 3-
• What does the author want the reader to think or feel by using those words?
• Explain how the evidence illustrates or proves your
point .
• For example: This gives the impression that Scrooge is more like stone or metal than a human being.
Dickens uses the simile to point out to the reader how uncaring and mean Scrooge is. It also shows that he is not a warm or generous man and one expects that he will be the villain of the story.

The Whole Paragraph Reads
At the beginning of “A Christmas Carole,” Scrooge is a nasty and uncaring man.
Charles Dickens describes him as
“hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire”(2).
This gives the impression that
Scrooge is more like stone or metal than a human being.
Dickens uses the simile to point out to the reader how uncaring and mean Scrooge is. It also shows that he is not a warm or generous man and one expects that he will be the villain of the story.

Poetic Analysis Writing
• The first P.E.E. paragraph used a short story.
• Let’s look at another example using a poem.

Poetic Analysis Writing
In the poem “My Sister Sybil,” Colin West uses alliteration to show how noisily his sister eats.
For example, the poet writes, “Sipping soup, my sister Sybil/Seems …” West uses alliteration by repeating the “s” sound at the beginning of five words. The repetition of this sound imitates the noise created by a person slurping food loudly.
West recreates the noise he hears at dinner to help the reader understand what it is like to eat with his sister.

Poetic Analysis Writing
• Use the P.E.E. paragraph format to write an analysis of the poem “Jim Who Ran Away
From His Nurse, and Was Eaten by a Lion.”
• In your paragraph:
– Chose only one poetic device and define it.
– Give one example of that device being used in the poem.
– Explain why Hiliare Belloc used that device in the poem.