Dr. Carroll 1
Romanticism Poetry Analysis Essay
Prompt: Choose two of the poems from this file to write a thoughtful analysis.
Purpose: Your purpose is to share your analysis and insights about the poem.
Audience: Your audience will be your teacher, classmates and anyone else who is
interested in poetry.
How Do I Begin?
1) Begin by re-reading the poem and gathering basic information. This chart will help
guide you in determining which aspects you should consider.
Literary Elements
Speaker
Stylistic Devices
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Theme
Tone
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Analysis Questions
Who is the speaker?
Is the speaker speaking to someone? About someone?
Does the speaker narrate a story or describe a scene or
emotion?
How does diction affect the poem?
What sound devices, such as rhythm, rhyme,
alliteration, and repetition, does the poet use? What
effect do they have on the poem?
Does the poet use figurative language, such as simile and
metaphor, to make imaginative comparisons?
What imagery does the poet use to appeal to the senses?
What is the poem’s main idea?
Does it examine a universal theme, common problem, or
life experience?
Does it reveal anything about human nature?
What attitude does the poet express (sarcastic,
humorous, sad, nostalgic, hostile, sympathetic,
lighthearted, angry)?
What words and details convey tone?
Does the tone affect your response of the poem?
**If you don’t know the definitions of any of the stylistic devices, you can find them online
under virtual salt link.
2) Develop a thesis statement—one or two sentences that identify the poem’s key elements
and sum up your insights about how they work together to create meaning.
3) Gather supporting evidence from the poem. Support each of your major points with
textual evidence from the poem.
Organization
I.
Introduction: Start with a bold statement or attention grabber. Introduce the
poem’s title and author. State your thesis, including the key elements you will
discuss.
II.
Body: Organize the literary elements in chronological order or according to
importance. Discuss each literary element. Provide textual evidence for each
element, and elaborate.
III.
Conclusion: Restate your thesis. Summarize your main points. Show how the poem
relates to broader themes in life. (This is the “so what?”).
ENGLISH IV AP
Dr. Carroll
JDA
Dr. Carroll 2
Poetry Analysis Scoring Rubric
9
High Score
98-100
8
High Score
95-97
7
Medium-High Score
90-94
6
Medium High Score
85-89
5
Medium Score
80-84
4
Medium-Low Score
75-79
3
Medium-Low Score
70-74
2
Low Score
60-64
1
Low Score
0-59
0
No Score
ENGLISH IV AP
Provides insightful analysis of the literary
devices the author uses. Offers a clear and
concise analysis of figurative language, theme
and tone.
Sophisticated control of language; Includes
appropriate and insightful text references. Few
or no grammatical errors.
Exceedingly insightful and well supported.
Demonstrates an ability to control a wide
range of elements of effective language.
Minor flaws may be present.
Less eloquent and perceptive than top essays.
Textual support and adequate analysis of the
passage.
Some textual support and adequate analysis of
the passage.
Not as long as the top essays and the writer
may misunderstand small pieces of the
passage. May paraphrase parts of the passage
instead of analyzing.
Responds to obvious details but does not grasp
the imagery and figurative language well. Not
as developed as upper half essays. Minimal use
of textual support.
Shows an incomplete understanding of the
poem. Analysis attempted but inadequate
development of ideas and critique. May
contain misspellings or other grammatical
flaws.
Less perceptive than a 4. Little or no
organization or support. May contain
misspellings or grammatical flaws that detract
from the meaning.
Writer may completely misinterpret the
passage and the elements of literary language.
Brief, showing no clarity, no organization and
no support. Mere paraphrasing of the poem.
Little or no reference to the assigned topic.
Repeats the prompt
Completely off topic
Dr. Carroll
JDA