TP-CASTT
Title: What predictions can you
An nightmare monster that comes at night.
make from the title? What are your
initial thoughts about the poem?
What might be the theme of the
poem?
Paraphrase: Rewrite the poem in
your own words.
Connotation: Write the connotative
The poem, ‘The Darkling Thrush’ is one of the poems written by Hardy
on the eve of the 20th Century. It is also a time when the poet is
advanced in age and for him too, it is like standing between the past
and the future.
capitalizing "Frost" and "Winter" makes them seem less like natural
or interpretive meaning of the poem.
elements and more like, well, "Susie" or "Juan." In other words, they're
What’s below the surface? What is the
being personified.
connotative meaning of the poem?
Winter is a metaphor for death.
Find examples of imagery, metaphors, Line 6: Referencing a "lyre" is pretty much code for "classical
similes, etc. and elaborate on their
allusion."Lines 5-6: Ah, simile. The vines become "like" a broken
connotative meanings.
stringed instrument.
Attitude: What attitude does the poet
have toward the subject of the poem?
Find and list examples that illustrate
the tone and mood of the poem.
Shift: Is there a shift in the
tone/attitude of the poem? Where is
the shift? What does the tone shift to?
Title: Revisit the title and explain
any new insights it provides to the
meaning of the poem. Discuss the
meaning on an interpretive level.
The speaker is very serious about the poem. He’s very descriptive and
makes it very clear of what going on in the poem.
The shift begins in the middle of the poem. First he gives an very
descriptive setting about the poem then he shifts from a dull and
depressing to outright dismal.
The Darkling Thrush almost sounds like an internal monologue that
we’re not suppose to hear.
Theme: What is the overall theme of
the poem? What is the poet saying?
“The Darkling Thrush” is the story of a little bitty bird taking on the big
bad world. It’s cold and gray and awful out there.