English 315
Prof. Cox
Fall 09
How to Write a Response to a Poem in 315
Normally, in literature class, you begin writing your response to a poem by filling in the
reader with some background information both the author and the poem. In a creative
writing class, writing a personal response for a writer’s point of view, you need no be
concerned with this. What you should focus on is the poem itself. Don’t worry about
the author, though if you do think some things about the author are relevant, then feel
free to mention them.
I.
Reading
Read the poem aloud paying careful attention to phrasing (follow its
punctuation), rhythm, rhyme (if any), and pronunciation of words, the speaker’s tone,
and your own interpretation.
II.
Speaker, Setting, Audience
Before you write make sure you try to understand the poem’s speaker, its setting,
and the speaker’s audience. Be as specific as you can, but remember that these elements
may not be obvious or certain. If the poem’s speaker, audience, and setting are
ambiguous, give us your best educated guess. If all three are so general as to be
unimportant, skip this section.
11.
Paraphrase
In your response, you may want to start off by paraphrasing in the first
paragraph what the poem says. You won’t have room to give a give a sentence-bysentence paraphrase of it, but you can summarize the main ideas in the poem.
Remember that, although the individual line is the most important feature of poetry,
many poems are written in sentences and, therefore, should interpreted so. When
paraphrasing any single line or lines, try to put the elements of each sentence into their
most natural order. Usually, in English, this order is subject-verb-object. For example,
here is a passage from Donne’s “Good Friday, 1613” followed by a normalized
paraphrase:
Original:
Let man’s soul be a sphere, and then, in this,
The intelligence that moves, devotion is.
Paraphrase:
If man’s soul is a sphere, then devotion should be
the intelligence/principle) that guides it.
When you reach a word, phrase, or rhetorical figure (such as a metaphor, simile,
symbol, paradox, etc.) that needs comment, take time to explain it before going on to the
next sentence.
Remember that a semi-colon (;) marks the end of a grammatically complete
thought despite the fact that the clause following the semi-colon is closely related. In
other words, for paraphrasing purposes, semi-colons as well as periods divide a poem
into units of meaning which we shall in this context call “sentences.”
III.
Structure and Focus
The bulk of your response should focus on one major aspect of the poem, not the
entire thing. You don’t have time or space enough to do this. You could discuss, for
example, the relation of the poem’s structure to its theme. Now that you have an idea
what the poem means, and perhaps have told us this, you can explain how notable
physical elements of the poem contribute to its meaning. Musical elements such as
rhythm, rhyme, alliteration, and other repetitions, as well as stanzaic structures, line
lengths, and conspicuously prosaic lines might figure into your discussion of the poem.
Or, you might just want to focus on one central metaphor or idea or image in the poem
that really makes you think or triggers your response.
Length Limits:
The whole of your response should not exceed two double-spaced
pages. , including a few minutes for questions at the end, must not exceed 15 minutes.
Here’s a sample student response from one of my literature classes—remember:
you’re a creative writer here, so you can feel free to respond by focusing on the
elements of creative writing appropriate for this class:
Sample Student Response
Phillip Larkin expresses his ideas of the communication that takes place
between two people in bed. The speaker in this poem indicates that these two people
have been talking to each other many times while in bed, perhaps for many years.
Typically, people are in a more relaxed mood and conversations take place while
they are in bed.
He feels that the easiest place to talk would be in bed. However, the
emotional distance between the two people has stilted their conversation. The
second line begins with “Lying together,” which could have two meanings. One
meaning of the word would be the body physically ”lying” in bed. The other
meaning of the word is the telling of “lies” or lying.” The two people lying in bed is
only an “emblem” of the two people being honest.
“More and more time passing silently” is time that passes unnoticed between
the two people. This line could also mean that the more times they are in bed
together, the more they are silent in conversation. The atmosphere of these people’s
life is becoming like the clouds in the sky, built by the wind, incomplete and unrest.
Just as storm clouds build in nature, the emotional storm clouds are building in
these two people.
The speaker feels that the future for these two people symbolizes the dark
towns that heap up on the horizon. The unchecked emotions of these two people are
‘heaping up” and they will eventually confront these emotions on the horizon,
which means future. He stresses that “none of this”; meaning the sky, town, horizon
or anything in nature cares about them. There is nothing to explain why. He
expresses the idea that he is at a unique distance from isolation. He feels that he is
physically close to the other person, but yet emotionally remote at the me time.
In the past, the two people in bed talked about things that were true and
kind. After life’s disappointments and failures, it becomes increasingly difficult to
find words immediately that is true and kind. From a negative perspective, it is
difficult to find words that are not untrue and not unkind.
When people are young, they have youthful expectations. As time passes
silently, we discover the truth about some of these expectations. Summed up, this
poem is about the failure and disillusion of love. This meaning also relates to other
failures and disillusions of human life.