Name: __________________________________________
Date: _______________________________ Pd.: ________
Cottontail
Analysis
A couple of kids,
Speaker—
we went hunting for woodchucks
fifty years ago
Story/subject—
in a farmer’s field.
No woodchucks
Tone—
but we cornered
a terrified
little cottontail rabbit
Vehicles: how do you know? So what??
in the angle
of two stone fences.
Metaphor—
He was sitting up,
front paws together,
supplicating,
Imagery—
trembling
while we were deciding
whether to shoot him
or spare him.
I shot first
but missed,
Diction—
thank god.
Then my friend fired
and killed him
and burst into tears.
I did too.
A little cottontail.
Structure/syntax—
A haunter.
George Bogin
Title—
Jennifer A. Bennett
|
English Dept.
jbennett@wcpss.net
|
|
Web Development
|
Sanderson HS
http://sandersonhs.org/jbennett
Using the SSTVmidst method, explicate and analyze this poem. Use the questions below to guide your
analysis—to help you look closely for different vehicles that communicate meaning, tone, and mood.
Identify them AND their effects (the Big So What). ALWAYS connect the vehicle/literary device to the poem’s
MEANING!
Speaker . . . . . . . . Who is the voice within this poem? What can you infer about him from what he says and
how he says it?
Story (Subject) . . . What is literally happening in this poem? Where is the speaker? What is he talking about?
Tone . . . . . . . . . . . . How does the speaker feel about what his subject? Use specific descriptors.
Vehicles. . . . . . . . How do you know he feels that way? How does the poet use literary devices to drive meaning
across to the reader? Prove it!
Metaphor. . . . . . . What figurative comparisons does he make in the poem?
What effects do they have on
tone and mood?
Imagery. . . . . . . . . What images of this experience does he give us to help us to see, hear, touch, taste,
smell what he does? What effects do they have on tone and mood? Why those images
and not others?
Diction . . . . . . . . . What specific words have connotations that clearly communicate tone and affect mood?
Structure . . . . . . . Is this poem divided into stanzas? Effects? Talk about the line breaks in this poem
(enjambed and end-stopped)-- What effects do they have?
Title . . . . . . . . . . . .
What does the title have to do with the rest of the poem? What does it communicate
to us about the poem’s meaning and the speaker’s feelings? How does it affect mood?
Jennifer A. Bennett
|
English Dept.
jbennett@wcpss.net
|
|
Web Development
|
Sanderson HS
http://sandersonhs.org/jbennett