TP-CASTT for Style and POETRY Analysis
Title:
What does the title mean? Consider carefully the title’s
connotation before reading a selection or poem.
Paraphrase:
Translate the poem into other easily understandable
words. Literal/denotative meaning only, resist the urge to
interpret. Look for syntactical units, complete sentences
and enjambment.
Connotation:
Extend beyond the literal level mentioned above.
Emotional overtones of diction. Consider figurative
language:
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allusion
antithesis
apostrophe
diction
meiosis
metaphor
metonymy
synecdoche
personification
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point of view
simile
sound devices
 alliteration
 assonance
 consonance
 onomatopoeia
 rhythm
 rhyme
symbolism
What does the poem mean?
Attitude or TONE:
Speaker's attitude -- the poet's (TONE) Basic analysis of
Tone: DIDLS or PDIDLS. Look for speaker’s attitude
toward self, other characters, and the subject.
Observe both the speaker’s and the poet’s (TONE) attitude. Do not confuse them.
Shifts:
Note shifts in speakers and in attitudes. Look for occasion
of poem (time and place), key words, punctuation, stanza
division, changes in line and or stanza length, irony,
(which sometimes hides shifts), effects of structure on
meaning.
Title:
Examine title again, this time on an interpretative level.
Theme:
Determine what the poet is saying. List what the poem is
about (the subjects), then determine what the poem is
saying about each of these subjects (purpose, theme,
message). Theme is expressed as a complete sentence.
Clearly show how poetic devices operate in conveying the effect and meaning of the passage
or poem.
Basic analysis of Tone:
DIDLS or PDIDLS
Point of View
The narrative’s perspective. First, third person, limited or
omniscient.
Diction
The connotation of the word choice
Images
Vivid appeals which create understanding
through the senses using language, for
example:
figurative language (simile, metaphor,
personification)allusion, antithesis,
apostrophe, metonymy, meiosis, symbolism,
synecdoche
Details
Facts included or omitted based on speaker’s perspective
Language
The overall use of language such as formal, clinical,
jargon, emotional. These words describe force or quality
of diction, images, and details--they qualify how the work
is written.
Sentence structure How structure affects the reader’s
attitude. Determine what the poet is
saying.
Observe both the speaker’s and the poet’s (TONE) attitude. Strictly
speaking tone differs from attitude.