POETRY
Because poetry can be ambiguous and complex, many students fear and
shy away from poetry. It is true poetry can be very laconic in nature with multiple
forms of interpretation. In essence, art is open to interpretation, and poetry as a
creative form of writing, is no exception as long as there are concrete facts or well
formed arguments to support an interpretation. The following tools in this Power Point
Presentation are here to assist you, the student, in your academic quest in formulating
your own poetic interpretation.
Here, you are to engage in what I call “playing detective” or “literary
forensic science,” where you study, observe, investigate, analyze, make educated
guesses, and logical conclusions. You should not, by any means, feel frighten to
express your thoughts, ideas, questions while attempting to interpret a poem.
Remember, interpreting is all part of the fun, excitement, and mystery of poetry
analysis.
Created by Alvaro
Gonzalez for the
LAMC Writing Lab
DETECTIVE TOOLS
Every good detective needs essential tools to conduct a thorough investigation.
Measuring tape, camera, rubber gloves, cotton swabs, and plastic containers are
just a few of the tools detectives use. Likewise, you, too, need investigating tools to
better find a solution to the problem. The following literary devices or literary
terms are investigating tools you may find useful when analyzing a poem (note:
these definitions where borrowed from The Longman Dictionary of Literary Terms).
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ALLUSION- a brief, sometimes indirect reference in a text to a person, place, thing, or prior text, be
it fictitious or actual.
MOTIF- an element that recurs significantly throughout a narrative. A motif can be an image, idea,
theme, situation, or action.
CONNOTATION- an association or additional meaning that a word , image, or phrase may carry,
beyond its literal reference or dictionary definition.
SIMILE- a major figure of speech, a simile is a comparison of two ostensibly unlike things, indicated
by some connective, usually like, as or than.
Free verse- Verse that has neither regular rhyme nor regular meter. Free verse often uses cadences
rather than uniform metrical feet.
DETECTIVE TOOLS
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METAPHOR- a figurative statement asserting that one thing is something else, which, in a literal
sense, it is not.
TONE- the attitude toward a subject conveyed in a literal work. No single stylistic device creates
tone; it is the net result of various verbal elements that an author brings to the representation.
SYMBOL- a person, place, or thing in a narrative that suggests meaning beyond its literal sense.
AMBIGUITY- usually a quality of state of indistinctness, equivocation, or duality—in ordinary
discourse, but in literature and poetry, it simply means rich, copious expressions and provocative
viewpoints. For example, T. S. Elliot’s “The Waste Land” can be said to be ambiguous because it is
saturated with allusions and metaphors.
MYTH- a traditional narrative of anonymous authorships that arises out of a culture’s oral tradition
and that portrays gods and heroes engaged in epochal actions and decisions. Myths characteristically
dramatize fundamental beliefs about existence, time, and morality, explaining the origin of creation,
the nature of human psyche, the beginnings of nations and natural objects.
ALLITERATION- the repetition of a consonant sound. Strictly speaking, alliteration marks the
beginning of words (“cool cats”—initial alliteration), but the term is often applied to sounds and
syllables within them (“In kitchen cups concupiscent curds”—a combination of initial and internal
alliteration).
FORM: The "shape" or organizational mode of a particular poem. In most poems (like sonnets), the
form consists of a set number of lines, a set rhyme scheme, and a set meter for each line. In concrete
poetry, the form of a poem may reflect the theme, topic, or idea of the words in the actual shape of
the text on a piece of paper. In the free verse or open-form poetry common to the modernist and
postmodernist movements, the rigid constraints of form are often discarded in order to achieve a
variety of effects.
DETECTIVE TOOLS
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ANAPHORA- the repetition of the same word at the beginning of lines of verse, sentences, or parts
of sentences.
ONOMATOPOEIA- a literary device in which a thing or action is represented by the word that
imitates the sound associated with it (e.g. crash, bang, tick-tock).
PARALLELISM- a side-by-side arrangement of words, phrases, clauses, or sentences for purposes of
comparison, contrast, or other relation.
IRONY- as a feature of language, irony is a statement whose intended meaning is the opposite of its
literal meaning. As a quality of life, irony is a discrepancy between an expected outcome and a real
outcome. In both cases, we need a context in which (or a distance from which) to recognize the
meaning as ironic, not straightforward. Simplicity and sincerity provide earnest, literal expressions;
irony requires duplicity and play.
PARADOX- a statement that at first appears self contradictory, but that on reflection reveals some
deeper sense.
Caesura. A pause, metrical or rhetorical, occurring somewhere in a line of poetry. The pause may or
may not be typographically indicated.
THEME: A central idea or statement that unifies and controls an entire literary work. The theme can
take the form of a brief and meaningful insight or a comprehensive vision of life; it may be a single
idea such as "progress" (in many Victorian works), "order and duty" (in many early Roman works),
"seize-the-day" (in many late Roman works), or "jealousy" (in Shakespeare's Othello). The theme
may also be a more complicated doctrine, such as Milton's theme in Paradise Lost, "to justify the
ways of God to men," or "Socialism is the only sane reaction to the labor abuses in Chicago meatpacking plants" (Upton Sinclair's The Jungle). A theme is the author's way of communicating and
sharing ideas, perceptions, and feelings with readers, and it may be directly stated in the book, or it
may only be implied. Compare with motif and leit-motif.
THE CRIME SCENE
Here is a poem by Langston Hughes titled “I, Too.”
I, too sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.
Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed—
I, too, am America.
Investigation
You must pretend the poem is a literary corpse who has been a victim of a crime. Here,
the interpretation is the murderer, and you should begin its forensic investigation
in order to capture the victim’s killer. Like a real crime scene, some evidence is
internal while other evidence is external. In other words, some evidence lies within
the poem itself, whether explicit or implicit, while other evidence must be
researched.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
WHEN READING A POEM
Who is the speaker of the poem?
What does the poem convey?
What is the tone of the poem?
How does diction or language affect the poem?
Is there a rhythm scheme to follow?
Are there any patterns in particular that might consider observation?
When was the poem written?
Who is the author?
THE INVESTIGATION
I will now “investigate” Hughes’ poem in order to seek the murderer of the crime—my own
interpretation of course. Using some of the detective tools listed above, I will surely discover
important leads that will enable me to find the perpetrator of the crime.
WHO- First, I researched the victim’s history. I discovered that the poem was written
by Langston Hughes, a prominent African American writer—and an icon figure during the
Harlem Renaissance (in the 1920’s). WHAT and WHERE- The Harlem Renaissance was an art,
literary, and music movement that began in Harlem, New York by the Black community who
sought to enlighten the masses with their folk lore, history, experience, oppression, celebration,
and creativity. Interesting facts, huh? I also noticed in the first line the word “America,” which is
a symbol of freedom, prosperity, and democracy or perhaps an allusion to Rev. Samuel F.
Smith’s song entitled “America.” I have identified the speaker of the poem as a male figure
because of the second stanza, where it informs he eats in the kitchen and grows strong. During
slavery, slaves who worked inside the home were allowed to eat at the kitchen table only when
their master’s were not present. The description of strong may be suggestive of a male figure
who probably also did outside work. All of a sudden, the speaker’s tone of voice turns very
optimistic beginning with the word “Tomorrow.” It is interesting to see how the form of the poem
emphasizes important key words or phrases by setting them apart or isolating them from the
rest of the text. As in the word, “Tomorrow,” for instance, where the speaker of the poem allows
the reader to conceptualize the word in order to change the mood from a shameful past in
America’s history, the slavery period, to a more positive and freer America. No longer will the
slave eat alone or when the master is not present because this time, the speaker says, the
slave will eat at the dining table just like everyone else, and he will have the same authority as
everyone else. Here, the speaker has emphatically announced his liberation and equality status
and has concluded with a statement of immersion—an all inclusive thematic conclusion instead
of an exclusive one—“I, too, am America.” Without a doubt, according to my interpretation, the
speaker of the poem speaks about positive change within the degrading confinements of
American segregation and racism on Blacks.
So tell me, Sherlock Holmes, what is your interpretation?
Annotating the poem
Be sure to make
notes while you
read your poem.
Look for literary
devices: similes,
enjambment,
metaphors, ironic
tone or situation,
or paradoxes.
Also make notes
about the speaker
(narrator), form
(closed or open),
and theme.