ENG 1DI – Poetry Analysis, An Introduction
With your netbook partner, select a poem from the ones made available to you and following Mrs. Bailey’s example, fill in the TP-CASTT organizer below. Save and upload to the designated space on Edmodo.
TP-CASTT
Analysis
Title
BEFORE reading, decide what you
think the poem will be about,
using the title ALONE
After reading the title immediately my thoughts about the poem were that the
poem would be about a bright star or a person that chased his or her dreams
and became a star
“bright star”
Paraphrase
Summarize the poem either lineby-line or by stanza.
n/a
Connotation
Using the paraphrased version of
the poem, decide what the
OVERALL meaning of the poem is,
BEYOND the surface meaning.
bright star you are not alone at night I am here for you.you are watching people
and the earths humanly and natural feature you cannot rest.still here but you
must live forever if not you will die
In the poem the poet uses personification when he says that the bright star is
watching the world.and he uses a hyperbole because he says that the snow is
masking the mountain
Attitude
Decide what the attitude or TONE
of voice is conveyed by the
speaker and/or poet? Provide
proof. Look for: euphony,
cacophony, diction, mood
Take note of any shifts or
changes in how the speaker
sounds, the poet’s attitude and
tone of voice. Provide proof.
Look for: diction, line length,
change in speaker, dialogue.
The attitude of the poem is happy but soft or lovely the end attitude kind of
changes when
The first example is when he uses euphonic words
such as: “pillow`d upon my fair love” he then uses
cacophonic words like in the end he says “or else
swoon to death”
The poem shifts at the end when instead of loving the beauty of nature he talks
about death
“—or else swoon to death”
Title
Now that you’ve considered the
poem in greater detail, have your
thoughts on the title and its
meaning changed at all? Does
the title have a stronger
significance now?
Now that I have read the poem I know that the poem is about nature and how
beautiful nature is.
Theme
Determine what themes the poet
is trying to explore with this
poem. Remember, theme is the
overall message or topic of the
poem.
The poets theme is nature because he is talking about the bright star in the night
and the beauty of the earth
Shifts
Notes – comment using the analysis instructions
Example – lines from the poem
Ex. “hung aloft the night and watching”
Ex. “gazing on the new soft fallen mask of snow”