QA Grade 7 TP- CASTT Poetry Analysis Tool
Select a poem and paste it in the column on the left
Analyze the poem in the spaces provided.
Insert Title here
Fire and Ice
Title
Response
What do the words of the title
SUGGEST to you?
I think the poem is going to be
What do you believe the poem about opposites... Like, desertmay be about after reading the snow, hot-cold and other
antonyms.
title?
What words or ideas do you Maybe the poem is going to be
believe you will find in the poem? about a cruel person and a nice
person.
Line 1: Some people say
everyone will die in fire, some
Using your own words, tell what
people say in ice.
the poem is about.
Paraphrase
Insert Poem Here
Some say the world will end in
fire, some say in ice. From what
I’ve tasted of desire - I hold it
with those who favor fire. But if
it had to perish twice, I think I
know enough of hate – to know
that for destruction ice is also
great and would suffice.
Using your own words, translate
Line 2: From what I’ve tasted of
stanzas or sections of the poem.
what I’ve really wanted.
Using your own words, translate
phrases or lines from the poem.
Line 3: I agree with those who
go with fire. .
Line 4: But if it had to suffer
death twice, I think I know
enough of hate
Line 5: To know that when it
breaks down, ice is also great,
and would be enough.
Connotation
Label positive, negative, and neutral words. Keep
We make meaning from interpreting the words of in mind this could change throughout the poem
the poem. Use the boxes below to help you make (that’s where “Shifts” come into play). suffice 
neutral | desire neutral | destruction 
sense of the form, the words, phrases, and/ or
negative | perish  negative.
passages from the poem.
Making Meaning
Form: is this a particular poetic form, such as
Example of connotation: It’s all in one stanza
haiku? Is there a specific shape? Note line breaks, that contains 9 lines.
Number of lines of syllables
Speaker: is there a voice, or speaker in the
Example of connotation: Yes, there is a speaker
poem. Does the speaker (narrator) tell a story?
in the poem.
Figurative Language: can you identify simile?
Metaphor? Extended metaphor or simile?
Personification?
Diction: are there mysterious or unique words
Example of connotation: I think line 4 is a
figurative language because of the word ‘hold’,
instead of saying ‘agree with those who favor fire’
he said ‘hold’.
Example of connotation:
used in this poem?
Description and Detail: is there specific
description and/or detail in the poem?
Imagery: are there specific images present in
the poem? What sensory (visual, auditory etc.)
details are present?
Example of connotation: most of the last words
in every line ends with an ‘e’ except for line 8.
Example of connotation: I can imagine fire,
surrounding people. It also gives me any image of
death since it says ‘world will end’.
Rhyme: does this poem rhyme? Is there a
pattern to the rhyming words? Can you identify
the pattern?
Rhythm: Is there a specific beat to the poem
when spoken? Use of repetition? a pattern of
beats?
Example of connotation: There is a rhyming
pattern, abaabccb
Sound Devices: are there other ways we can
“hear” sound in the poem? Is there repetition of
certain sounds?
Attitude
Attitude of author: The
What is the attitude of author wrote whether
the author, characters or the world would end in
yourself?
fire or ice. He was fair
and told readers other
people’s point of view.
Example of connotation:
Example of connotation:
Attitude of character(s) Your attitude toward
in poem: The character’s poem content: The
poem got me into
attitude is unsure
thinking the same
whether the world will
end in fire or ice. But the question. “Will it end in
fire or ice?” It makes me
character agrees with
feel like the end of the
those who thinks it’s
fire.
world is near 
Shift #1 occurs in line 5, it has the word ‘but’ and
that means there might be a twist like on this
poem the speaker was first talking about fire and
At first we think or feel one way – then there is a how he agrees with the people who thinks it’s fire
shift: identify the shifts in the poem and explain then, he used the word ‘but’ and then started
them.
talking about ice.
1. Key words (but, yet, however, although)
Shift
2. Punctuation (dashes, periods, colons, ellipsis)
3. Stanza division
4. Changes in line or stanza length or both
5. Irony (sometimes irony hides shifts)
6. Effect of structure on meaning
7. Changes in sound (rhyme) may indicate
changes in meaning
8. Changes in diction (slang to formal language)
Title revisited
Take another look at the title of the poem. What
do you believe the title helps us to understand
about the meaning?
How does the title help you understand the theme
The title is actually the words used in the poem.
Most times, the title of a poem wouldn’t be used
in the poem or the poem would be relevant to the
poem. But, the words in the title of the poem are
actually used in the poem.
of the poem?
Theme
It just talked about whether the world will end in
What subject or subjects does the poem address? fire or ice or we’ll all burn in fire or freeze to
death.
What do you learn about those subjects? What
idea does the poet want you take away with you
concerning these subjects? The theme must be
written in a complete sentence.
Personal Response
The poem is called ‘Fire and Ice’ by Robert Frost. It only has 1 stanza, which consists of 9
lines. The speaker talked about whether Earth’s people are going to burn in fire or froze to death. It
had a shift which occurs in line 5, it had the word ‘but’ which means that it’s about to talk about
another subject. ‘I hold it with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twice’ after the line where
the shift occurs the speaker started to talk about ice ‘ to know that for destruction ice is also great’
it was talking about fire in the first part of the poem, but after the shift it talked about ice. There is
use of figurative language in line 4, instead of saying ‘agree’ the speaker said ‘hold with those who
favor fire’. The poem has a rhyming pattern and it’s abaabccb. There is some alliteration going on
in the poem. For example, ‘favor’ and ‘fire’ in line 4; ‘some’ and ‘say’ in both line 1 and 2. The poet
has also used personification in the poem. In line 3, “From what I’ve tasted of desire”, you don’t
really taste desire don’t you? The speaker was using it as an expression to say that from what he
felt of something he wanted for so long. There’s also figurative language in line 4, “I hold it with
those who favor fire” meaning that the speaker agrees with those who favor fire; the poet used
‘hold’ instead of ‘agree’. I’ve noticed that all the last words of each line ends with an ‘e’ except for
line 8.
I personally don’t like the poem, I think it’s confusing and boring. It’s boring but the first 2
lines have awakened me or made me alert since it put a question in my head, “Will the world end
in ice or fire?”. The poem has put images in my head like, people surrounded by fire and couldn’t
get out or people with no jackets to give them heat when there’s ice so they’re freezing to death.
When I finished reading the poem, it left me confused and annoyed since the poem itself was kind
of asking me if the world is going to end in fire or ice.