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English 202 | Pellauer
Poetry Journal
As nightly homework, I will ask you to practice writing poems, reading poems, and
responding to poems in journal entries. The journal must be typed and titled
accordingly. Each day in class, I will check to see that you have completed the journal.
If you are absent, you are responsible for coming to me to check your journal.
Grading: I will collect the journals twice: once for #1-4 and again for #5-8. I will grade
the journals based on timeliness, completeness, and depth of analysis.
Each journal begins by completing the following Poetry Response steps. You must
respond in writing to the steps that are in bold.
1. Read the poem aloud at least twice.
2. Definitions: Consult a dictionary for any words you are unsure of (or don’t know
well) and write the definitions on the poem itself.
3. Title: What does the title make you think of? What might the title mean?
4. Meter / Form: Does the poem have a set meter and/or form? What is it? If there
is a meter or rhyme scheme, what is its purpose in the poem?
5. Paraphrase: Paraphrase the “plot” level of the poem.
6. Personal Connections: What are your personal connections to the poem?
What does this poem seem to be about to you?
7. Speaker: Who is the speaker? What information does the poem give you about
him/her/it?
8. Literary Devices (3): Identify three of the most significant literary devices and
explain how they affect the meaning of the poem. Consider diction, imagery,
figurative language, tone, etc. Write down the examples and your analysis of
them. (This is when you really dig into the language. For example, why might
the poet have chosen that simile or that image?)
9. Shifts: Identify any shifts in the poem. How does the poem begin? How does it
end? Rarely does a poem begin and end in the same “place.”
10. Tone: The tone is how the poet or speaker feels about the subject of the poem.
What is the tone of the poem? It can usually be summarized in a word.
11. Theme: What, if anything, does the poem mean?
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Journals
Journal #1 (“Living in Sin”): (1) Poetry Response (2) List all of the images. Then, try
to categorize images by likeness. When you do this, what patterns do you see? What’s
going on? Explain in a few sentences.
Journal #2 (“To His Coy Mistress”): (1) Poetry Response (2) Complete the following
to articulate the speaker’s argument in the poem: “If _______, but ________, so
therefore ______________.”
Journal #3 (“Digging” and “The Writer”): (1) Poetry Response for each poem (2)
Identify the central metaphor in each poem and all the diction that relates to this
metaphor. Complete the following sentence for each poem: “In _____ by ____, the
speaker compares ____ to _____ for the purpose of showing ______.”
Journal #4: Write an original poem of at least 10 lines using an extended metaphor.
Afterwards, write a paragraph explaining the metaphor you developed and how it
functioned in the poem.
Journal #5 (“The Man He Killed”): Poetry Response
Journal #6 (Sonnet 73): Based on your group work, but in your own words, write a
paragraph explaining what the sonnet means and how it achieves its meaning.
Journal #7 (“Nothing Gold Can Stay”): Sample Explication
Journal #8: Reflection on the poetry unit
1. Before we started the unit, how comfortable/confident were you with
analyzing poetry? How do you feel now about your ability to analyze poetry?
2. Even if you did not like the TPCASTT or Poetry Response analysis, did you
find them useful and/or helpful in analyzing poetry?
3. Has your understanding of poetry improved? Your enjoyment of it? Explain.
4. Of which poem analysis are you most proud? Why?
5. What feedback do you have for improving the poetry unit/experience?