Writing About Poetry
3-Paragrah and 5-paragraph responses to poetry
What is Poetry?
 Wordsworth defined poetry as "the spontaneous
overflow of powerful feelings;"
 Emily Dickinson said, "If I read a book and it makes my
body so cold no fire ever can warm me, I know that is
poetry;"
 Dylan Thomas defined poetry this way: "Poetry is what
makes me laugh or cry or yawn, what makes my
toenails twinkle, what makes me want to do this or that
or nothing."
Step One: Analyze the Poem
1. Read the poem
2. Re-read the poem, highlighting interesting
words and phrases
3. Read the poem again, with a pen or
pencil, writing, circling, identifying
anything you can about poetry analysis.
4. Fill out a TPCASTT chart. If the teacher
doesn’t give you a chart, write TPCASTT
on your paper and annotate it there.
Step 2 – Set up a paper with an MLA
heading
Name
Tollison English Period___
Date
“Mother to Son” Response to Literature
Step Three: Write the first
paragraph/introduction
Must haves:
Title, author, genre
Paraphrase the poem
Theme of poem
Thesis statement
(Highlighted or Underlined)
Example of First Paragraph
Life is not easy, but giving up is not a good choice. In
the poem “Mother to Son,” Langston Hughes expresses this
theme through the voice of a woman whose life has been
difficult, but who has not given up. She wants her son to
learn that lesson, too. Hughes presents this theme of
motherly encouragement through the symbol of the
staircase of life and repetition of ideas.
The second paragraph/body
support
Repetition of phrases and symbolism help Hughes create the
imagery of life in the poem. At the beginning and at the end, the
mother states that, “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair” (2 and
20-21). With this repetition Hughes creates the symbol of a staircase
to represent life. The crystal stair would be an easy, beautiful life,
but the mother’s life has not been either easy or beautiful, yet she
has persevered. He continues the symbol with the imagery of a
battered, torn staircase, showing, “It’s had tacks in it/And
splinters,/And places with no carpet on the floor-/Bare” (3-7). This
imagery of an old, worn, even painful staircase shows the son how
hard his mother’s life has been, and helps with her message of
encouragement. Hughes’s repeated use of the symbol of the
staircase presents his theme of life as a worthwhile journey that can
be difficult.
Step Four: Second
Paragraph/Body of Essay
 Topic Sentence about the two/ or three literary
devices/examples.
 Transition and quotation from the poem. (DON’T
FORGET PARENTHETICAL CITATIONS.)
 Two sentences identifying the literary device, why the
poet uses it, and how it ties in with the theme.
 Transition and quotation from the poem.
 Two sentences identifying the literary device, why the
poet uses it, and how it ties in with the theme.
 Concluding Sentence: Repeat Topic sentence ideas with
synonyms.
Step Five: The Conclusion
 Restate the Theme
 Tell what it means to you and how you felt about how
the poet wrote about it.
 Tell how other people (The World) could benefit from the
lesson in the story.
Step Six: Turn it In
 Poem with highlighting and annotation
 TPCASTT page filled out
 Three-Paragraph Response