Transcript Shakespearean Sonnet Analysis

Analyzing Poetry
It’s like rap – with meaning
Active Reading – The 5 Dubyas
who in the what now?
What conflicts or themes does the poem present,
address, or question? (purpose)
Who is the speaker? Define and describe the
speaker and his/her voice. What does the
speaker say? Who is the audience? Are other
characters involved?
What happens in the poem? Consider the plot or
basic design of the action. How are the
dramatized conflicts or themes introduced,
sustained, resolved, etc.?
When does the action occur? What is the date
and/or time of day?
Where is the speaker? Describe the physical
location of the dramatic moment.
Why does the speaker feel compelled to speak at
this moment? What is his/her motivation?
Active Reading – HOW
How does the author reveal purpose?
Figurative Language: What figurative language does the author
use? What effect does this create?
Form: Does the poem represent a particular form (sonnet,
sestina, etc.)? Does the poem present any unique variations
from the traditional structure of that form?
Organization/Structure: How is the poem organized?
Quatrains? Couplets? Are there noticeable shifts in tone?
Rhetoric: How does the speaker make particular statements?
What appeals does the speaker employ? How does he/she
attempt to establish ethos? Does the rhetoric seem odd in
any way? Why?
Syntax: Consider the subjects, verbs, and objects of each
statement and what these elements reveal about the
speaker. Do any statements have inverted, convoluted, or
vague syntax?
Diction: Why does the poet choose one word over another in
each line? Do any of the words have multiple or archaic
meanings that add other meanings to the line? Use the
Oxford English Dictionary as a resource.
Notices – Language
Figurative Language, Poetic Devices
Metaphor
Imagery
Simile
Diction
Personification
Paradox
Allusion
Rhetorical Devices
Active Reading
5 Ws
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What?
Who?
When?
Where?
Why?
How
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•
•
•
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Figurative
Language
Form/Structure/
Organization
Rhetoric
Syntax
Diction
Richard Cory
Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.
And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.
And he was rich—yes, richer than a king—
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.
So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.
- Edwin Arlington Robinson