Reading for a Reason

Some individuals find poetry difficult• Intimidating• Subtle tone• Obscurity• Confusing• Does not get to the point directly

Poetry must be deciphered• Often omits explanation, causing a need for

decompression• Many glaze over without reading closely• Not impossible to understand

Rephrasing – Put poem in own words Voice – Who is the poem’s speaker? Diction – Word choice? Imagery – What images are presented? Figures of speech – Metaphor? Simile?

Hyperbole? Personification? Understatement?

Sound – Are rhythm and meter regular or irregular? Alliteration? Assonance?

Symbols, Allegory, Allusion, Myth – What signals are used to convey the message?

Theme – What is the overall theme of the poem? How are those themes expressed?

You have the poems – mark them up! Break out the highlighters and pens In the margins, you should write

information that comes to mind as you read

Write questions as you move along

Don’t be intimidated – you can glean something from every poem

Read and reread – poetry is short – therefore you should plan on reading each poem at least three times• Each time you read the poem you will

discover more