A poem is a statement in words about a human experience, real or imagined, with those words so chosen and so ordered that the emotive effect of the rhythm of their ordering reacts with the cognitive effect of the words to provide a reinforcement of the cognitive affect of the statement. What is the poem about? What is happening in this poem?

Always recognize the poet's name and the title of the poem. Consider also the title when determining the theme of the poem. The following questions should help you as you prepare to complete your poetry explication.

I . Who is the speaker, or voice? What kind of person is he or she? To whom is he or she speaking? How would you characterize the poem's tone? Is the poem ironic?

2. What is the occasion?

3. What is the setting in time (time of day, season, century, and so forth)? What is the setting in place (indoors or out, city or country, nation, and so forth)?

4. What is the central purpose of the poem, or theme? State the central idea or theme of the poem in a sentence.

5. Paraphrase the poem; i.e., rephrase the poem in your own words.

6. Discuss the diction in the poem. Point out words that are particularly well chosen and explain why. Look up unfamiliar words in a dictionary. What level of diction is used? Is dialect used? How does the word order contribute to your reading of the poem?

7. Discuss the imagery of the poem. What kinds of imagery are used?

8. Point out examples of figures of speech, such as metaphor, simile, personification, hyperbole, understatement, metonymy, synecdoche, and apostrophe, and explain their appropriateness.

9. Point out and explain any symbols, allegories, allusions, or myths.

10. Point out and explain examples of paradox, overstatement, and irony. What is their function?

11. Discuss the adaptation of sound to sense. Does the poem use alliteration, assonance, and/or rhyme? (Poems should make a noise!) Point out significant examples of sound repetition and explain their function.

12. Describe the form or pattern of the poem. Is the poem written in closed or open form? Is the poem constructed as a sonnet, a sestina, a villanelle, an epigram, or a haiku? What is the meter of the poem? Are rhythm and meter regular or irregular? How do rhythm and meter reinforce the poem's central concerns? Copy the poem and mark its scansion, paying close attention to rhyme scheme.

13. Criticize and evaluate the poem.

Poem.doc - Kathy Porterfield