A poem does not affect its reader in quite the same way that a work of prose does. To be able to understand and write about the way a poem works, you need to spend some time thinking analytically about the poem before you start your draft. Then, when you begin to write, you are better able to select appropriate evidence and construct a convincing argument. Professor ivan marki of the english department encourages the four stage approach explained below.

get to know the poem

describe the poem

before you begin to organize your essay, read the poem aloud several times, noting its structure, meter, recurring images or themes, rhyme scheme anything and everything which creates an effect.

paraphrase the poem

since your analysis should make up the bulk of your essay, approach it with care. Knowing that you will not be able to address every aspect of the poem, select the elements which work together to create special effects.

Look beyond the surface meaning of the words and start to think about how the techniques used in the poem add depth to its meaning. How do the elements work together? do they complement each other, do they create tension, or both? think in terms of cause and effect and look for relationships within the poem itself. For example, if you see a pattern of imagery which suggests something about the speaker, look at other areas of the poem for more evidence along the same lines. In poetry, form and content are inseparable, so you must not overlook the relationship between what the speaker says and how he or she says it.

interpret the poem

using your analysis of how the poem works as your evidence, interpret the poem answer the question, so what is this poem all about? in the interpretation, you bring together your analysis of the elements in the poem and show what they mean to the poem as a whole.

You may suggest an interpretation of the speaker 39 s state of mind, the poem 39 s subject, or the nature of the experience which the poem creates. For example, does poe 39 s the raven describe a dream? a drug induced hallucination? a recollection? why do you think so? what evidence, from your analysis, supports your idea? the main argument of your paper should begin to take form as you struggle with this process. You have great freedom in interpreting a poem, provided that your assertions are solidly linked to your evidence. There is no one, right interpretation of a poem but there is one which is more right than any of the others. The multi faceted nature of poetry demands that you know where you are going before you begin to construct your written argument, which is why the description and paraphrase stages are so important. Your selective analysis emerges from them in the form of an argument that is limited to a manageable set of ideas.

After you have thought through these stages and taken good notes, you should be ready to begin writing your essay. Formulate a thesis statement that will allow you to explain the relationships and the effects of elements in the poem. If you can, indicate in the thesis the areas or features of the poem important to your argument a pattern of imagery, for instance, or a series of crucial lines. Remember, your thesis statement must argue a point instead of simply saying that a poet uses certain poetic devices, you must give some indication in your thesis as to how those devices work and what they do to the poem 39 s meaning.

You do not need to go into elaborate detail in your thesis, but do show the relationship between the poem and your argument. Because the line form of poetry is so important, you must indicate where lines end by separating them with a slash mark /. If you are quoting more than three lines, single space the passage, indent, and present the passage as it appears in the poem. Follow the quotation with the appropriate line numbers enclosed in parentheses see english department handout on use of quotations and citations, available from the department office and the writing center. In your conclusion you can emphasize crucial ideas, raise questions about the poem, or connect the poem to other literary works or experiences. This is where you can offer your interpretation of the poem, which by now should be convincing to your reader since you have presented your evidence in the body of the paper.

You may raise new ideas in a conclusion, provided that they are solidly linked to the development of your argument. Remember, you have flexibility, but your conclusion should flow naturally from the body of your paper. Even in poems that are written in the first person, you should be careful not to assume anything about the speaker that the poem itself does not suggest. Let your interpretation follow your analysis avoid making unsupported assertions.