HOW TO READ POETRY

Poems offer us a rich but complex way of revealing insights about human existence; however, they must be read carefully.  Follow the steps listed below, taking adequate time with each section.  After completion, they should make you feel more comfortable with reading poetry and more confident about the thoughtfulness of your responses.

1.  In your first encounter with the poem, read it the whole way through, non-stop.  Read it openly and comfortably, without taking notes or stopping to write ideas down.

2.  Now, read the poem again.  This time through, with the use of slashes, parentheses, or brackets, MARK OFF either each full sentence or (when there is little punctuation) mark off each whole thought, as you hear it, in the poem.  In other words, break the poem open into its parts.

3.  Now, re-read each section or whole thought.  In your own clear and simple terms, re-tell what you think the poet is saying in that particular section.  Be as plain and straight-forward as possible.  Check unfamiliar vocabulary in the dictionary.  Write your re-tellings down, remembering to number each point.

4.  Next, read #3’s prose re-tellings together as a paragraph of sorts.  Ask yourself these questions: what is the “story” here?  What is going on?  How do the parts (each sentence or whole thought) relate to one another? Write down your explanations.

5.  Now, return to the words of the poem.  Why do you think these word choices are the best the poet could make?  How do these words enhance the meaning of the poem?  How do these word choices complicate the meaning of the poem?  What words rhyme?  What words are emphasized?  What sounds are emphasized?  Do you see anything special about the punctuation?  Why are certain pieces of punctuation used and not others?

6.  How do you think the words back up--support--the “big idea” of the poem?  Explain what you think, using words from the poem as evidence.

7.  Ask yourself these final questions: what does this poem say to me about the human experience?  What is it trying to show me?  Why does it speak its message in the way that it does?