What’s all this about looking at the poet’s circumstances and environment when talking about the poetry?
ONE way to help you come up with a good plan for poetry analysis is to consider looking at the POET.
- Some analyses can start by asking questions about the writer
We already know that Bukowski and Plath are examples of poets whose work reflected their times and lives
WHEN
WHO
WHAT was going on
There is a theory that a work of art will often reflect the CONTEXT in which it was created.
Bukowski wrote in the 50s and 60s and he was writing in a CONTEXT where there were certain key issues and problems and situations to which he couldn’t help but react!
Teacher hands a poem
Step 1 - CONTEXT
Research poet
Research time period in which it was written
Research the place in which it was written
What are the key issues of that time period?
Of that person?
Of that place?
These issues can bleed into the artist’s work.
The artist may not even do this on purpose - it can be automatic.
Artists REFLECT the times in which they live.
Psychology is affected by circumstances and context.
Themes can be linked to psychology
Step 2: Reading
- start with the title - usually has some relevance - usually has some kind of overall meaning that the poet decided would help create meaning as the reader went into the work
- could be a contrast (I Met A Genius on the Train)
- could be obvious - Beautiful (the song)
- could be a way of influencing the reader’s thinking going into the poem
- some titles are just a line from the poem, not well thought out
- reading for overall meaning - ie what’s it about?
- some poems are tricky and try to “do something” with the subject matter - some poems aren’t that obvious in meaning, or are symbolic or personal or metaphoric, etc
- there might be some thinking here to figure out the “meaning” - inferring
- generally, try to find plot, setting, character, theme as a good start here, but it might not work that well
- reading for language - POWER WORDS - maybe poetic devices, maybe imagery, maybe just cool phrases or powerful descriptions or maybe it’s something that is strange and/or disturbing, etc
Poetic Devices - ways of using language to be more poetic and interesting
- metaphor - saying something IS something else
- simile - saying something is LIKE something else
- personification - attributing human qualities to a non-living thing
- assonance - similar vowel sounds in the middle of words in a group - Boone’s Moose group
- dissonance - words that don’t sound well together - clashing, awkward words
- consonance - similar internal consonant sounds - ie swear words have hard K sounds
- internal rhyme - rhyming within a line of poetry - Eminem is good at this
- cacaphony - clashing, awkward, chaotic language
-onomatopoeia - words that are the sound of the meaning - CRASH, BOOM, BANG
etc...
Imagery - particularly evocative description that hits your senses - especially if it creates a vivid image in your mind
- rather than just bluntly writing one’s feelings, a poet may try to be more artistic, which is where these devices of language come into play
What is the deal with Imagery?
Basically, this is all about your brain and how it works.
This is a complex piece of information to deal with, but it will make your ability to “see” poetry more powerful
Good language will “trigger” the different parts of the brain to “see, hear, taste, touch, feel” whatever is being described
Well chosen and powerful words can trigger all kinds of activity in the brain and make people “feel” and “think” a lot of different things
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