Friday, March 5, 2010
Guest Blogger - Maddy B.
Because this week we have been studying and analyzing poems, I felt I should express my feelings about poetry. Poetry itself is very beautiful. It can be mad, sad, happy, excited, anxious, sarcastic, sympathetic, and almost any other adjective in the book. It doesn’t even necessarily need to rhyme. Anybody could compose an excellent poem if they put their mind to it; Poems can be about almost anything. Usually, though, poems have many different deeper meanings to them, even if it wasn’t meant to be analyzed. Many poets refuse to explain what they meant when composing a poem because of the fact that it is truly up to the reader themselves to understand the true meaning of the poem. That is a large part of the reason I find poetry interesting and beautiful. Up until recently, (ha ha), I enjoyed reading and analyzing poems. The reason for this is that no matter what the poet actually meant by writing the poem, you can interpret the poem any way you would like. You can connect it to something that recently happened in your life, or you can believe that it has absolutely no meaning. The interpreting is up to you, (Besides on the AP Lit exam). Learning to analyze correctly and answer multiple choice questions about poetry has been very confusing to me, yet very helpful and reassuring. It’s been confusing because of the fact that there IS many meanings of a particular poem, and up until recently I believed that it is up to the reader to understand and relate the underlying theme of the poem to their own life. I’ve learned, though, that just taking the time and really trying to understand and connect with the poem helps loads when it comes to analyzing. The SOAPStone and TPCAST has helped me greatly with that, because even though it may sometimes be a hassle, taking the time to actually study the poem and set out the basics of the passage can make a large difference when it comes to analyzing. Answering multiple choice questions, on the other hand, are even more difficult because of the fact that most of the time, there is more than one correct answer. Although analyzing and answering multiple choice questions about a poem can be very difficult to master, I’ve learned that truly studying and understanding the poem prior to analyzing is very helpful, along with simply understanding what the question or prompt is asking, taking the time to contemplate the answer, and THEN beginning the essay or answering the question. I think it would be interesting to hear what types of studying and analyzing techniques help you all to do your best when it comes to reading poetry.
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What do I do when I analyze poetry? Well, first of all, I don't. Although, if I were at any point to encounter a misfortune I would definitely use DIDLS. Since you probably already know what it means (Details,Imagery,Diction,Language,Syntax) I shouldn't have to explain too much about the system itself. What this small acronym does for me is that it gives me an idea of what I'm looking for in a poem. By using DIDLS, I am able to identify literary devices, and sum up the story. Of course, because of this outline of important elements, I don't (sometimes still do) get off track in analyzing the poem. Enough about my own strategies though, is there anyone who uses the "5-s" strategy? (I'm not sure I will)
ReplyDeleteMaddy, I see exctly what you are saying, for me poetry is very hard as well, and I feel it is so much easier to understand when one is reading it for entertainment, instead of analyzing. I feel when reading poetry for entertainment, one will take the poem for the way they want, and are feeling and relate it to themselves and that way one does not need to dig into the authors thoughts and meanings. However, reading poetry is not always the case, when it comes to analyzing I definately agree with Will in that DIDLS is the easiest, however it is not the best. for me, It does not dig in and help me for answering questions and prompts, like the other three would.
ReplyDeleteI also get what you are saying maddy, poetry can be very nice and very fun to read...but only when you understand what it is saying, and when it actually seems like a good topic and an interesting one. But for me, sadly, most poetry does not fall under those two categories. However, i will admit that most of my poetry reading either goes back to dr. suess from my childhood, or chemistry almost daily with mrs. goss.
ReplyDeleteBut when i do have to read poetry, like for the blog assignments out of the book, or for the essay, i like to use SOAPSTone, i think that it answers the general questions about the poem, and helps you identify the tone, which can help with the more in-depth questions, like on the essay prompt.
I agree completely! That's why I hate reading poems in class, because they expect you to have specific answers! For me, I interpret it a different way, than what others may interpret it, so it makes answering questions for AP tests and such, very very difficult! It has so many different meanings, all of which poetry amazing! That's why so many people around the world love to listen to rap music because it's just like poetry and it relates to life and people interpret it in different ways depending on what they are going through which makes it very appreciating to read/hear!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree! Poems have way too many ways that they can be interpreted. I agree that the different strategies like TPCAST and SOAPStone helped a ton, but I didn't really care for the DIDLS, for the same reason that Sarah said, that it didn't really get me thinking. Poetry can be beautiful, like Maddy said, but it's also complicated. Overall though, I think I have a much better grasp and am more confident with poetry now that we have studied it a bit more and learned techniques that help to dig in deeper.
ReplyDeleteDUNCAN G
ReplyDeleteBecause this week we have been studying and analyzing poems and parody, I felt I should express my feelings about poetry. Poetry itself is very painful and horrific. It can be mad, angry, happy, excited, anxious, sarcastic, sympathetic, and almost any other adjective in the book, such as idiotic, atrocious, bad-for-your-mental-health. It doesn't even necessarily need to rhyme, but when it comes to writing poems, most people can't get past the fact that poems have to do with rhyming. Anybody could put a bunch of random words and add symbolism to it if they put their mind to it; Poems can be about almost anything. Usually, though, poems have many different deeper meanings to them, even if it wasn’t meant to be analyzed. Many poets refuse to explain what they meant when composing a poem because when they write a poem they fail to realize all the other CORRECT meanings of their poems, and of the fact that it is truly up to the reader themselves to understand the true meaning of the poem, but when answering the question on a AP Test based on a poem, your true meaning, better match up with the test’s. That is a large part of the reason I find poetry painful and horrific. Up until recently, (ha ha), I have never loathed reading and analyzing poems as much as I do now. ... so i don't like poetry! But I Agree, soapstone and TPcast help in analyzing this god-forsaken gibberish. After reading a poem, I usually have no idea what to do with it, unless I perceive the poem as easy, but most of the time, there’s a deeper meaning. An example is analyzing and reanalyzing a title of a poem. Hopefully this methods will help me in getting all the correct answers correct on the AP test.
I agree, until recently, i too enjoyed reading poetry. HOwever i prefered the poetry that rhymes becasue i think it is easier to find a meaning to the poem that way. But often time there are poems that, rhyming or not, i don't know what they're ssaying so the TPCASTT does help there. Without it i'd probably still be lost.
ReplyDelete