Poetry analysis

We discussed in class about how to do your poetry analysis... here are some tips:

Writing the opening: Your opening paragraph should hook the reader's attention and identify the focus of your analysis ... it should not be a summary alone:

1. Summarize your subject very briefly. Include the title, author and type of poem.
2. Start with a quotation from the poem and then comment on its importance.
3. Begin with an explanation of the author's purpose and how well you think he or she achieves this purpose.
4. Open with a few general statements about life that relate to the focus of your analysis
5. Begin with a general statement about the type of lit. you are analyzing. Then disucss your subject within this context.

Writing the Body: Develop or support your focus in the body

1. State each main point so that it clearly relates to the focus of your analysis
2. Support each main point with specific details or direct quotations from the text you are analyzing
3. Explain how each of these specific details helps prove your point

Writing the Closing: In the final paragraph, tie all of the importatn points together and make a final statement about the main focus.

These tips brought to you by:

Sebranek, Patrick, Verne Meyer, and Dave Kemper. Writers Inc: A Student Handbook for Writing and Learning. United States: Write Source. 1996.