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How I Experience a Poem. Step 1. Get out a pencil!. Step 2. Look at the poem - the ‘architecture’- note: Stanzas? Patterned or varied? Divisions? Numbered? Line lengths? Anomalies? Reflect/associate - i.e. four parts. What else comes in fours?. Step 3. Read the title
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Step 1 • Get out a pencil!
Step 2 • Look at the poem - the ‘architecture’- note: • Stanzas? Patterned or varied? • Divisions? Numbered? • Line lengths? Anomalies? • Reflect/associate - i.e. four parts. What else comes in fours?
Step 3 • Read the title • Reflect/Associate - double meaning?
Step 4 • Read the poem through, preferably aloud. • Breathe • Reflect- Have I been taken somewhere? Moved? Asked a question? Shown a place? • If possible write a literal summary.
Step 5 • Apply DIDLS • “D”idls = Diction • Circle words that stand out or are repeated. Note their connotations. • Mark “shift” words and punctuation: yet, but, so, however, then, although - poems rarely begin and end in the same place.
Step 6 • d”I”dls = Imagery: vivid descriptions that recreate sensory experiences • Reflect- What is the speaker trying to convey with these sensory details? What is the mood created by them?
Step 7 • di”D”ls = Details • What details are included and what are left out? • Why? This can inform us about the attitude of the speaker towards the subject.
Step 8 • did”LS” = Language and Syntax • Language is the choice of words as a whole- formal? colloquial? • Syntax is the sentence structure. This, along with punctuation, governs rhythm. • Sentence length? Sentence beginnings?Arrangement of ideas?
Step 9 • SOAPStone • Based on steps 1-8 what can I determine about: • Speaker-Occasion-Audience-Purpose-Subject • and finally what is the ‘tone’ of the poem?
Step 10 • Get a cold drink • Take a nap