Lesson 3: Poetry Analysis (TPCASTT)
Analysis is quite different from personal response. Analysis is the examination of a subject by looking at its individual parts and examining how they all work together. Analysis is very much an intellectual activity, while personal response tends to be more emotional.
Poetry analysis can be quite tricky as there are many aspects to a poem that must be considered. Often, students do not have a plan or a strategy in how to approach poetry analysis, so here is one technique that I have found to be quite effective. It is identified by the acronym
TP-CASTT
Watch the attached YouTube clip and read this PDF (click HERE) to learn about this strategy:
Poetry analysis can be quite tricky as there are many aspects to a poem that must be considered. Often, students do not have a plan or a strategy in how to approach poetry analysis, so here is one technique that I have found to be quite effective. It is identified by the acronym
TP-CASTT
Watch the attached YouTube clip and read this PDF (click HERE) to learn about this strategy:
The first two steps in TPCASTT are looking at the title and then paraphrasing the poem. The title can give you valuable insights into how to approach the poem. Take the following poem for example:
SONNET 116 (Marriage of True Minds) by William Shakespeare
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
Just the fact that the poem is a Sonnet by Shakespeare lets us know that it is organized in a very particular way and should be broken up into 3 quatrains and a couplet as all Shakespeare’s sonnets are.
SONNET 116 (Marriage of True Minds) by William Shakespeare
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
Also, we know that dealing with Shakespeare, we will be struggling with his syntax (the way he puts his sentences together) and with his diction (word choice) because his writing is somewhat old fashioned. These facts are helpful to know when it comes to paraphrasing the sonnet.
Try to paraphrase this poem yourself. Take it section by section. If you get too frustrated, refer to the paraphrase provided. For extra practice complete a TPCASTT for The Early Purges poem from lesson 2.
SONNET 116 (Marriage of True Minds) by William Shakespeare
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
Just the fact that the poem is a Sonnet by Shakespeare lets us know that it is organized in a very particular way and should be broken up into 3 quatrains and a couplet as all Shakespeare’s sonnets are.
SONNET 116 (Marriage of True Minds) by William Shakespeare
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
Also, we know that dealing with Shakespeare, we will be struggling with his syntax (the way he puts his sentences together) and with his diction (word choice) because his writing is somewhat old fashioned. These facts are helpful to know when it comes to paraphrasing the sonnet.
Try to paraphrase this poem yourself. Take it section by section. If you get too frustrated, refer to the paraphrase provided. For extra practice complete a TPCASTT for The Early Purges poem from lesson 2.
Assignment 12F: (email to your teacher when finished)
You must provide one paraphrase of a poem, either one you choose or one from this unit, to be assessed by your teacher. Please provide both the original poem and your paraphrase. You will receive a mark out of 10 - six points for completion and four points for creativity and detail.