Analyzing Poems

Analysing Poetry

by Miss Sainsbury

​Guide To Analysing Poetry

1. ​Firstly, read the poem to yourself slowly. Try to notice details such as the title. Then read it out loud, noticing to how the words and syllables shape the rhythm, and whether it has a rhyme scheme.

2. ​Study the content of the poem. Who is the narrator, what is their perspective and tone towards the subject? What is the poet trying to help you understand? Does it connect to anything in your own life?

3. ​Study the language in the poem. Examine each word and its significance in the line and the poem. Look at the connotations of the words used, and how literary devices such as metaphors, similes, alliteration, assonance and consonance are used.

4. Finally, go through the poem again. Beginning with the first line, paraphrase each line in your own words and interpret the meaning of the poem.

Context Clues

​If you are having trouble with a particular word, try to use context clues to try and figure out what the word probably means. Use these tips to help you:

• When you come to an unfamiliar word, think about the ‘job’ the word has in a sentence. Is it a noun, verb, adjective, adverb? Use your knowledge of the job of the word to help you figure out what the word might mean.

  Think about the general mood or feeling in the sentence or paragraph. Is it positive or negative? Based on the overall mood, what’s a word or phrase that would fit in the place of this word.

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Try it with this sentence: She was virtuous, unlike her evil and conniving brother.

​What might virtuous mean? What about conniving?

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​Analysing Burning Rice by Eileen Chong

​You will read Eileen Chong's Burning Rice.

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​While reading it, try to go through the guide step by step in your analysis of the poem.

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After you finish the poem, you will try to respond to steps 2-4.

​Stanza 1 of Burning Rice by Eileen Chong

​I did not mean to burn the rice tonight.

‘Planting rice is never fun’ – generations

of men, women and children ankle-deep

in padi fields, bent double at the waist,

immersing seedlings day after day.

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​​Stanza 2 of Burning Rice by Eileen Chong

Finally, the harvest: sharp scythes glinting

in the afternoon sun, stalks of ripened grain tossed

into baskets strapped onto backs like babies too young to walk. Next, the rice huller, churning husks

away from the hearts. Then the long hours polishing

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​​Stanza 3 of Burning Rice by Eileen Chong

each dark grain into pearly white. I’d forgotten

that brown rice needed more than double

the usual measure of water. I smelt the charring,

then saw: scorched rice like black gold,

my ancestors’ ashes in a bowl.

Open Ended

​Step 2: Who is the narrator? What is their perspective and tone towards the subject?

What is the poet trying to help you understand? Does it connect to anything in your own life?

Open Ended

​Step 3: How are words and its connotations used in this poem?

Are there any literary techniques used, such as metaphors, similes, alliteration, repetition, assonance and consonance?

Open Ended

Step 4: What does the poem mean, in your own words?

Feedback: Anything you want me to address before your upcoming exam?

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