What should I do when first faced with a poem for analysis?

It is often useful to make some short and simple steps when beginning an analysis of a poem in order to set you on the right path. We need to make sure our ideas are ordered and cover all the areas that the examiner is looking for.

The steps I prefer to use are as follows:

1. Take it slowly. It is best to read slowly and carefully to ensure an understanding of the poem and to begin to identify the techniques the poet is using. Remember: a good poet will have chosen each word with care.

2. Identify tropes and techniques in the poems language. Has the poet repeated words or phrases? Do they use techniques such as alliteration? Does the poet use lots of verbs, for example? What effect does this have?

3. Identify the structure. Does the tone of the poem change? What changes can we see stanza to stanza? Is there a narrative progression? What is distinct about the opening/close of the poem? What effect does this have?

4. Identify the form. What clues can we see in the text that might tell us what the poem is? Can we see the tropes of the lyric, epic or sonnet, for example? Is there a rhyme scheme? What about metre? How is this used? Does it change?

5. Contextual information. If you have the information to hand, you may want to include some historical or autobiographical details. For an unseen analysis this is not necessary and should only be used if you are sure of the contextual detail. MAKE SURE IT IS RELEVANT TO YOUR:

6. Overall argument. This is the key to a good analysis. We have to look at all of the elements that we have identified and ask ourselves why the author chose to write in this way. What was the poet feeling or thinking when they decided to write this poem and how have they conveyed it. Every point you should make should allude to this in order to produce a coherent analysis. The 'And Therefore...' technique is useful here. Whenever you have identified and explained a certain feature of the poem, think to yourself: 'and therefore...' what? What does the feature you have identified contribute to our understanding of the poem?

Apply this tips to as many poems as possible so that you can easily form a basic idea about your unseen text in your exam.