POETRY BASICSElements of TPCASTT

Sonnets

A poem of fourteen lines Can use different rhyme schemes In English, typically has ten syllables

per line

TP

T-Title: Write down the title of the poem

P-Paraphrase: In your own words, write down the meaning of each line (or groups of lines).

C-Connotation

Words and phrases that provoke emotional reactions- both positive and negative

Notice how the different words carry different connotations

Connotation-cont’

In poetry, connotation can also refer to poetic devices:

Imagery: a representation of a sense, a feeling or an idea

Figures of Speech: simile, metaphor, personification Allusion: a reference to something well known

or famous (Taylor Swift song, “Romeo & Juliet”)

Look at Sonnet 94

Look at line 6 Everyone in this time period would

have understood that the husband controls the marriage

Therefore: And husband nature’s riches from expenseCould mean: this person is married to their good looks and wealth and so they are controlled by vanity and riches

More figures of speech: Diction: word choice- authors use specific

words for a reason For example: using “power to hurt” is stronger than

“mean people”

Sound Devices: Alliteration, onomatopoeia, consonance, assonance, rhythm, rhyme, etc.

Consonance = repetition of consonant sounds two or more times in a row

Assonance = repetition of vowel sounds creating rhyme within words (internal rhyme) I Like Ike

LOOK AT SONNET 94

1. Underline words that have emotional meaning attached to them.2. Next, try to find an example of three different figures of speech; underline them and name them in the margin.

A-ATTITUDE

Author’s Attitude When the authors begin to write, they

choose words that reflect their beliefs about the topic at hand.

Is the speaker in love? Is he/she angry about something? Depressed?

Give details or reasons as to why: The speaker is sad because he uses

words like sorrow, pity and wretch. These words have depressing connotations.

LOOK AT SONNET 94What is the speaker’s

attitude? How can you tell?

S-SHIFTTurn of mood

Poetic Shift

Rarely does a poet begin and end the poetic experience in the same place

Poems usually express the speaker’s gradual realization of something

How can I find the shift?

To discover shifts, watch for the following:

key words: but, yet, however, although

punctuation: dashes, periods, colons, ellipsis (…)

stanza and/or line divisions: change in line or stanza length

LOOK AT SONNET 94Where is the shift?

What was the clue that helped you find it?

What is the change in attitude there?

T-Title: Revisited

Examine the title again, this time on an interpretive level In other words, explain how the title is

meaningful to the poem Remember, for many poems, the

title is the first line

LOOK AT SONNET 94The first line is the title.

Examine the line.What possible meaning could it have with relation to the main idea of the

poem?

T-THEMEIn poetry, the theme is not a moral.

It should describe the overall feeling or main idea.

It can sometimes be suggested by the title or the first line in the poem.

LOOK AT SONNET 94Read lines 13 and 14.

With a partner, figure out the theme (or main idea) expressed

in these two lines.