Poetry

1. How to Read a Poem (3-Step Reading Method)

First Reading – Overall Impression

1. Read the poem silently all the way through.
2. Identify and define any unfamiliar words.
3. Get a general sense of the tone, subject, and voice.
4. Jot down initial emotions or reactions.
5. Spot any strong connotations.

Second Reading – Sound & Language

1. Read the poem aloud if possible—listen for rhythm and tone.
2. Pay attention to punctuation, pauses, and phrasing.
3. Highlight sound devices: alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia, rhyme, etc.
4. Ask: How do the sound patterns shape the mood or impact?

Third Reading – Structure & Meaning

1. Analyse figurative language: metaphors, similes, personification, symbolism.
2. Look at form: sonnet? free verse? quatrains? rhymed couplets?
3. Translate the poem into plain prose—what’s it saying?
4. Reflect on theme, message, and emotional arc.

2. Poetic Terms & Techniques

Imagery (sensory language)

1. Visual – sight ("bright blue sky")
2. Aural – sound ("whispers in the wind")
3. Olfactory – smell ("the scent of burnt toast")
4. Tactile – touch ("frozen skin")
5. Gustatory – taste ("bitter words")
6. Organic – internal sensations ("knees trembling")

Figurative Language

Structure and Form

1. Stanza – a grouped set of lines
2. Quatrain – 4-line stanza
3. Couplet – 2 rhyming lines
4. Caesura – a pause within a line
5. Enjambment – a sentence continues past the end of a line
6. Refrain – repeated phrase or line
7. Free verse – no regular rhythm/rhyme
8. Dramatic monologue – speaker addresses a silent listener

Sound Devices

3. How to Analyse a Poem – Acronym Strategies:

SCASNI (for first impressions)

SPEC FILMS (for deeper analytical reading)

Poetry Model Answer

Text Extract

Poem Title: The Window
Poet: Elena Marlowe

I pressed my face to the cold glass pane,
The world outside was quiet, grey, unknown.
A sparrow blinked at me through autumn rain,
Then flitted off—its motion barely shown.

My breath misted the glass; the image blurred.
Inside was warmth, but I could not feel heat.
I turned to speak, but no one heard—
Their laughter faded down the hallway street.

How strange, to be so rooted, yet adrift.
The carpet held my feet, the walls my frame.
But somewhere in me, silence cracked and slipped,
And I no longer answered to my name.

A window is a border made of air—
Too thin to trap, too thick to pass through clean.
I looked once more. The sparrow wasn’t there.
Just sky. Just grey. Just everything between.

Guiding Question

How does Elena Marlowe use language and structure to explore the theme of isolation in the poem The Window?

Essay Outline:

1. Introduction
   1. Context: Introduce The Window as a reflective lyric poem focused on a speaker suspended between the world inside and outside.
   2. Theme: Isolation as an emotional and psychological state—more internal than physical.
   3. Thesis:
      Elena Marlowe uses the window as a central metaphor for emotional disconnection. Through sensory imagery, symbolism, and structural framing, she portrays the speaker’s isolation as both a personal and existential condition—quiet, continuous, and inescapable.
2. Body Paragraph 1 – Physical Isolation and Sensory Imagery (PEEL)
   1. P – Point:
      Marlowe opens the poem by portraying the speaker’s physical separation from the outside world, using sensory and visual imagery to establish tone and theme.
   2. E – Evidence:
      1. “I pressed my face to the cold glass pane”
      2. “quiet, grey, unknown”
      3. “My breath misted the glass; the image blurred”
   3. E – Explanation: