Following are a handful of techniques you can use to perform a close reading on a poem.  Using one or a combination will jumpstart your thinking when preparing to write an essay.  Not all of these skills will work for you on every poem you read, but if you memorize these, one or more of them should assist you in figuring just about any poem put in front of you.

SOAPS

SOAPS is handy as a general introduction to a poem.  If you are having a tough time getting any meaning at all from a poem, SOAPS will lead you to at least a basic understanding.

Subject—the general topic, content and ideas in the poem.

Occasion—The time and place of the poem.  Try to understand the context that encouraged the poem to be written.

Audience—To whom is the poem written?

Purpose—What is the reason behind the writing of the poem?

Speaker—What can you say about the voice speaking the poem?

After reading the poem through once, take a moment to write a few complete thoughts regarding each of the above subjects.

DIDLS

Often, the poetry question on the AP examination will ask you to consider the tone of a poem.  If this is the case, use DIDLS to establish how the author creates tone.

Diction—the connotation of the word choice

            Consider the following when discussing diction

·         monosyllabic/polysyllabic

·         colloquial/informal/formal

·         denotative/connotative

·         euphonious/cacophonous

Images—vivid appeals to understanding through the senses

Details—Facts that are included or omitted

Language—The overall use of language, formal, colloquial, clinical, jargon, etc...

Sentence Structure—How structure affects the reader’s attitude

After reading the poem, consider each carefully.  As with SOAPS, spend some time writing down your thoughts.

TP-CASTT Analysis

This is possibly the most effective of the techniques listed here.  While rather general compared to DIDLS analyzing a poem in this way will give you something to say.  For those of you taking the IB examination, you will not be asked any specific questions about the poems you see.  It will be up to you to latch onto something.  Use TP-CASTT Analysis for this.

Title—Ponder the title before reading the poem

Paraphrase—Translate the poem into your own words

Connotation—Contemplate the poem for meaning beyond the literal

Attitude—Observe both the speaker’s and the poet’s attitude (tone).

Shifts—Note shifts in speakers and attitudes

            How to discover shift

·         Key words (but, yet, however, although)

·         Punctuation (dashes, periods, colons, ellipsis)

·         Stanza divisions

·         Changes in line or stanza length, or both

·         Irony (sometimes irony masks a shift)

·         Structure

·         Changes in sound or rhythm

·         Changes in diction (ex. slang to formal language)

Title—Examine the title again, this time on an interpretive level

Theme—Determine what the poet is saying

COLORED PENS

Arm yourself with three different colored highlighters.  Use these pens to divide the poem as you read it.  Your divisions depend on the poem you are reading.  For example, you might find a poem to be heavy in images of nature, while the author’s diction leads toward words that provide a connotation of cold.  Use your pens, one color to highlight the images, another for diction.  Or you could highlight shifts in tone or attitude with one color, and use another to highlight important punctuation that speeds up or slows down the rhythm of the poem.  You get the idea.