Literature: Poetry
The Poetry domain tests close reading: central idea, tone, speaker, form, and poetic devices, and your ability to explain how those devices create meaning. You are not expected to guess the poet's biography; you are expected to analyse the words on the page.
What to analyse
- Situation: who is speaking, to whom, and on what occasion?
- Form: stanza shape, rhyme scheme, metre, line length.
- Devices: simile, metaphor, personification, alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia, imagery, irony.
- Tone: the speaker's attitude, shown by word choice and punctuation. Annotate as you read: number the stanzas, circle devices, and write a three-word mood note in the margin. This saves time when you write.
Worked example
Line: The wind whispered through the pines. Question: Identify the figure of speech and its effect. Reasoning: Wind cannot whisper, so it is personification. The effect is to make the wind sound secretive and gentle, creating a calm, slightly eerie mood. A full-mark answer names the device and explains the effect, not just it is personification.
Traps
- Naming a device without explaining its effect.
- Confusing the poet with the speaker.
- Ignoring the rhyme scheme when asked about form.
- Paraphrasing the poem instead of analysing it.
- Missing the shift in tone between stanzas.