Before you look at the questions read the poem several times.
Read it aloud.
Read it quietly.
Read it in your head.
Read it slowly.
Read it fast.
Read it paying very close attention to the punctuation.
Read it paying little attention to the punctuation.
Read and pay close attention to the poem.
Here's a pre-question question. After reading the poem several times, ask yourself the following question. What are your first impressions of the poem?
The Questions
- What is the Form of the poem?
- What does the poem look like on the page
- Does the poem contain line structures? - if so what are they?
- Does the poem have a rhyme pattern? - if so what is it?
- What do these observations affect the way you understand the poem?
- Who is speaking the poem?
- What is the setting of the poem?
- What is the poem about?
- Does the poem have a plot? - what is it?
- Does the poem have a theme or themes? - if so what is it?
- What language features does the poem use?
- What impact do these features have on us as readers?
