• Want to help us with this year's BoS Trials?
    Let us know before 30 June. See this thread for details
  • Looking for HSC notes and resources?
    Check out our Notes & Resources page

Poem Analyse (1 Viewer)

conman

Member
Joined
May 2, 2005
Messages
139
Location
West of Sydney
Gender
Male
HSC
2007
Without Wings said:
You are suposed to analyse poems you are studying yourself.
I know, I just want to look at the way they analyse poems as example. So that I know what I gonna write in my test.
 

hopeles5ly

Take Me Higher.
Joined
Aug 1, 2005
Messages
2,796
Location
Sydney
Gender
Male
HSC
N/A
i suggest you pick up a study guide. however don't copy exactly what they say as a majority of the students who sit the hsc will be doing that.
 

silvermoon

caffeine fiend
Joined
Mar 14, 2004
Messages
1,834
Location
getting the blood out of my caffeine system
Gender
Female
HSC
2004
conman said:
I know, I just want to look at the way they analyse poems as example. So that I know what I gonna write in my test.
the way you have been studying poems in class with your teacher is how you will be expected to do an analysis. ie, the same way you should have been doing them for the last few years
 

Brownlovic

New Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2006
Messages
6
Gender
Male
HSC
2007
I would suggest, simply :

Language features/techs
Form
Context
ect.

But hey, thats just me.
 

Sam.

bored.
Joined
Jan 18, 2006
Messages
165
Location
offline
Gender
Female
HSC
2006
If you are analyzing a poem, there is no set 'way' to look at it. Unless someone has done it before you, you simply have to read it and re-read it and look for techniques such as:

- imagery
- simile and metaphor
- repetition
- juxtaposition
- descriptive and emotive language

Next, look at the language features, form and structure of the poem. Poems are a form of verse, so look at the rhyming scheme (Shakespeare for example, most commonly used iambic pentameter), the separation of stanzas, length of the lines and the particular rhythm of the text.

Depending on the question, you should then look at the way particular ideas, concepts and themes are portrayed throughout the text. What techniques are used/help to convey the message of the poem? For instance, in Year 12, you will most likely study the concept of 'Journeys'. If you study the poetry of Coleridge, you will look at the way he utilises imagery, metaphor and allusion to depict an imaginative journey.

Finally, look at the way the text is a representation of the context of the time. Again, using him as an example, Shakespeare used a lot of imagery in his verse (and prose for that matter). Imagery and descriptive language was used as compensation for a lack of elaborate sets, props and realistic acting during the Elizabethan era. He had to create vivid images in the mind of his audience to convey the importance of particular phrases, but was unable to use physical means to do so. That is why Shakespeare is so highly praised, even now - because of his effective use of description, metaphor and imagery to get across his ideas.

Anyway, that's just a basic outline for you to get started. Hope it helps.
 
Last edited:

GaDaMIt

Premium Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2005
Messages
428
Gender
Male
HSC
2007
Brownlovic said:
I would suggest, simply :

Language features/techs
Form
Context
ect.

But hey, thats just me.
What nationality are you?
 

greycats

Mister Monday
Joined
Mar 19, 2006
Messages
187
Location
Berowra Heights
Gender
Male
HSC
2007
I hate poem analyse, I just realised I have some due tomorrow >.< Good thing I signed up eh..
Anyway, the way I've always done it is by firstly reading the poem without looking for anything(sounds hard, no?) then read it for a second time marking techniques such as rhyming couplets or patterns, enjament and all that hat. Also mark out stuff like the language used, changes in tone and whatnot, and sentence and stanza structures.
Even if you only do the basics of that, you still should be able to come up with something to get a halfdecent mark.

And yes.. that person asking about nationalities does seem to be abit lost..
 

silvermoon

caffeine fiend
Joined
Mar 14, 2004
Messages
1,834
Location
getting the blood out of my caffeine system
Gender
Female
HSC
2004
that's an important point actually. read the text at least once just to get a general feel of what it's about. if you go through straight away looking for techniques then you run the risk of not understanding the significance of those techniques - how can you explain the effect or purpose of a metaphor, for example, if you don't know how it fits into the general conceit of the poem and therefore why it's been included (poets don't just throw techniques in for the hell of it!!). You also run significant risk of missing any of the more complex techniques such as extended metaphor, conceit etc.
 

marchetta

shut up and do me
Joined
Feb 5, 2004
Messages
664
Location
Somewhere over the rainbow
Gender
Female
HSC
2004
It's pretty difficult to find sites on poetry analyse on the net, so i would recommend you to go to the library and find some books on it instead. And if you're wondering, Barry Spurr has some pretty good books on poetry analyse :D
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 1)

Top