Pay very close attention to what individual words mean—and especially to what you
think might
be keywords, since this is where meaning can be concentrated.
- Which words stand out, and why?
Consider how words may carry more than one meaning. A dictionary is useful, especially
one
based on historical principles, since it will point to how the meanings of words may
have
changed over time. For, example, silly
once meant helpless
; awesome
might
not mean really cool,
but suggest feelings of deep reverence or inspiration—or even the
sublime.
- Do any words carry non-contemporary or unfamiliar meanings?
- Do any words likely carry multiple and/or ambiguous meanings?
- Do repeated words carry the same meaning when repeated, or do they change meaning?
Words often evolve in meaning when repeated.
- Do particular words or phrases seem drawn to or connected with each other? These often
add up so that a clearer sense of the poem emerges. Words with similar sounds can
also
draw attention to each other?
- Do certain words seem to clash with each other, and what effect does this have?
Think in terms of oppositions, tensions, conflicts, and binaries..
- Do you notice lots of things (nouns) or lots of action (verbs)? Is the poem concrete,
about specific things and places, or is the poem more abstract, about concepts or
ideas?
Is the poem full of movement, or does it seem to stay still and look at or consider
one
thing?
Consider word choice, or
diction:
- Is the word choice distinctive? Does it add up to a kind of
style—for example, is it elaborate, dense, simple,
old-fashioned, formal, conversational, descriptive, abstract, or any other quality?
- How would you describe the level of language and vocabulary
(
register): informal, formal, common, casual, neutral, mixed?
Tone. Address the
tone of the
speaker or
narrator, which is the attitude taken
by the poem’s
voice toward the subject of the poem:
- What is the attitude taken by the
voice
of the
poem toward the subjects of the poem? Is the
tone serious,
ironic, amorous, argumentative, distant, intimate, somber, angry,
playful, cheerful, despondent, conversational, yearning, etc.—or is it mixed, changing,
ambiguous, or unclear? Remember that tone often changes in the course of a poem.
- Is there any kind of realization about the subject that the speaker of the poem comes
to? What is that realization?
- Does that voice seem to be aware of YOU, the reader? Can you even tell this? In short,
what is the attitude of the speaker to YOU, since, as reader, you are part of the
poem’s
subject?
[Key terms:
style,
diction,
register,
tone,
irony,
ambiguity.]