Poetry Analysis

Poetry Analysis Rubric

Criteria

Presentation – 15%
• Title – how it anticipates/introduces the poem
• Speaker – identify whether it is the poet or a persona created by the poet; also, indicate audience
• Reading & YOUR initial reaction to the poem – if you do not read the poem aloud yourself, make sure you can easily access the poem (be prepared to read it, in case youtube.com fails)

Paraphrase the Literal & define/clarify vocabulary – 10%

Format/Style of poem & tone – 25%
• You need not identify whether it is a ballad or sonnet, but do indicate if the poem is structured, with regular rhyme & regular rhythm OR if it is in free verse (relatively unstructured)
• Tone: here YOU must draw an inference after you have studied the poem AND you MUST support your inference with specific words, phrases, lines from the poem (that’s the hard part)

Word Choice/Connotation/Imagery/Symbolism/Irony – 25%
• You NEED NOT know the term of the poetic device (simile, metaphor, hyperbole, personification, metonymy, etc.), but you MUST find the words, phrases, lines that create “word pictures” or imagery; MOST, but not all poems WILL contain symbolism—determine symbolism by the connotative meaning of the words in the poem; some—but not all—poems will contain irony—naturally, you must identify and explain the irony, if it appears in the poem

Identify the Shift/Change/Turning point in the poem AND the THEME – 25%
• AGAIN – the key is determining the shift or change and supporting your comments by specifics in the poem