HOW TO CRITICALLY ANALYZE OF A POEM

HOW TO CRITICALLY ANALYZE OF A POEM

Critical, criticism, critique and critical appreciation are the synonyms of CRITICAL ANALYSIS.

1. PARAPHRASE:

It is mostly used for poetry and two things are necessary to understand or write the paraphrase in a poem:

       i.            The meter is finished.

    ii.            The difficult words are converted into easy words but in it, meanings do not change.

2. CRITICAL ANALYSIS:

CRITICAL (+,-) means positive and negative aspects /perspective. According to Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary 9th edition:

“Involving making fair, careful judgments about the good and bad qualities of somebody/something or a piece of written criticism of a set of ideas, a work of art, etc.”

When one evaluates some pieces of writing in a positive and negative way, it is called criticism. The description of any piece of writing with literary tools is called criticism. In criticism, beneath the lyre (it can become more than one). One can see during the analysis of a poem that what have the meanings hide under those words. For example, The clothes of a person are like his paraphrase whereas his character is his analysis or a critical analysis. One can mostly apply critical analysis in the poems of SURREY, WYATT, DONNE, SHAKESPEARE and American literature. For example, An Examiner can ask a question that “JOHN ASHBERY appears as a critic /critical poet or writer in the Painter.” This question is all about critical analysis of a poem.

One can understand the meaning of Critical Analysis on the base of different levels:

The first level is poet’s AGE: What’s Spirit of Age, What's kind of Age either it is Faithful, rational, materialistic age. AGE is that time in which a writer writes something. The writer can never write out of his age. For example, You cannot deny or Cable, TV, mobile or electricity nowadays.

The second level is writer's individual talent in writing: You can now see the things of the writer in individual aspect.

The third level is literary tools: You can see it by the use of literary tools.

SOME BASIC OR PRIMARY PRINCIPLES TO ANALYSIS:

1. TO BEGIN:

Read the poem all the way through at least twice. Read it aloud. Listen to it. Poetry is related to music, so the sound is important. You listen to your favourite CDs many times; the principle is the same. It takes time to fully appreciate and understand a work of art. Make a note of your first impressions or immediate responses, both positive and negative. You may change your mind about the poem later, but these first ideas are worth recording.

2. TITLE:

You will read out the poem and search out the lexical meaning (simple idea about poem and title).and you will also search out what is the meaning of this title according to its theme. As Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary will tell you the exact meaning. You have seen the lexical meaning of the title in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. If you have not understood the meaning in the first time then you will try again in second or third time. For example: ‘Paradise Lost’ is a title which has different meanings in different aspects.

Start your search for the theme by looking at the title of the poem. It was probably carefully chosen. What information does it give you? What expectations does it create? (For example, a poem called “The Garden of Love” should cause a different response from the one called “The Poison Tree.”) Does the title tell you the subject of the poem (ex. “The Groundhog”)? Does the title label the poem as a specific literary type? (ex. “Ode to Melancholy”; “Sonnets at Christmas) If so, you should check what characteristics such forms have and discuss how the poet uses the “rules.” Is the title an object or event that becomes a key symbol? (See Language and Imagery)

3. LITERAL MEANING:

Words and meaning have been written in dairy. Meaning is the form of some other words. Before you can understand the poem as a whole, you have to start with an understanding of the individual words. Get Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary or another good dictionary. Look up, and write down, the meanings of:

       i.            Words you don’t know.  

    ii.            Words you “sort of know”.

 iii.            Any important words, even if you do know them. Maybe they have more than one meaning (ex. “bar”), or maybe they can function as different parts of speech (ex. “bar” can be a noun or a verb). If the poem was written a long time ago, maybe the history of the word matters, or maybe the meaning of the word has changed over the years (“jet” did not mean an aeroplane in the 16th century). An etymological dictionary like the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary can help you find out more about the history of a particular word.

Use an Encyclopedia or the Internet to look up people and places mentioned in the poem. These allusions may be a key to the poet’s attitudes and ideas. As you pay attention to the literal meanings of the words of the poem, you may see some patterns emerging. These patterns may relate to the diction of the poem: does the poet use “street talk” or slang, formal English, foreign language phrases, or jargon?

4. THEME:

Your goal, now that you’ve understood the literal meanings, is to try to determine the theme of the poem – the purpose the poet has in writing this poem, the idea he wants to express. In order to discover the theme, however, you need to look at the poem as a whole and the ways the different parts of the poem interact.

i. What Is Theme?

The theme of a literary work can be defined as its main idea or an underlying meaning, which could be presented directly or indirectly. It links all aspects of the literary work with one another in a motif that is repeated throughout the literary work.

ii. Theme or Subject? In literary analysis, we should not confuse a theme of a literary work with its subject. The subject of a literary work is a topic which acts as a basis for a literary perspective articulated by the author. While a theme is that perspective, an opinion expressed on the subject of a story. For example, a writer may choose a subject of war for his story and the theme of a story may be writer’s personal opinion that war is a curse for humanity. Usually, it is up to the readers to explore a theme of a literary work by analyzing characters, plot and other literary devices.

iii. How to Find the Theme? A writer presents themes in a literary work through several ways. A writer may express a theme through the feelings of his main character about the subject he has chosen to write about. Similarly, themes are presented through thoughts and conversations of different characters. Moreover, the experiences of the main character in the course of a literary work give us an idea about its theme. Finally, the actions and events taking place in a narrative are consequential in determining its theme. When you have some difficult meanings, you will search out the central idea, point and objective for which a poet writes. The central theme is equal to create this universe. The writer goes towards the central theme to describe his personal and self-experience. As one central idea develops in your mind then it brings the growth of this idea. It is the objective of the poet.

  iv.            For examples: 

a.     The central theme in the play Romeo and Juliet is love with smaller themes of sacrifice, tragedy, struggle, hardship, devotion and so on.

b.     The central theme is LOVE which can in different aspects - physical love, spiritual love, beloved love, faithfulness, past memories etc. This love is the self-experience of the poet which is called Lyrical. He compares his past with present which is called Conflict. For example, Wyatt's beloved loved him but now she does not love with, it is called conflict. This conflict has come from his age which is called Renaissance Age. Therefore, Renaissance is an age of conflict between Faith and Reason.

c.      Another example of the central theme is “Now a ball has become a football.”

5. A. DEVELOPMENT OF THOUGHT:

As Development of thought in the universe is from the birth of a baby to his death. Birth - School Boy - Young - Soldier - Judge - Old - Death (Concrete Form). But in poetry, this development takes place on the abstract level. For example, Love is an abstract level. Because one cannot see or find a structure. Poet presents love in the form of man and woman relationship. From 1st stanza to the last stanza is the development of thought. Past presents feelings and thoughts it is called abstract. For example: If he uses an image of sex, its purpose is not for vulgarity but advises us to avoid it because it is the cause of destruction.

6. SOUND AND RHYTHM:

Poetry is rooted in music. You may have learned to scan poetry-to break it into accented/unaccented syllables and feet per line. There are different types of meter, like   Iambic pentameter, which is a 5-beat line with alternating unaccented and accented syllables. You can use a glossary of literary terms to find a list of the major types of meter. Not all poems, however, will have a strict meter. What is important is to listen to the rhythm and the way it affects the meaning of the poem. Just like with music, you can tell if a poem is sad or happy if you listen carefully to the rhythm. Also, heavily stressed or repeated words give you a clue to the overall meaning of the poem.

Does the poem use "special effects" to get your attention? Some words take time to pronounce and slow the reader down (ex. "the ploughman homeward plods his weary way" echoes the slow plodding pace). Other words can hurry the reader along (ex. "run the rapids"). If you are unfamiliar with the terms alliteration, assonance and onomatopoeia, you can look them up and see if they apply to your poem-but naming them is less important than experiencing their effect on the work you are examining.

Does your poem rhyme? Is there a definite rhyme scheme (pattern of rhymes)? How does this scheme affect your response to the poem? Is it humorous? Monotonous? Childish like a nursery rhyme? Are there internal rhymes (rhymes within the lines instead of at the ends)? If you read the poem aloud, do you hear the rhymes? (They could be there without being emphasized.) How does the use of rhyme add to the meaning? Certain poetic forms or structures are supposed to follow specific "rules" of rhyme and meter (ex. sonnets or villanelles). If you are studying a poem of this type, ask yourself if the poet followed the rules or broke them-and why. Different parts of a poem may have different sounds; different voices may be speaking, for example. There are lots of possibilities. No matter what, though, the sound should enforce the meaning.

7. LANGUAGE:

(Word formation)How are poem’s words? And syllables, phrases, and persona etc. You must relate language with the theme. Every conclusion you have drawn so far has been based on the language of the poem. They have to be; that's all you have to go on. A poem is only words, and each has been carefully chosen. You began by making sure you understood the dictionary meanings of these words (their denotative meaning). Now you have to consider their visual and emotional effects, the symbols and figures of speech (the connotative meaning).

             i.      Imagery

a.     Natural images which are made by Almighty Allah like clouds, plants, air, sea, grass, land, water and mountains.

b.     Unnatural images which are made by a person like domestic and artificial.

c.      Sensuous images - Touch, look, taste etc. Sensual - sexual

Look for the concrete pictures, or images, the poet has drawn. Consider why these particular things have been chosen. If an owl is described, does that set up a mood or a time of day? If a morning is called "misty", what specific effects does that have? Are certain patterns built up, clusters of words that have similar connotations? For example, descriptions of buds on trees, lambs, and children are all pointing toward a theme involving spring, youth and new birth. Symbolism is also often used in a poem. A symbol is an event or a physical object (a thing, a person, a place) that represents something non-physical such as an idea, a value, or an emotion. For example, a ring is symbolic of unity and marriage; a budding tree in spring might symbolize life and fertility; a leafless tree in the winter could be a symbol of death.

             ii.   Tone:

Tone and tenor: Tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is one of the highest of the male voice types. The tenor's vocal range (in choral music) lies between C₃, the C one octave below middle C, and A₄, the A above middle C. Next you might consider the Tone. Who is peaking? Listen to the voice. ? Is it a man or a woman? Someone young or old? Is any particular race, nationality, religion, etc. suggested? Does the voice sound like the direct voice of the poet speaking to you, expressing thoughts and feelings? Is a separate character being created, someone who is not necessarily like the poet at all (a persona)?

Is the speaker addressing someone in particular? Who or what? Is the poem trying to make a point, win an argument, and move someone to action? Or is it just expressing something without requiring an answer (ex. A poem about spring may just want to express joy about the end of winter, or it may attempt to seduce someone, or it may encourage someone to go plough in a field. What is the speaker’s mood? Is the speaker angry, sad, happy, and cynical? How do you know? This is all closely related to the subject of the poem (what is the speaker talking about?) and the theme (why is the speaker talking about this? What is the speaker trying to say about this subject?).

          iii.   Literary Tools:

Poet uses Literary Tools like metaphors, similes, personification, symbolism and analogies to compare one thing to another, either quickly and simply ("He is a tiger") or slowly over a stanza or a whole poem (an extended metaphor like this is called a conceit). (You can check the Vanier Exit Exam Guide for explanations of common techniques and devices.) Work out the details carefully. Which comparisons are stressed? Are they all positive? How are they connected? A description of birds flying could have any number of meanings. Are the birds fighting against the wind? Soaring over mountains? Circling a carcass? Pay close attention and pick up the clues. Poems, like music videos and movies, employ a series of images and symbols to build up mood and meaning. You need to take time to feel the mood and think about the meaning. If you have specific problems or poems to consider, come to The Learning Centre, speak to your teacher, or ask at the library for books that will help.

8. STRUCTURE:

How is the poem organized? How is it divided up? Are there individual stanzas or numbered sections? What does each section or stanza discuss? How are the sections or stanzas related to each other? (Poems don’t usually jump around randomly; the poet probably has some sort of organization in mind, like steps in an argument, movement in time, changes in location or viewpoint, or switches in the mood.)

If there are no formal divisions, try breaking down the poem sentence by sentence, or line by line. The poet’s thinking process may not be absolutely logical, but there is probably an emotional link between ideas. For example, you might ask a friend to pass mustard for a hotdog and suddenly be reminded of a summer romance and a special picnic. It doesn’t look rational from the outside, but it makes emotional sense. A very controlled structure may tell you a lot about the poet’s attitude toward the subject. Is it a very formal topic? Is the poet trying to get a grip on something chaotic? A freer poetic form is also worth examining. What is appropriate or revealing about the lack of structure?

9. COMPARISON AND CONTRAST:

Compare is sameness                      Contrast is opposite

Comparison and contrast between one poet and another poet, one age to another age, one poem to another poem.

10. CONCLUSION:

Before reaching a conclusion about the meaning of a poem, readers should summarize their personal responses. Are they emotionally moved or touched by the poem? Are they entertained or repulsed, terrified or stirred to agree? What do you think and feel about the entire poem? Do words and phrases stick in their memory? How has the poet made an impression? And most important, why?

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Now that you have considered some of the key elements of the poem, it is time to step back and decide what the poem means as a whole. To do this, you need to synthesize (combine) the separate parts of your analysis into one main idea--your idea about what the poet is trying to say in this poem.

What is the poet trying to say? How forcefully does he or she say it and with that feeling? Which lines bring out the meaning of the poem? Does the poet gradually lead up to the meaning of the poem or does he or she state it right at the beginning? The last lines of a poem are usually important as they either emphasize or change the meaning of the poem. Is this so in the poem that you are analyzing?