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"Poetry is language at its most distilled and most powerful" ~Rita Dove

TPCASTiT Poetry Analysis

T=Title: Before you read the poem, predict what you think the poem might be about based on the title.
P=Paraphrase: Note: this is not a summary. Paraphrase each line or stanza in your own words.

C=Connotation: Examine the poem for meaning beyond the literal. Look for figurative language, connotation/denotation, punctuation, literary techniques, rhyme, repetition, sound elements, etc., then write out to the side the effect of its use.
A=Attitude/Tone: Notice the speaker's tone and attitude. Humor? Sarcasm? Awe?
S=Shifts: Note any shifts or changes on the speaker's attitude or tone. Look for key words, time change, punctuation.
  • key words (but, yet, however, although)
  • punctuation (dashes, periods, colons, ellipsis)
  • stanza divisions
  • changes in line or stanza length or both
  • irony
  • changes in sound that may indicate changes in meaning
  • changes in diction
T=Title: Examine the title again, this time on an interpretive level. What topics can you identify?
i=Inferences: Make inferences about writer's style, characters, meaning, structure, diction, language, techniques, elements, etc.
T=Theme: Briefly state in your own words what the poem is saying about the human experience, motivation or condition? What is the universal perception of the poem? Why does this poem matter? 
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