Homework assistance
© Stacey Lloyd 2014 LEARNING TO ANALYZE & ANNOTATE POETRY Step-By-Step Guide to Annotating a Poem First, read the poem a few times, then take out a pen and begin to annotate. * You may want to take out a few different pens, and use a different color for each step. Step One: The Title q Comment on the title. Is it significant? How does it relate to the poem? q What do we learn through the title, before we even read the poem? q Reflect on the connotations of words in the title; underline significant ones. Step TWO: Understanding the Meaning q After each stanza, briefly summarize the meaning (try to do this in a few words only). q Try to paraphrase the whole poem in one line. q Identify the speaker; highlight words which relate to the speaker. Step THREE: Stanza Structure and Rhyme Scheme q Indicate how the poem is divided (or not) into sections. Is it regular or irregular? q Note the rhyme scheme (use corresponding letters for end rhymes: e.g. ABAB CDCD etc.) Step Four: Line Structure q Identify the syllable stress, foot and meter. q Comment on the length of the lines (highlight any lines which are particularly long or short). q Highlight any line breaks which are significant. q Identify any examples of enjambment or any caesuras. Step Five: The Language q Underline and comment on any figurative language techniques (metaphors, similes, alliteration, assonance, hyperbole, oxymorons, anaphora, onomatopoeia etc.). q Comment on the diction: elements of formal or informal language, colloquialisms, dialect etc. q Circle any notable uses of punctuation and comment on them. q Identify any repetition (of single words, phrases or whole lines). Step six: Identifying Tone q Circle any words which contribute to the tone of the poem. q At the end of each stanza, write adjectives which describe the tone / mood at that point. q Identify any changes in tone. Once you have annotated and analyzed the poem as much as you can, you will be more able to interpret it and find links between the structural elements identified and the meaning. © Stacey Lloyd 2014 LEARNING TO ANALYZE & ANNOTATE POETRY Annotating a Poem: Practice Worksheet Annabel Lee by Edgar Allen Poe It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden there lived whom you may know By the name of Annabel Lee; And this maiden she lived with no other thought Than to love and be loved by me. I was a child and she was a child, In this kingdom by the sea, But we loved with a love that was more than love— I and my Annabel Lee— With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven Coveted her and me. And this was the reason that, long ago, In this kingdom by the sea, A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling My beautiful Annabel Lee; So that her highborn kinsmen came And bore her away from me, To shut her up in a sepulchre In this kingdom by the sea. The angels, not half so happy in Heaven, Went envying her and me— Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know, In this kingdom by the sea) That the wind came out of the cloud by night, Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee. But our love it was stronger by far than the love Of those who were older than we— Of many far wiser than we— And neither the angels in Heaven above Nor the demons down under the sea Can ever dissever my soul from the soul Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride, In her sepulchre there by the sea— In her tomb by the sounding sea. Read the following poem, and then analyze it by annotating.