Reading and Writing Workshop
Exploring Poetry Through Analysis
Overview:
In this workshop, students will explore how to analyze poetry through three major lenses: theme and tone, poetic devices, and close reading. Each session includes reading a public domain poem, analyzing its components, and engaging in creative and analytical writing activities.
Session 1: Analyzing Theme and Tone
Focus Poem:
"Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley
Theme: The impermanence of power
Tone: Reflective, ironic, melancholic
Activities:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4800
(See “Ozymandias” under the poetry section in The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley.)
Session 2: Analyzing Poetic Devices
Focus Poem:
"The Tyger" by William Blake
Devices: Metaphor, symbolism, imagery, alliteration
Activities:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1934
(Find "The Tyger" in Songs of Experience by William Blake.)
Session 3: Close Reading of Poems
Focus Poem:
"Because I Could Not Stop for Death" by Emily Dickinson
Focus: Nuanced reading of tone, imagery, and structure
Activities:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12242
(See “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” in Poems by Emily Dickinson, Series 1.)
Overview:
In this workshop, students will explore how to analyze poetry through three major lenses: theme and tone, poetic devices, and close reading. Each session includes reading a public domain poem, analyzing its components, and engaging in creative and analytical writing activities.
Session 1: Analyzing Theme and Tone
Focus Poem:
"Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley
Theme: The impermanence of power
Tone: Reflective, ironic, melancholic
Activities:
- Read and annotate the poem.
- Discuss the central theme and tone in small groups.
- Write a paragraph explaining how Shelley conveys the theme of decay and lost grandeur.
- Creative writing prompt: Write a modern version of "Ozymandias" depicting a crumbling monument of a current or fictional leader.
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4800
(See “Ozymandias” under the poetry section in The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley.)
Session 2: Analyzing Poetic Devices
Focus Poem:
"The Tyger" by William Blake
Devices: Metaphor, symbolism, imagery, alliteration
Activities:
- Read the poem aloud and mark examples of poetic devices.
- Analyze how Blake uses imagery and metaphor to explore creation and duality.
- Small group discussion: What does the “tyger” symbolize?
- Write a paragraph analyzing Blake’s use of symbolism and metaphor.
- Creative activity: Write your own stanza in the style of Blake, using metaphor and vivid imagery to describe a force of nature or emotion.
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1934
(Find "The Tyger" in Songs of Experience by William Blake.)
Session 3: Close Reading of Poems
Focus Poem:
"Because I Could Not Stop for Death" by Emily Dickinson
Focus: Nuanced reading of tone, imagery, and structure
Activities:
- Read and annotate the poem line by line.
- Discuss how Dickinson personifies death and uses metaphor and rhythm.
- Close reading activity: Break the poem into stanzas and interpret the deeper meanings.
- Write a literary analysis paragraph on how Dickinson’s structure and imagery guide readers through the speaker’s journey.
- Reflective writing: Describe how you imagine death if it were personified.
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12242
(See “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” in Poems by Emily Dickinson, Series 1.)