As students of poetry, we do know what are entailed in writing a poetry analysis. Our sentences should include poetic devices, evidence from the poem, a good verb and insights or meaning of the poem.
These elements would come from our annotation of the poem where we underline, encircle and make notes on significant words, poetic devices and references to history or common ideas, including religious teachings in society. During annotation, we also place numbers on each line in order to use as references for the purpose of our. These number will be useful as in-text references. We research about the poem and find out what other readers and experts see in the poem. Then we reflect on what we see in the poem as meanings.
Then we read the poem again. Remember, it may take a few reading attempts in order to get a good interpretation of possible meanings. There may be different meanings between readers. We encourage the multiplicity of readings from a poem. That is literature; texts generate a diversity of readings and reflections from different individuals. We see one things differently from each other because we differ in backgrounds, experiences and level of understandings.
Often, as students, we are being tasked to write an essay as a response to such analysis. But how should we compose our sentences to express what we see in the poem? Well, the first thing we need to remember is to communicate the meaning of the poem clearly. So think about the logic and persuasiveness of your idea before your write it in order to come up with a more crystallised cognition. Then mention the poetic device that has helped you see such thought and use an effective verb to link your poem evidence with the meaning you gained.
Here’s a formula:
Poetic device + evidence from poem + verb = meaning
Check out the illustrations below and the image above to understand the application of this formulae.
Resources for Secondary English and Religion 