Hi Elyse!
I was wondering what you thought about poetry at the beginning, and what you would recommend to someone who isn't understanding poetry. It kind of doesn't make sense, I have just started learning it and would love some tips. Also do you think that eventually it is possible to just read any poem and understand the message the poet is trying to convey?
Hey souad, I have some thoughts on this actually! I really struggled with poetry, and I don't mean "oh, poor clever English girl struggles with poetry but still gets great marks" - I mean, I realllllly struggle with poetry but I always find it incredibly rewarding when I do come to understand it at the end. In fact, it is the most rewarding text type, in my opinion. Just because I always struggle at the beginning.
I'd start by taking it slow: work out the plot of each poem. What is happening? What is being said? If it's in difficult language, do a summary of each stanza translated into colloquial English, your own words. This way, you at least know the content. Then do a bit of research on the context of the composer: what are the intentions? Why did the poet write? Is this the first time they've written? Are they being commissioned? You don't have to have the poem handy to do this, you can take a scroll through the internet and make some quick notes. When you then know about the poet and the "storyline" of the poem, you can draw your own ideas. If the poem is all about bees in a bee box, chaotic and scrambling, and the poet's life is spent in an out of a mental institution, you then have a pretty good idea that the bees are a metaphor of some kind.
Then take it further, start looking at aspects of the poem, starting simply:
-What is the rhyming scheme, if any?
-Are there stanzas? How many? Are they all the same size?
-Does the setting stay the same throughout or do we move into new places?
-First, second, or third person narration?
-Is punctuation used? Regularly? Correctly?
These are all easy things you can note without delving too deeply into the poem. Once you have answers to these, start asking
why. Is there any significance to there being four stanzas? Is the rhyming scheme/type of poem common for the era, or is it pioneering? Then, why?
This'll give you some really strong foundations for your work with little effort, just some research. Hopefully, your in-class analysis or analysis from readings online will be able to point you into deeper literary analysis. Be sure to focus on the form as well as the words when you're studying - often the form is overlooked. Keep connecting the audience, the intention of the poet, the context, and the actual poem. When you make these connections, you'll come out with a really wholesome understanding.
Also, I have never been able to read a poem in one sitting and fully understand it. Just for the record! The unseen texts section frightened me that I would see poetry. But, by asking the same questions as I listed above, I could always make my way into the poem, accessing it simply by looking at obvious things: stanzas, rhyming scheme, punctuation. You get better at understanding poetry as it goes on. I'd love to say that you'd be able to read any poem on the initial reading and completely understand it, but it's not true for me! But, with time, you definitely become quicker at analysing poetry and it becomes far less tedious.
I wish you the best, I know poetry is tough!
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Topic: English Advanced Question Thread (Read 1495968 times)