Reading Poetry

After studying this section you should be able to understand:

• how to help improve your knowledge of different kinds of poems,
• how to get the most out of reading poetry,
• how to approach studying a poem,

 If you are studying GCSE English, it is likely that you will need to study poetry at some point during your course. If you are studying English Literature then you will need to study a range of poetry written before and after 1914.

The first thing to recognise about poetry is that it comes in many different forms and it can be about any topic you can think of. Your work for GCSE will involve studying specific poems in some detail, but you can do a number of things to help yourself prepare for your poetry study.

Here are some ideas:

• Read as many poems as you can to get a feel of the different forms poetry can take and the ways in which poets use language in different ways to explore their ideas.
• Keep a reading ‘log’ and make a note of any interesting ideas, images etc. that strike you as particularly effective.
• Read poems aloud (in the privacy of your own room if you prefer). Reading a poem aloud can often help you to understand it better and can also help you to get a feel of the rhythm and/or rhyme pattern.
• Ask yourself questions about the poems you read. These three questions are very important ones:
  • What is the poem about?
  • How does the poet use language in it?
  • Why does the poet use language in this way ? what effect does he or she want to create?

This means that you consider:

CONTENT

STYLE

EFFECT

When studying specific poems as part of your course, it is important that you are clear in your mind what you are doing and what you want to achieve. Having a planned approach to studying your poems can help you. When making your notes, always use specific examples to illustrate your ideas.

Here is a way of doing this:

• Read the poem through carefully several times (aloud if possible).
• Write down your initial responses to it, making a note of any ideas that come into your head.
• Write down your thoughts about the subject or theme of the poem.
• Make a note of the ways in which the poet uses language, e.g. the vocabulary, metaphors, similes and images of the poem.
• Describe what kind of tone or atmosphere the poem has and how this is created.
• Make a note of other effects created in the poem, e.g. rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, onomatopoeia.
• Sum up your ideas on the poem and how the poem ‘works’ as a whole.

It can be useful to highlight or underline important words and phrases. You could colour code these to help identify particular ideas, images etc.

What three questions should you ask yourself when studying a poem?

• What is the poem about?
• How does the poet use language in it?
• Why does the poet use language in this way?