POETRY (Literature in English)

POETRY (Literature in English) APPROACHING UNSEEN POEMS 1) OVERALL MEANING - Subject Matter - Style of Writing - General Mood 2) DETAILED ANALYSIS — Literary Techniques - Diction - Imagery - Sound Devices - Rhythm, Rhyme, Repetition - Form & Structure - and more… 3) DETAILED ANALYSIS - Message - Mood - Persona’s or Poet’s Attitude 4) PERSONAL RESPONSE - How literary techniques add to poem’s meaning (link 2 & 3) - What is the effect on reader

LOCAL / SINGAPORE POEMS In addition to the above, do bring in your background knowledge of local events, language, places and cultural and social issues to your reading of the local / Singapore poems in order to offer deeper insights. To do so, pay attention to: 1) ALLUSION — references to names of people, places, things, titles of texts, historical events - Literal significance or extended meaning - Relation to theme or conflict in the poem - How the allusion (character / thing / event) is represented 2) VOICE — the use of local / Singlish, vernacular terms, local inflections of the speaker or characters in the poem. - Profile of the character & their concerns - Purpose of the use of the voice - Effect of the use on reader 3) THEME — themes that connect to the Singapore context. (e.g: social issues, local culture) Find Singaporean poems: https://www.poetry.sg

QUESTION TYPES (NOT JUST POETRY) THEME: In what way does (writer) make ( theme ) so ___ ? TWEDYA (To what extent do you)

COMMON ADJECTIVES STRIKING - Definition: very unusual or easily noticed, and therefore attracting a lot of attention - What makes the subject of the question stand out from the norm? - What traits make the subject pop out? Common devices: Imagery, Juxtaposition, Contrast, Diction DISTURBING - Definition: making you feel worried or upset - What causes the subject of the question to make you (the readers) feel uncomfortable, anxious, or alarming? DRAMATIC - Definition: very sudden or noticeable, or full of action and excitement: - What makes the subject of the question so thrilling, gripping or vibrant? Common devices: Irony, Imagery, Repetition MOVING - Definition: causing strong feelings of sadness or sympathy; - What makes the subject of the question so stirring, inspiring or touching? Usually its relationship / passage / specific stanzas that may be moving to the reader.

LITERARY DEVICES ! Irony: a situation in which something which was intended to have a particular result has the opposite or a very different result. - Dramatic irony, situational irony… Juxtaposition: the fact of putting things that are not similar next to each other. Alliteration: the use, especially in poetry, of the same sound or sounds, especially consonants, at the beginning of several words that are close together. Personification: the act of giving a human quality or characteristic to something which is not human. Metaphor: an expression, often found in literature, that describes a person or object by referring to something that is considered to have similar characteristics to that person or object. Simile: (the use of) an expression comparing one thing with another, always including the words "as" or "like". Paradox: a situation or statement that seems impossible or is difficult to understand because it contains two opposite facts or characteristics. Symbolism: the use of symbols in art, literature, films, etc. to represent ideas. - Religious symbolism Imagery: the use of words or pictures in books, films, paintings, etc. to describe ideas or situations; visual symbolism, or figurative language that evokes a mental image or other kinds of sense impressions, especially in a literary work. (e.g Vivid imagery) Useful words & phrases when using imagery as a literary device: - The poet creates an image of ___ in our mind… - The writer’s use of ___ imagery evokes feelings of ___ in readers… - The poet describes the ___ as ______, giving us the impression that… - Through the use of such imagery, the writer suggests that… Repetition: the act of doing or saying something again - Used to emphasise importance of a theme / thing in poem. Diction: the writer's or speaker's distinctive vocabulary choices and style of expression in a piece of writing such as a poem or story. - The poet’s use of ____ words… - Archaic diction (diction that is antique, that is rarely used), high diction (lofty sounding language), & low diction (everyday language)

TONE - Solemn - Sarcastic - mocking