Poetry Breakdown

The House on Mango Street had many elements of poetry, but still had the structure of prose. (The difference: poetry is written in lines and stanzas; prose is written in sentences and paragraphs.) Poetry written in lines doesn't have to obey the traditional rules of grammar and syntax; therefore, what poems are really saying is often difficult to interpret.

Today, we learned a little trick to make poetry decoding a bit easier: TPCASTT. We read "My Papa's Waltz" today and will read "I Ask My Mother to Sing" and some Langston Hughes's poems tomorrow. Remember, use the following method to break down those sometimes elusive lines of poetry to easily understand meanings, functions of literary devices, and themes.

1. T-Title: The meaning of the title without reference to the poem.

2. P-Paraphrase: Put the poem, line by line, in your own words. DO NOT READ INTO THE POEM. Only read on surface level.

3. C-Content: looking for deeper meaning.

• Symbolism

• Consonance

• Imagery

• Metaphors and similes

• Rhyme scheme

• Mood

• Punctuation

• Personification

1. A-Attitude: Looking for the author’s tone. How is the writer speaking?

2. S-Shifts: Looking for shifts in tone, action, and rhythm. Don’t just write the line number. Discuss how the shift(s) affects the poem.

3. T-Title: Reevaluate the title as it pertains to the poem

4. T-Theme: What does the poem mean? What is it saying? How does it relate to life?