ioc outline poetry

IOC OUTLINE: POETRY

INSTRUCTIONS: Underneath each of the points below type your notes in blue font.
Your analysis of tone and stylistic devices must be done in a stanza-by-stanza or line- by -line fashion, in as much detail as possible. Avoid robotic comments and consider how and why as you develop your analysis.

Introduction

1. State your full name, course, level, and the school you attend
2. State the title of the poem as well as the full name of the poet
3. Contextualize the poem into the larger body of works (mention the larger collection title, year of publication; address a few general characteristics of the poet’s style and how this particular poem would fit into that)
4. Provide a brief synopsis of the poem. What is it about?
5. Identify the speaker? Is it the poet himself? How do you know?
6. State the theme and message of the poem (are there links you can make to other poems in the collection?)
7. State your 3-prong thesis statement that should revolve around either message or theme. The three prongs must be tone, stylistic devices, and structure.

Tone

1. Provide a stanza-by-stanza or line-by-line analysis.
2. Address overall tone
3. For each point, make sure you provide a full, relevant quote, followed by line number.
4. Analyze each quote by addressing:
a. What is revealed about the speaker and/or the characters in the poem
b. What is the effect on the reader
c. Relevance to the theme and message of the poem as you identified them in your thesis statement

Stylistic Devices

1. Provide a stanza-by-stanza or line-by-line analysis.
2. For each point, make sure you provide a full, relevant quote, followed by line number.
3. Analyze each quote by addressing:
a. What is revealed about the speaker and/or the characters in the poem
b. What is the effect on the reader
c. Relevance to the theme and message of the poem as you identified them in your thesis statement

Structural Elements

1. Address structure of the poem as a whole and why that is relevant to the theme and message of the poem.
2. Address the rhyme scheme of the poem and discuss relevance as above.
3. Address enjambments and/or caesuras with specific quotes followed by line numbers. Again, address relevance as above.
4. Are there other structural elements: contrast, juxtaposition, parallelism, etc. Again, address relevance.

Conclusion

1. Summarize your main points (restate your thesis)
2. Make some final, relevant, links to the larger body of works
3. Provide some insight