Reading Poetry - English 9
| Step 1 | Does the title add information to help you interpret the poem? |
| Step 2 | Read the poem - aloud is preferred because poetry is an auditory event. |
| Step 3 | Note patterns in the poem. |
| Step 4 | Note the auditory effects (rhythm, rhyme, onomatopoeia, alliteration, consonance, assonance, etc) |
| Step 5 | Determine how the cognitive effects add to the meaning of the poem (metaphor, irony, personification, simile, hyperbole, etc.) |
| Step 6 | Determine the literal meaning. |
| Step 7 | Determine if there is a figurative meaning (there may not be). |
Please see "Introduction to Poetry" by Billie Collins