TP-CASTT Poetry Analysis

1. TP-CASTTPoetry Analysis Understanding meaning and how technique enhances meaning

2. Summary of TP-CASTT Analysis

3. Title • Ponder the title before reading the poem. • Write your first impressions of the title. • Predict such elements as mood, tone, and theme, for example.

4. Paraphrase • Translate the poem into your own words. • This is more difficult with modern poems that are more similar to your own diction and syntax. • For longer poems, work in stanzas, for shorter poems, work line by line. • Focus on the literal, denotative use of the words, not the deeper meaning.

5. Connotation • Contemplate the poem for meaning beyond the literal. • What is the speaker actually conveying with their words? • You should note holistic connotations present in complete stanzas • Include specific choices of diction, idioms, punctuation, etc.

6. Attitude • Observe both the speaker’s attitude (mood) and the poet’s attitude (tone). • Go beyond simply naming the tone and mood– explain how these are created. • Comment on specific words, phrases, poetic devices, punctuation, etc. that the poet employs to convey attitude.

7. Shifts • Note shifts in speaker, point of view, attitude, time, diction, syntax, punctuation, etc. • Go beyond identifying the shift and its location in the poem: how is it created? • Be specific.

8. Title • Examine the title again, this time on an interpretive level. • What new insights do you have on the title after reading the poem? • Note such elements as sarcasm, understatement, attitude, etc.

9. Theme • Determine what the poet– not the speaker-- is saying. • What affect does the poet want the poem to have on the reader? • A single word may be a symbol or a motif, but not a theme. • Themes are complete sentences, in the third person, stated as a universal truth.