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Great Depression Poetry Analysis: Exploring Themes Through TPCASTT Method

Dive into analyzing Great Depression poetry using the TPCASTT method to uncover themes and meanings. Enhance your poetry analysis skills for a deeper understanding of historical literature.

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Great Depression Poetry Analysis: Exploring Themes Through TPCASTT Method

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  1. TPCASTT Practice & Great Depression Poetry August 27, 2012

  2. Do Now • What does TPCASTT stand for? (Use your notes if you don’t remember) • Complete the “Title,” and “Paraphrase” portion of TPCASTT on the song lyrics that you have in front of you.

  3. T -- Title • Ponder the title before reading the poem • Look at the title and attempt to predict what the poem will be about. • Using the sample in front of you, let’s do this step now.

  4. P -- Paraphrase • Translate the poem into your own words • Make sure you understand the literal plot of the poem. • Write notes in the margin beside each major section of the poem so you can review these later

  5. C -- Connotation • Contemplate the poem for meaning beyond the literal level • Look for any and all poetic devices and try to see how those devices contribute to the meaning, the effect or both of the poem • Metaphor, simile, personification, alliteration, onomatopoeia, rhythm, rhyme, symbolism, and diction • Analyze your sample poem now. Circle these devices and make margin notes about their meanings.

  6. A -- Attitude • Observe both the speaker’s attitude and the poet’s attitude (this may or may not be clear) • This, of course, is TONE. • Remember that these attitudes will probably shift or be mixed in the poem. Label all you see, especially if you see a shift.

  7. S -- Shift • Note shifts in speakers or attitudes • See your handout for more information about indicators of shifts • Are there any shifts in the poem before you?

  8. T – Title (again) • Re-examine the title. Try to see how the title fits with the work as a whole. • This time, you are interpreting the title, not just predicting or looking at it literally.

  9. T -- Theme • Determine what the poet is saying • THIS IS NOT THE MORAL OF THE POEM • Identify the theme by recognizing the human experience, motivation, or condition of the poem. • Follow the steps on your handout to help you come to theme. • Notice that theme is not a trite parable or axiom • One work may have several possible themes

  10. How to Find Theme • Theme: a message in a text (book, poem, play, etc.) that explains how the author feels about a certain subject • The theme is not presented directly to you – you have to make an inference based on the events in the story. • Theme is always a statement, never just one word, or a question.

  11. Theme, cont. • In order to find a text’s theme, you must first find the thematic subjects. • A thematic subject is the basic subject of a text. • Example of thematic subjects: love, hate, anger, trust, family, travel, children, war, government, nature, religion, games

  12. Theme, cont. • After you find all of the thematic subjects of a text, you need to then decide how the author feels about that thing. This will become your theme. • Themes are complete sentences.

  13. Why Do Themes Matter? • Themes help you think about the message of a text, instead of just the surface-level ideas. • Often, you will be asked to write about the theme of a text – so it’s good to know it! • Discussing theme is a great way to demonstrate your full understanding of a text. If you can explain / discuss the theme, you really show that you know what you’re talking about!

  14. Theme, cont. • This video explains more about what a theme is, and how to find it.

  15. Great Depression Poetry • You are going to look at some poetry from the Great Depression Era. • Understanding and analyzing these poems (including THEME), will help prepare you for some of the themes that you will see in Of Mice and Men. • You will also use these poems to help improve your use of TPCASTT, and of analyzing poetry in general.

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