Poetry Analysis - Essential questions

1. Who is the speaker in this poem? What kind of person is he or she?

2. To whom is the speaker speaking, or in other words, who is the audience?
3. What are the situation and setting in time (era) and place?
4. What is the purpose of the poem?
5. State the poem’s central idea or premise in a singular sentence.
6. What is the tone of the poem?
7. What is the theme of the poem?
8. Are there predominant usages of figurative language? What is the effect?
a. Metaphors
b. Similes
c. Imagery
d. Allusions
e. Personification
f. Symbols

28. matter-of-fact--accepting of conditions; not

Tone/Attitude Words fanciful or emotional
29. mocking-treating with contempt or ridicule
1. accusatory-charging of wrong doing 30. morose-gloomy, sullen, surly, despondent
2. apathetic-indifferent due to lack of energy or 31. malicious-purposely hurtful
concern 32. objective-an unbiased view-able to leave personal
3. awe-solemn wonder judgments aside
4. bitter-exhibiting strong animosity as a result of 33. optimistic-hopeful, cheerful
pain or grief 34. obsequious-polite and obedient in order to gain
5. cynical-questions the basic sincerity and something
goodness of people 35. patronizing-air of condescension
6. condescension; condescending-a feeling of 36. pessimistic-seeing the worst side of things; no
superiority hope
7. callous-unfeeling, insensitive to feelings of others 37. quizzical-odd, eccentric, amusing
8. contemplative-studying, thinking, reflecting on 38. ribald-offensive in speech or gesture
an issue 39. reverent-treating a subject with honor and
9. critical-finding fault respect
10. choleric-hot-tempered, easily angered 40. ridiculing-slightly contemptuous banter; making
11. contemptuous-showing or feeling that something fun of
is worthless or lacks respect 41. reflective-illustrating innermost thoughts and
12. caustic-intense use of sarcasm; stinging, biting emotions
13. conventional-lacking spontaneity, originality, and 42. sarcastic-sneering, caustic
individuality 43. sardonic-scornfully and bitterly sarcastic
14. disdainful-scornful 44. satiric-ridiculing to show weakness in order to
15. didactic-author attempts to educate or instruct make a point, teach
the reader 45. sincere-without deceit or pretense; genuine
16. derisive-ridiculing, mocking 46. solemn-deeply earnest, tending toward sad
17. earnest-intense, a sincere state of mind reflection
18. erudite-learned, polished, scholarly 47. sanguineous -optimistic, cheerful
19. fanciful-using the imagination 48. whimsical-odd, strange, fantastic; fun
20. forthright-directly frank without hesitation
21. gloomy-darkness, sadness, rejection
22. haughty-proud and vain to the point of arrogance
23. indignant-marked by anger aroused by injustice
24. intimate-very familiar
25. judgmental-authoritative and often having
critical opinions
26. jovial-happy
27. lyrical-expressing a poet’s inner feelings;
emotional; full of images; song-like
Theme and Premise

What is theme?

A literature needs to be unified around something, and that something is theme, a

recurrent idea or motif. You can begin to identify your theme by coming up with ONE
word to sum it up. That one word is usually a human quality: Friendship. Love.
Trust. Fear. Redemption. Abandonment. Freedom. Motherhood. Truth. Ambition.
Justice. Revenge. Confidence or a universal quality: Duality. War. Confinement.

But the theme of a literature goes deeper. Theme is not just that one word, say
LOVE, but the statement the author makes about the motif with the literature.
FROZEN: sisterly love is greater than power.

Generally, theme is linked to the emotional growth of the protagonist, or the

personal vendetta of the antagonist.

Sometimes you don’t know what your theme is up front. You might change it, or
discover it in the course of reading. It evolves. And that doesn’t matter because it isn’t
stated anywhere in the narrative. It’s a sense we come away with, a flavor, a key.



Theme can also be several statements/explorations around a human quality. For
example, an author could explore different kinds of LOVE through different
characters: brotherly love, love of self, absence of love, parental love, love of money
over people, love of country etc.

What is Premise
Premise, on the other hand, is the idea behind the story, what the author is
writing about, the basic idea and foundation for the literature.

John Truby suggests premise is the simplest combination of character and plot:
Some event that starts the action, some sense of the main character and some sense
of the outcome.


Author and screenwriter Alexandra Sokoloff talks about the premise being ―the pitch‖ for the story.
That works too. After all, a pitch is the one-liner distilled version of your book and introduces us to
the main character, what obstacles he must overcome, and why.


HARRY POTTER: When boy wizard Harry Potter and his friends at Hogwarts wizard school
 must find his magical power to overcome him and
are threatened by the Dark Lord, Harry
become a man and a great wizard.

Premise out of theme

Chris Vogler agrees that premise is the basic idea and foundation for the plot but also that it is
―a more developed expression of the ―theme‖ idea, beyond just one word. It’s a sentence
that you pull out of that one word.‖

First be specific. ―LOVE‖ isn’t specific enough. What kind of love? Brotherly love? Blind love?
Love of country? Loving yourself? What kind of trust? What kind of faith?

And then restate it as a kind of formula:

X behaviour leads to Y consequences
MACBETH: ruthless ambition leads inevitably to destruction
Why does it matter?

Premise is useful as you write because it holds the ultimate character transformation in the
front of your mind, so you are conscious of your character’s actions and reactions being in step
with where he is along the character arc. For instance Harry Potter could never have faced the
dementors at the beginning of the series, not only because he didn’t have the wizardly skills,
but because he had not yet found his confidence or his loyalty.

As you write, theme doesn’t matter, but when it comes to editing, it provides an umbrella
measure to decide which scenes and characters can get cut. Does this scene support the
theme better than this one?

One last word

Screenwriter Andrew Oye sums the whole thing up very nicely. He says premise and theme are
cousins not twins. That the premise is the subject of the story and the theme is the meaning
from the story.

To sum it up:

A story’s premise can be written in one simple, declarative sentence ―Something (main
character trait) leads to something (a universal truth realized by the character)‖

  Faith can work miracles.

  With love, anything is possible.
 Trust in yourself and you're sure to succeed.

Premises can also take the form of sayings.

• Theme: Pride

• Premise: Pride comes before a fall.

• Theme: Honesty

• Premise: Honesty is the best policy.

• Theme: Wealth

• Premise: Wealth spoils the character.