GUIDE TO CLOSE READING: Poetry

Close reading is a form of literary analysis that explores deeper meanings in passages of text by examining word-
choice and verbal patterns such as form, sound and figurative language in order to understand the way the poet
constructs meaning through language. Close readings may also go so far as to draw from the etymology and
historical meanings of particular words to offer new insights.

Tips to Prepare:
1. Read the poem aloud to hear the way it sounds OR utilize free resources online to hear recitations of the
poem, sometimes by the poet themselves
2. Annotate! Always note what specific passages/lines/words confuse, intrigue, anger, disrupt or please you.
Mark up the text - circling words, drawing arrows between words that seem related, underlining sounds that
seem to repeat, putting boxes around intriguing metaphors, etc.
3. Mark unfamiliar, unexpected or ambiguous meanings, including multiple meanings, like puns or homonyms
(i.e. words that sound the same as another but have a different meaning).

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Select a specific 6-10 line passage from a poem that intrigues you (no more and no less).

2. Type out the passage in full (formatted as centered and single-spaced at the top of the page – below the
title of your paper).

3. How does the poet affect the reader with this passage? with the poem as a whole? How is this passage
related to the poem as a whole (by theme, form, sound, tone, etc.)? Lastly, how effective is the
passage/poem at affecting the reader?

NOTE: Do not simply summarize the passage. Do not stop after explaining what you think it means. Go
further to discuss why you have formed your interpretation and how the poet is conveying that meaning
through language, form/structure, etc.

4. Consider some of these questions:

a. Is figurative language at work in your passage? To what effect?
b. Consider the tone of this passage, as well as the poem as a whole.
c. Are there any allusions (obvious references) to other poems/cultural trends/historical events?
d. Do some lines echo earlier passages in the poem, or foreshadow later passages?
e. Do you see any striking connections or contradictions within the passage?

SUGGESTED SOURCES
1. You can refer to a full Glossary of literary terms at Poetry Foundation.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/resources/learning/glossary-terms
2. Look up the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) online, through the Hunter College Library, at
http://proxy.wexler.hunter.cuny.edu/login?url=http://www.oed.com/ OR go to the Hunter College Library
page - click on Databases - click on “O” - click on “Oxford English Dictionary.” You can access this link from
anywhere, but if you’re off-campus you will need to login with your Hunter College e-mail login and
password, which you can find from the college portal if you don’t know them.