Explicating+your+poem

Explicating a poem is not an exact science. Through its subjectivity, however, explications can unveil new and innovative ways of understanding a poem. The important thing to understand when explicating a poem is that you must support your assertion through the analysis of its relevant features. An effective explication does not include a perfunctory laundry list of its features. Instead, an explication functions very much like an essay where you make a reasonable assertion as to what the poet might be trying to tell his/her audience and find features, examples, and details from the poem to add substance to your assertion. The ultimate purpose of the explication is to give meaning to poems which, since they were written anywhere from decades to centuries ago, may be seen as out-of-touch with reality.
 * Explicating a Poem**


 * Steps for Explicating a Poem:**


 * 1) **Read the poem:** Read it many times. Read it aloud and to yourself several times. Become familiar with the way it looks and sounds because that will help you understand the tone of the poem.


 * 1) **Understand the situation:**


 * Is the poem narrative? If so, what events occur?
 * What is the emotion or mood of the poem? Is it melancholy or passionate?
 * What about the poetic voice? Who is the speaker? It may very well not be the poet.
 * Finally, what is the poem’s tone? This is the speaker’s attitude toward the subject of the poem. There are usually words, images, or ideas that usually hint at this. For example: in “Dirge Without Music” it can be asserted that Millay resists the finality of death. The title of the poem is just one idea that hints at it. A dirge is a funeral song, but the dirge she has written literally has no melody and is unorthodox as a result.


 * 1) **Study the structure of the poem:**


 * Look at the form of the poem. How many lines are there? How are they arranged? Is the form traditional (i.e. Sonnet,Limerick) or is it more free verse or blank verse? Why would the poet choose this form for this specific poem?
 * Look at the movement of the poem. What is the development of the poem? Is it chronological, cause and effect, or through free association? Does the poem circle back to its starting point or does the attitude change from one type to another (pensive to despair) throughout the poem?
 * Look for syntax: How many sentences are there in the poem? Are they simple or complex? Are the sentences inverted (Verbs before nouns) rather than the normal nouns followed by verbs? If so, why would the poet choose to do this?
 * Look at punctuation: Does a punctuation mark always appear at the end of the line (end-stopped line) or does the thought continue on to the next line (enjambment)? Do any punctuation marks appear in the middle of the line? This usually indicates a pause in the reading. Why would the poet choose to do this?
 * Look at the title of the poem. How does it relate to the poem itself?


 * 1) **Study the language of the poem:**


 * Look at the diction (word choice) of the poem. Is it colloquial or formal? Is it simple or unusual? Do you know what all the words mean in context? If not, look them up, ask a friend, or ask a teacher.
 * Look for allusions. Are there any references to people, places, or events outside of the poem usually from history, myth, or religion?
 * Look for imagery. Does the poet use any figurative language (i.e. similes, personification)? How do these examples of imagery add meaning to the poem? Or, how do they intensify its effect?


 * 1) **Study the musical/sound devices:**


 * Look at the rhyme scheme. Is it a regular or irregular pattern? Is the effect funny, jarring, formal, musical, or satisfying?
 * Look for rhythm. Just as in regular language, there tends to be a pattern of stressed and unstressed sounds in poetry. These patterns can vary. Rhythm contributes to the overall tonal effect of the poem.
 * Look for other sound effects such as consonance repetition, alliteration, and assonance. What is their tonal effect?

By studying these elements of poetry, you should be able to develop a fairly strong explication. Keep in mind that not every poem will incorporate all of the features or devices listed above. In addition, not all of the features and devices may be relevant to your interpretation and/or analysis of the poem. Only include details, devices, and examples of figurative language that help to support your interpretation of the poem.


 * Structure**

The structure of your explication is similar to that of an essay. Begin with an introduction and follow with 2-3 paragraphs. End with a concluding paragraph.

Unlike the introduction of an essay, the introduction of an explication should simply begin the explication right from the start by introducing either the dramatic conflict of the poem or present an overview of the speaker’s dramatic situation. This is where you present the larger issues of the poem and assert the significance of its meaning.

In the next paragraphs, you will delve into what will seem to be a line-by-line analysis that takes your reader deeper into the meaning and context of the poem. This is where figurative language, form, rhyme scheme, etc. will be analyzed if it supports your assertion.

There is no formal concluding paragraph but you may want to take this moment to re-emphasize any particular features that support your explication or you may choose to end your explication when you reach the end of the poem itself.


 * Tips**

1) When writing your explication, use “the speaker” or “the poet” rather than the narrator. Also, differentiate between the two. 2) Always write in the present tense because poetry, like other literature, continues to exist. 3) Avoid use of gerunds (-ing) and different forms of “to be.” Use explicit action words (i.e. persuades, dramatizes.