Throughout our second semester of AP Lit we have covered many new things but having just finished a lesson on analyzing poetry, I figured I would write, or rather vent, about it on the blog!
When starting this journey through poetry, I have to admit I was quite nervous and interested at the same time. I was nervous because based on my past experiences with analyzing poetry they haven’t gone over very well. Yet, I was interested at the same time because maybe learning these new techniques would help me have a greater appreciation for poetry and its meaning. Well, the journey has come to a halt and my feelings about poetry remain the same with some frustration added to the list.
The techniques, TPCASTT and SOAPSTone, that we learned are quite helpful most of the time, but I get frustrated while trying to find meaning behind everything and having to ask, “why did the poet use this word instead of that word?” or “why is the poem divided this way?,” etc. Having said that, it makes me wonder…do we over-analyze poetry? Do we over think every stanza, line, and word? While we are busy trying to decipher the message the poet was trying to get across, are we forgetting about the enjoyment of just reading a poem and taking from it what we can?
What do you think??
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7 comments:
*Tania*
I think analyzing things is part of being human. We all analyze situations, stories, quotes, and books. Most of the time we analyze without being aware of what we are doing such as, listening to a favorite song, we analyze the song to get a farther understanding of the lyrics. After understanding the meaning of the song we can relate to it and that might make it our favorite song. Poetry wouldn’t usually isn’t liked because of the way its sound, but by the meaning behind it. Without analyzing poetry it wouldn’t be understood. Poetry is really hard to understand and analyze, but with practice it should come easier. I also think we over analyze things way to much! But mostly with our everyday situations and sometimes stories, but with poetry I think it’s a little hard to over analyze because with every little detail you can find a bigger meaning or picture behind it giving you a deeper understanding of the poem.
here is a video i found on youtube that might help with analyizing poems
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1dB7A6rw9I
I want to start by saying that I don't think it's possible to over analyze poetry, and that we analyze without meaning to. When I read poetry I think of diction, what worked well and what didn't; the syntax, how this sentence or that line sounds musically; the title, how it fits with what I think the poem is meaning; and other analytical devices. I'm not sure if others do that as well or if I'm just weird, but I do it automatically. To some degree, it's not possible to truly understand the meaning of something unless we analyze; I agree with Tania in thinking that analyzing is part of being human and that we do it often. On this site I read that the first thing we should do when wanting to analyze poetry is to know what our first impression is, if we enjoyed it, and how it made us feel. Sometimes I think that's all we need if the poem has a clear and immediate meaning. But if the poem is deeper, we may need to delve deeper into the analytical steps in order to fully understand it.
source: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1568246/poetry_interpretation_in_eight_simple.html?cat=4
I think its totally possible to over-analyze poetry, what if the poet really was just writing about the crazy guy next door? or the drunk guy walking down the street every night? The poet might not be trying to change the world with every stroke of their pen (or stroke of the key) they may simply be expressing their thoughts through this form of art. If one compares poetry to the lyrics of the music industry today, there are many similarities. There are lots of times when artists write songs with a specific goal or meaning in mind, but others simply sing about their experiences. For instance the group All-American Rejects in their song Paper Heart sing:
Please just don't play with me
My paper heart will bleed
This wait for destiny won't do
Be with me, please, I beseech you
Simple things, that make you run away
Catch you if I can
Tears fall, down your face
The taste, is something new
Something that I know
Moving on is easiest when I'm around you
Now maybe i am just really terrible with the whole deeper meaning thing, but it seems like they're simply singing about a girl and a relationship. The song is probably inspired by a former relationship and thats what they sing about, they're not saying anything like no one has any love in the world anymore or anything like that. It is a simple song about something, or someone. Thats it, no more, and i think the same applies to some poetry, they really are not trying to stop a war, or stop drug use, they are simply sharing an experience.
(lyrics from http://www.lyrics007.com/The%20All-american%20Rejects%20Lyrics/Paper%20Heart%20Lyrics.html)
I think that we always will over analyze poetry. Well... I do anyways. An example of this would be when we’re trying to figure out the author's pure intention to write something. Of course we'll try and pin point it out with all the nitty gritty details that are crevassed inside the poem but do we know what the author actually feels or even if they have some sort of connection to their piece. The answer is no not really unless the author just states what their intent was for the piece of literature which indeed doesn’t happen very often. So the real main thing is too look at is that do writers actually hide their true intentions in their writing or just do it just because they enjoy writing about misery sorrow and romance stories? Or do they do it because they know they'll leave their own mark on literature's history and thus feel proud to be recognized in the later future? Then we need to ask ourselves if we see authors as greedy people for their own self interest is the book just words on the page that is supposed to make me feel great about this author?
Taylor I have sat all year through English thinking your exact thoughts. Generally I think we overanalyze literature but I think poetry is the biggest victim to over analyzation. I can understand looking for the central meaning of the poem because a poem is like a short story and has a point to it (for the most part) but analyzing every line in the poem to find how the structure of it supports the theme or why the author chose one word over another? That seems absurd to me. Seriously, how does the structure of a sentence support a theme or do anything really? Also, maybe the author just thought that word sounded better or it was just the first word that came to his mind. I feel like most of the stuff we “analyze” we’re really just making up. For example take the poem A Supermarket in California by Allen Ginsberg.
http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/88/supermarket.html
Ginserg was known to use drugs such as LSD and write poems while under the influence. A Supermarket in California is probably an example of such situation. How can we possibly analyze a poem that was written by someone who is high? That person isn’t even thinking sanely and doesn’t even know what he/she is talking about yet there are people out there who will go out analyze such poems to find the deeper meaning and call these poems masterpieces! We analyze poetry to find things that aren’t there and just make stuff up. I strongly believe that if we talked to most of the poets about the stuff we have analyzed they would just look at us strangely and tell us they were simply writing a poem.
Taylor you make some very interesting points. I agree that at times we over analyze poetry and other literary works. There are times when I think english teachers put more thought into a work than the author did while writing it. Onto the issue of TPCASTT and SOAPSTone, I feel that they are helpful at times but frustrating at others. I think the most useful tool in analyzing is the paraphrasing in the TPCASTT method. This always helps me understand what is going on in the poem. The frustrating thing about these tools is that not all are applicable to all poems. If using TPCASTT, you are asked to look for a shift, but many poems don't have a shift. Poetry is also frustrating because I feel it can be interpreted differently by different people. This can cause discrepancies in people's understanding. While this can be frustrating, I think it is also what makes some people enjoy poetry so much. They are able to relate the poem to their own lives much easier than a story which is clearly explained.
Wow, okay. As Perrine says in Sound and Sense, sometimes if you're color-blind and someone is describing colors to you, it seems crazy. Let's just start with the premise that we're all on different spots on the spectrum. Just 'cuz I don't understand curling means it's dumb. Regarding Ginsburg's poem, even a skimming read reveals it's an homage to Walt Whitman, wondering how he would function in a modern America with his sense of beauty and expression. If you're that far you may be curious to see how he depicts modern America. . .and so on. And sometimes a poem just is, and that's okay too. Nonetheless, AP Lit exam asks for analysis of poems, so let's adjust our mindset.
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