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Before you begin to read a poem, it is important to study its physical aspects and visual cues--for example, the title, the length of verses and/or stanzas, the punctuation (or lack thereof). These often will give you an idea of what the poem is about. Your goal in this stage is to use your ability to observe, relate, and elaborate. Generate as many ideas as you can; you can determine the relevance of the ideas later. Here quantity, not quality, is the goal.
Note: Always keep your cultural/historical framework at hand. All of the poets in Aproximaciones were selected for a reason, and part of your job is to determine that reason. Where does the poet being studied fit into the cultural/historical framework and the literary trends of the age? What did his/her style contribute to the genre?
It is important for three reasons to have a working copy of the poem you are analyzing. First, some poems have been divided into parts in order to accommodate the space in the text. It is critical to see the poem in its original format so that you can see how the verses and stanzas fit together. Second, you can enlarge your working copy to make the words easier to see. Third, you still have a clean copy of the poem in the text.
Task 1. Create Working Copy.
Task 1. Decode Title.
Task 2. Brainstorm.
Task 1. Skim Text.
NOTE: If you have difficulty determining the main idea, do the following three tasks.
Task 2. Scan for Nouns. Scan the poem for nouns and determine if they fall into general categories (for instance, people, places, nature, emotions, colors, war, geography, family). Make note of the categories and provide examples of each.
Task 3. Scan for Verbs. Scan the poem for verbs. Separate them into action and state-of-being verbs and write them down. Make note of the subject of each verb you list.
Task 4. Elaborate.
Task 1. Brainstorm Connections.
Task 2. Speculate.
Task 3. Challenge Yourself. Several passages from the description of Fagundo's style on page 231 of the text are listed here. Find words, expressions, or lines in the poem Trinos that might be examples of her style. Add the connections you made in Task 1.