Writing a Reading Response on Poetry

Choose 1 or more poems and write a reading response based on one of your interpretations of it.

After you have reread the poem, determine your thesis/focus.

Possible topics:
- compare/contrast essay about the similarities and differences between 2 texts
- how the text connects to you or another text
- overall theme/message

- important symbol or other literary device

- structure and why it's significant

Possible structure:

1. Intro - include title of text, briefly describe observations, state thesis/focus - what the theme of the text is, what it means overall;
   
2. 2nd paragraph - quote and elaborate on one excerpt from text and how it support the thesis ;
   
3. 3rd paragraph - quote and elaborate on another excerpt from the text and how it supports the thesis;
   
4. 4th paragraph - extension/conclusion - how does this text connect to other texts, the world, and/or your self? What does it reveal about the writer, the topic, etc.?

Guidelines on Writing about Poetry

1. For using direct quotations, follow the guidelines on incorporating quotes from previous post.
   
2. Use a slash to indicate line break, and for the in-text citation, include line numbers in parentheses. Example: From the beginning, the Duke in Browning's poem gives the reader a sense of how possessive he really is: "That's my last Duchess on the wall, / Looking as if she were alive" (1-2).

3. If you quote four or more lines of poetry, you need to block indent the poem ten spaces on the left margin.

   
   The author, David Bottoms, is wise to the fact that men often use sports to communicate their feelings. The persona of the poem, however, takes years to realize his father's message. Once he realizes the importance of sports to their relationship, he sends a message back to his father:

   and I never learned what you were laying down.
   Like a hand brushed across the bill of a cap,
   let this be the sign
   I'm getting a grip on the sacrifice. (20-23)

Sample Reading Responses on Poetry

Here are some student reading responses on poetry. Use them as mentor texts to construct your own.

Tulah's response to My Papa's Waltz by Theodore Roethke
Sammie Jo's response to Admonitions by Sylvia Plath
Gabby's response to Starry Night by Anne Sexton

Process:

As with other writing, follow the writing process: brainstorm, plan, and draft.

Also, remember you write for an audience. Make sure you engage your audience.