Format for Poem Analysis Outline

I. The first roman numeral should be your first paragraph written with an attention-grabber and the thesis statement (which includes the title of the poem and the author).

II. Identify the 1^st stylistic device that you plan to analyze

a. Identify a specific example that illustrates or exemplifies your stylistic device (use quotation marks to indicate the direct quote from the passage)

b. Elaborate and explain the significance of the example as it relates to the meaning of the poem or the illustration of the theme

III. Identify the 2^nd stylistic device that you plan to analyze

a. Identify a specific example that illustrates or exemplifies your stylistic device (use quotation marks to indicate the direct quote from the passage)

b. Elaborate and explain the significance of the example as it relates to the meaning of the poem or the illustration of the theme

IV. Identify the 3^rd stylistic device that you plan to analyze

a. Identify a specific example that illustrates or exemplifies your stylistic device (use quotation marks to indicate the direct quote from the passage)

b. Elaborate and explain the significance of the example as it relates to the meaning of the poem or the illustration of the them

V. Conclusion – the conclusion should restate the thesis statement, summarize your main points, and show how the poem relates to broader themes in life.

For example see the example in the handout that was distributed in class…

I. What is life worth without dreams and the hope that those dreams can come true someday? What happens when the achievement of a dream is postponed – again and again? In “A Dream Deferred,” Langston Hughes answers these questions by using the stylistic devices of diction, figurative language, and sound to show that keeping people from achieving their dreams can have destructive consequences.

II. Stylistic Device: Diction

a. “What happens to a dream deferred?”

b. The word “dream” can have more than one meaning with makes the meaning of the poem become more complex

III. Stylistic Device: Figurative Language

a. Simile: “like a raisin in the sun” (3)

b. Compares a dream to something that is wrinkled and shriveled and makes it seem negative… a deferred dream is not “plump and juicy”

c. Metaphor: “Or does it explode?” (11)

d. Compares a dream to something that explodes, like a bomb. This makes it seem negative because a bomb can cause disastrous effects.

IV. Stylistic Device: Sound

a. “sun/run,” “meat/sweet,”

b. pull the ideas behind the similes and metaphor together to repeat and build the importance of these elements

V. Conclusion – Just what does happen when the achievement of a dream is postponed again and again? Hughes uses the stylistic devices of diction, figurative language, and sound to tell his readers what might happen to a deferred dream. The word “deferred” hints that the dreamer might not always accept the postponement of his or her dream. The five similes seem to say that only the dreamer is hurt. In the final metaphor, however, the deferred dream is a bomb that will eventually explode and hurt many people. Hughes ties the poem together with jazzy rhyme and rhythm. “A Dream Deferred” carries an idea we should all consider – not to let our own dreams become deferred, and not to block others in their quests to follow their own dreams.