
Discover the basics of English poetry, including what poetry is and how poets use devices, meter, and rhyme. Learn a four-step approach to break down poems and craft critical analyses.
Explore how rhythm, rhyme and meter shape poetry, from lyric poems and poetic lyrics to iambic pentameter, with sound effects, feet and figures like alliteration, assonance, hyperbole, simile and metaphor.
Identify poetic devices and figures of speech to analyze poetry, and apply tools like blank verse, repetition, alliteration, antithesis, anaphora, and satire to enhance writing.
Explore hidden meaning and deeper meaning in poetry, learn steps to identify them, and analyze emotional connections, context, and poet background using examples like Shakespeare, Donne, and Sia.
Learn to write a focused critical analysis of poetry using close reading, analyzing what is said and how, and a clear introduction, body, and conclusion.
This course will teach you everything from how to read and understand an English poem, to being able to write a critical analysis on the specific poem. This will include the basic fundamentals of poetry as well as the different poetic structures. Each class will cover a main subject in the context of poetry.
The first class will cover a basic introduction to poetry, this includes a step by step instruction on how to approach a poem. This will also include the definition of poetry and why we read and write it.
The second class will be about the main structure and style of a poem. The structural make up of a poem will defined and discussed in depth with examples of each main component. There will be a practical exercise in this class with the answers.
In the third class it will all be about the poetic devices as well as figures of speech (common and uncommon). All of the figures of speech and poetic devices in this class will be defined and explained with examples.
In the forth class hidden meaning will be discussed. How to find it, how to understand it and how can one incorporate it in writing.
The fifth and final class will focus completely on the writing of a critical analysis. This will include writing tips, steps and procedures you can follow to write an incredible critical analysis.