How To Analyze Literature

3 Things I Learned:

• In order to be a good reader, you must focus on one single literary element at a time and then realize they are never done, that it's never perfect, and to be successful you must put in the time and exit out of your comfort zone.
• Syntax occurs when the writers slow us down with complex or long sentences or speeds us up with short, simple ones. It is based on the Greek word that means "arrangement." In poetry, word order is extremely significant.
• Sometimes an object or setting can be considered a character, and if this happens any analysis must tie the characters back to "a theme about humanity."

2 Questions I Still Have:

• How does diction help us understand the speaker's attitude?
• What's the significance in when novelists and other writers use their own names for a narrator?

A Skill:
 I feel comfortable in my overall knowledge of figurative language. It's something that my elementary and middle school drilled in our brains, and when I read over "How to Analyze Literature," all of the content sounded familiar. I feel comfortable with spotting out figurative language and connecting it to a theme.

An Interactive Close Reading

I chose to complete my close reading on the lines 10 & 11,
""Now no matter, child, the name:
  Sorrow's springs are the same."

First Impression

The very first thing I noticed about these two lines was the grammatical conventions, such as the use of commas and a colon. 

Vocabulary and Diction

The word, spring, seems to carry multiple meanings. The text could be referencing the literal season of Spring, or the passage could mean that "sorrow" is taking a spring or jumping and leaping. 

Discerning Patterns

The sentence rhythm seems to be short and choppy, as well as addressing. It also seems to stay at a consistent pace. It follows a continuous rhythmic beat. This structure relates to the content in that I think it's important for the narrator of the poem to keep whomever he/she is addressing's attention, and in order to do so, he/she must remain consistent and not shy away from the message.

Point of View and Characterization

I am not quite sure who is speaking in the poem, but I feel as though whoever it is, they are speaking to Margaret, who I'm assuming is also considered a child. The narrator seems to have an omniscient point of view since he/she knows what emotions Margaret is feeling. That viewpoint helps the reader's comprehension because we are able to make connections between Margaret's emotions and the symbolic objects. 

Symbolism, Schemes, Tropes

There are no metaphors, similes of figures of speech within this part of the poem, for the exception of personification - "Sorrow's springs." This gives human characteristics, spring, to abstract idea, sorrow. 

Importance

It is important for me to know what I just analyzed because it helps me develop an understanding of what the text's theme is and why the author constructed it in the way it did. These two lines, specifically, help me understand the poem more completely because I understand who is speaking and what they're essentially getting at.