Close Reading Cheat Sheet
Piece chosen for analysis: (write your poem here)
Directions:
Number the lines of your poem so that you may easily refer to a line on this sheet.
Answer the following questions to get an idea of what your poem is doing overall. Then, fill out at least 3 rows (not all!) of the table following the questions. You’ll need to find a quotation that is an example of the tool or technique on the left side of the table. Then, you need to explain the example’s purpose (what you believe the intention is), effect (how the language changes the reading of the piece), and/or significance (why it’s important to include it) on the right side of the table.
1. Does this poem fall into any specific category – elegy, ode, epic, etc? (You may say that a poem fits a couple categories or none at all)
2. Who is the intended audience of the poem?
3. Does your poem contain any allusions – that is, references to other works, people, or events?
4. Does your poem use an interesting or unusual rhyme scheme? If so, why?
5. What sort of meter does your poem use, if any? What is the effect?
6. Are there any definitions or translations in your poem that you need to look up? Write your findings here.
