The Sonnet: Analyzing Poetry (TPCASTT) and Poetic Meter

Background of the Sonnet

Giacomo da Lentini, who served as a notary for Emperor Frederick II in Sicily from 1220-1250, created the sonnet
- All sonnets are fourteen-line lyric poems that mostly appear in iambic pentameter
  - Lyric poetry expresses deep emotions and does not necessarily tell a story
- However, during the Renaissance, a select number of well-known poets developed the sonnet form in various ways.
- Each type of sonnet developed by the poet has a specific name and a specific structure.
- The main types of sonnets are:
  - Petrarchan
  - Shakespearean
  - Spenserian.

Analyzing the Sonnet: The TPCASTT Method

Prior to reviewing the differences among the sonnet types, it is important to understand how to analyze poetry. Many sonnets, and poems in general, of the Renaissance contain elevated language, diction, and syntax that may appear unfamiliar to society today. However, certain techniques exist to aid readers in understanding and analyzing the content and elements of the sonnets.

Before beginning the TPCASTT method, review your knowledge of the various literary devices.

Download the handout of Literary Terms that will aid in understanding the poems.

TPCASTT for Analyzing Poetry

In order to analyze poetry, we will use a common method called the TPCASTT process.

Download the TPCASTT guidelines.

The TPCSATT guidelines will be used throughout the module to help you through the analysis process.

Also, review the steps below:

TPCASTT (An analysis method for poetry)

T- TITLE
- Look at the title before reading the poem. Attempt to predict the significance of the title. This will help you gauge the meaning of the poem as you read. Occasionally, poems will not have titles. If this is the case, skip the "title" part of the TPCASTT technique.
P-PARAPHRASE:
- Translate the plot of the poem into your own words. Make sure you understand what every word means and that you can see every image being used.
C- CONNOTATION:
- Contemplate the meaning of the poem beyond the literal-the figurative. Look for all poetic devices and see how they contribute to the meaning of poem.
- Connotative devices include all figurative language and sound devices (similes, metaphors, etc.) the
A- ATTITUDE:
- Identify and describe the persona. Observe the speaker's attitude, the tone.
S- SHIFT:
- Determine the stanza type and whether there are shifts in the tone/attitude.
- Sometimes a change in stanzas will indicate a shift in attitude.
T- TITLE (again):
- Reexamine the title. Try to see how the title fits with the work as a whole
T- THEME:
- Determine what the poet is saying. This does not have to be a "moral" or a "cute saying." Instead, you should think about how the human experience is presented in the poem.
- The theme should be a universal truth, not applicable only to the poem.

Notice that many of the steps include terms such as "might be about" or "seems to sound like." Poetry is an art form that is open to interpretation. If a reader can support his or her claims with words or lines from the poem, the reader has the right to his or her interpretation.

The TPCASTT analysis allows for a deeper understanding of poem. After performing a TPCASTT analysis, you will be more prepared to compose a literary analysis essay about a poem. You will write a response to poetry later in the semester.

TPCASTT PROCESS

Poetic Meter

Poetic meter is a regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables. A meter's basic unit is called a foot, which consists of one stressed syllable (marked as /) and one or more unstressed syllables (marked as u). Each pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables has a specific name.

In order to determine what part of the foot represents the stressed syllable, say the word out loud and notice what part of the word receives the most emphasis.

Example #1: Say the word "children" out loud.
- When spoken out loud, "chil-" receives the emphasis in the speech, and "-dren" does not receive emphasis (CHIL-dren)
- Therefore, the meter is: /u.
Example #2: Say your name out loud.
- Which part of your name received the emphasis?
- What is the meter of your name?

There are four basic metrical feet, or patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables (say the words out loud for a deeper understanding of emphasis):

Iamb (unstressed + stressed)

Example: relief (re-LIEF)

Trochee (stressed + unstressed)

Example: apple (A-pple)

Anapest (unstressed + unstressed + stressed)

Example: introduce (in-tro-DUCE)

Dactyl (stressed + unstressed + unstressed)

Example: broccoli (BRO-cco-li)

In order to find the meter of a poem, the reader must use scansion. Scansion is the process of analyzing a poem's meter. To scan a poem, the reader must:

Identify the meter (as shown above)
Count the number of feet per line, or groups of the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables (the meter).

The following names correspond to the number of feet per line:

Dimeter: Two feet per line

Trimeter: Three feet per line

Tetrameter: Four feet per line

Pentameter: Five feet per line

Hexameter: Six feet per line

Heptameter: Seven feet per line

Octameter: Eight feet per line

Hence, a line with five pairs of unstressed + stressed syllables is called iambic pentameter. Recall that sonnets mostly appear in iambic pentameter.

Self-Assessment: Meter in Poetry

After studying the various types of poetic meter, practice your understanding. Read each of the quotes below and determine the poetic meter in each one. The answers for each are below.

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day Tell me not in mournful numbers Just for a handful of silver he left us And the sound of a voice that is still Come live with me and be my love

Answers:

Iambic Petameter
Trochaic Tetrameter
Dactylic Tetrameter
Anapestic Trimeter
Iambic Tetrameter

RESOURCES IN THIS MODULE ARE OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (OER) OR CREATED BY GAVS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED. SOME IMAGES USED UNDER SUBSCRIPTION.