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Flashcards · AP® English Literature and Composition · Unit 8

Unit 8: Poetry III flashcards

42 cards on topics 8.1 to 8.7. Pick a topic or study the whole unit.

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8.1 Structure and contrasts in poetry

What can line and stanza breaks do in a complex poem?
Create momentum, strain or finality. Notice where thoughts stop or run on (end-stopping and enjambment) and say what the break adds to the idea at that point.
How does punctuation control a poem?
A colon, dash, semicolon, question mark or mid-line full stop controls pace, certainty and balance. Quote the mark and say what it makes the reader do.
What is a volta and what must analysis say about it?
The turn of thought, signalled by "but", "yet", a new addressee or a change of tone, often near line 9 or the couplet. The turn should change how you read what came before it.
What does a broken pattern do?
When rhyme, rhythm, repetition or stanza length suddenly changes, it emphasises the break and can signal loss, shock or release. Name the pattern first, then the break.
What is the difference between situational and verbal irony?
Situational irony: events overturn what the situation led us to expect. Verbal irony: words mean the opposite of what they say. Do not call every surprise irony.
What is a paradox in a poem?
A statement that seems impossible but reveals a truth, such as "death shall die". It compresses an idea and makes the reader rethink the terms, so explain how it can be true.

8.2 Word choice in complex poems

How do you explain a word's function in a poem?
Say what it denotes, what it connotes, why it was preferred to a plainer alternative and what that does for the speaker's attitude. The poet could have used other words, so say why this one.
What is ambiguity in word choice?
A word that supports two or more readings. Give each reading, then say what is gained by keeping both, instead of choosing one and ignoring the other.
What are the steps from ambiguity to a revised claim?
Pick the word, give each reading, name the tension between them, then revise your interpretation: "So the poem is less about X than about Y". The revision is where the analysis earns credit.
What is a coinage or compound word?
A new or fused word that makes the reader hear two ideas at once. Treat it as an argument in miniature, not as decoration.
Why is "the word is negative" a weak comment?
It labels the feeling without describing the effect. Say what the word suggests, which alternative it replaces and how it shapes the speaker's attitude.
Why connect word choice to the speaker?
The question is how the word shapes the speaker's attitude or self-presentation. A word's effect depends on who says it and why.

8.3 Symbol in poetry

What is a symbol in a poem?
A concrete thing that, in the way the poem uses it, stands for something beyond itself. The poem builds the meaning through repetition, position, surrounding words and the speaker's treatment of it.
What are the five questions for a symbol?
Spot it, track it, say what it suggests, name the attitude and link to the whole. End every explanation by saying how the symbol changes the poem's meaning.
What is the difference between an image and a symbol?
An image appeals to the senses and may only be descriptive. A symbol carries weight beyond its literal role. Do not call every image a symbol.
Why avoid a one-to-one code such as "rose equals love"?
It ignores what this poem does with the thing. Say what the poem makes the rose suggest, which may be fragile beauty, secrecy or threat, depending on the context.
How does a speaker's treatment of a symbol show attitude?
What the speaker does with the symbol (guards it, ignores it, mourns it) implies a perspective. Link the symbol to the speaker's feeling.
Why should you not import meanings from outside the poem?
Meanings from biography or a symbol dictionary may not match the poem. Ground your reading in the poem's own repetition, position and surrounding words.

8.4 Extended and complex metaphor

What does an extended metaphor do across a poem?
A single comparison developed across several lines. Each added detail maps another part of the vehicle onto the subject.
What is a conceit?
An elaborate, often surprising extended metaphor linking two very unlike things, developed so ingeniously that it draws attention to the poet's wit. Compasses standing for lovers is a classic example.
What are tenor and vehicle?
The tenor is the subject being described; the vehicle is the thing it is compared to. In a poem comparing the lovers' souls to compasses, souls are the tenor and compasses the vehicle.
How do you analyse an extended metaphor?
Name tenor and vehicle, unpack the elements one by one, combine them into a meaning, note where the comparison strains, then link the metaphor to the poem as a whole.
What is strain in a conceit, and what does it do?
The point where the comparison is surprising or extravagant, such as a flea as a marriage temple. Strain can create wit, irony, persuasion or intensity and shows the speaker performing an argument.
What is a common mistake with a conceit?
Listing parallels with no comment on what they mean, or treating the conceit as decoration. Say what the combined elements argue.

8.5 Allusion in poetry

What is an allusion in poetry?
A brief, indirect reference to a shared story, figure, event or text. The reader's knowledge supplies the associations, so it creates meaning without explaining itself.
What are the steps for analysing a poem's allusion?
Recognise it, name the source in a sentence, pick the associations the poem uses, decide the stance (honour, undercut or complicate), then say what it changes about the whole poem.
What stances can an allusion take toward its source?
Honour or extend it, undercut it, or complicate it by using and questioning it at once. Look for tone, contradictory evidence and bitter adjectives to tell which.
What does it mean when a poem calls a classical motto "the old Lie"?
The poem undercuts the source: a motto that praises dying for one's country is shown as false by the poem's own evidence. The whole poem then reads as a reply to the motto.
What should you do if a reference is unfamiliar?
Use context to infer what it suggests, and say what the poem does with it. Do not give up, and do not retell the source.
Why does the position of an allusion matter?
Placed at the end it can reframe the whole poem; placed early it can set a standard the poem then tests. Say where it falls and what that position does.

8.6 Thesis and commentary in a poetry essay

What counts as a thesis in the poetry essay?
A defensible interpretation of the poem that responds to the prompt. It is not a restatement of the prompt, a summary or a list of devices.
How is the poetry essay scored?
Out of 6: one point for the thesis, up to four for evidence and commentary, and one for sophistication. The Marlbridge rubric follows these three rows.
What does a body paragraph open with?
A claim in your own words, not a quotation. Then give short evidence, a device-to-effect commentary and a link back to the thesis.
What is the commentary chain for an essay?
Device, effect, meaning, thesis. Say what the device does, what that shows about the poem, and how it supports the thesis.
What is wrong with a sophisticated-sounding last sentence?
Sophistication must be sustained across the essay. A grand final line on an essay that has not handled complexity earns nothing.
Why must every paragraph end with a link?
A link ties the paragraph to the thesis so the reader sees the line of reasoning. Without it, paragraphs read as separate observations.

8.7 Evidence and composition in a poetry essay

How big should a quotation in a poetry essay be?
A word or a phrase, a line at most. Embed it in your sentence and follow it with commentary.
How do you show line breaks in a quotation?
Use a slash with spaces between lines: "line one / line two". Copy words and punctuation exactly.
What tense and voice should a poetry essay use?
The present tense ("the speaker hears"), "the speaker" for the voice in the poem and "the poet" only for choices of craft.
How should evidence be spread across an essay?
Draw from the beginning, middle and end of the poem as the claim needs, and give each quotation a different job: illustrate, clarify, exemplify, associate, amplify or qualify.
What is a suggested 40-minute plan for a poetry essay?
About 5 minutes to read and annotate, 5 to plan a thesis, 25 to write and 5 to revise. Leave time to reread and fix unclear sentences.
Why must you never invent a quotation?
A false quotation destroys the evidence and the reader's trust. If you cannot recall a line exactly, describe the detail precisely instead.

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