How
to Close Read a Poem
- How
is the title of the poem working? What
information is it giving? How would the
poem be different with a different title? The poem is talking about a man/woman whose job is picking apples and the title is letting you know that the poem takes place after a day of apple picking. If it was titled gold panning then the poem would be about gold panning instead that is the revolving point (work).
- List
all of words you don’t know, or think you don’t know. Look them up in the dictionary. Write them down. Hoary:Greyish White.
- Read
the poem out loud. What sounds do you
notice in the poem? Is there rhyme? Are there any repeated sounds? Write down the sounds you hear at work in the
poem. I am noticing that there is ryhme within the poem in several spots and it also seems to take on the "sound" of apples falling out of the tree. Seemed like there was some kind of a massive amount of flow in the middle and slow amounts in the beginning and end.
- What
is literally happening in the poem?
Write a paragraph describing what is going on. Where is this happening? Who are the people in the poem? There is one person in the poem and it is the apple picker. He/She is taking a break or is quitting for the day and proceeds to take a nap and think about how his/her feet hurt and ache. Then during the individuals sleep they begin to dream about barrels and buckets and cellars full of apples and the sound of them "rumbling".
- What
are the images in the poem? List five
images you see in detail. What do you
know about them? How is the poem using
imagery? Apples rumbling out of a cellar and I also see a woodchuck randomly just hanging out in the background. The apples are a dream being had by the main character and the woodchuck I have no clue.
- What
do you know about the speaker? List ten
facts you can infer (the If-Then game). The speaker is a working person. Probably male, maybe female. Doesn't make much money. Has sore feet. Has a disgust towards apples. Person is tired. Person works alot. Speaker doesn't like the ladders that the apple farm provides. Speaker uses every last bit of each apple even if its bruised. Before the end of the day the Speaker did not finish there job because of the empty bucket by their ladder.
- Write
a paragraph describing the tone of the poem.
Remember, tone is the speaker’s attitude toward his/her subject. Most attitudes in poetry will be complex,
i.e. more that one attitude. List 10
words you think helps set this tone. The speaker is very negative towards their job. It almost seems like they are whining or crying because their feet hurt or they deal with to many apples. Ache, I have had too much, over tired, no worth.
- Does
the poem have a formal structure? If
not, what effect does the lack of structure have? If so, what effect does the structure have on
the meaning of the poem? There is no real structure it's more of a free verse poem than anything else. The lack of structure makes the reader more able to explore through the mind of the speaker freely without it being choppy.
- Where
does the tension lie in the poem? Poetic
tension can come in many forms. Is there
any conflict in the plot/action of the poem?
Do images form a tension? Does
the speaker and/or tone create tension in the poem? List three poetic tensions you see at
work. The tension lies as soon as the speaker begins to see all of the barrells and buckets of apples. They themselves begin to become tense and agitated as if it was like they were at work again. "I keep hearing from the cellar bin", "There were ten thousand fruit to touch", "My instep arch not only keeps the ache"
- Are their any images, phrases, words, and sounds in the poem that you can't shake out of your head? List three that resonate with you. Woodchuck, hoary grass, apples in the cellar piling out.
I understand this poem a bit better and really enjoyed thinking deeper into in. Frost is literally talking about the working class of his time and how they go through hardships and disgust of what they do to put food on the table. It also almost seemed like he thought thats the way that life is supposed to be and that is what everyone goes through on a weekly basis. There still is one thing I have no idea what it is. THAT DAMN WOODCHUCK!!!!