Poetry Analysis—TP-CAS-TT Protocol

Before you even think about reading the poetry or trying to

analyze it, speculate on what you think the poem ​might ​be about
T TITLE based upon the title. Often times authors conceal meaning in the
title and give clues in the title. Jot down what you think this poem
will be about.

Before you begin thinking about meaning or tying to analyze the

poem, don't overlook the literal meaning of the poem. One of the
biggest problems that students often make in poetry analysis is
jumping to conclusions before understanding what is taking place
in the poem. When you paraphrase a poem, write in your own
PARA words exactly what happens in the poem. Look at the number of
P sentences in the poem—your paraphrase should have exactly
PHRASE the same number. This technique is especially helpful for poems
th ​ th ​
written in the 17​ and 19​ centuries. Sometimes your teacher
may allow you to ​summarize w ​ hat happens in the poem. Make
sure that you understand the difference between a ​paraphrase
and a ​summary​.

Although this term usually refers solely to the emotional

overtones of word choice, for this approach the term refers to
any and all poetic devices, focusing on how such devices
contribute to the meaning, the effect, or both of a poem. You may
CONNO consider imagery, figures of speech (simile, metaphor,
C personification, symbolism, etc), diction, point of view, and sound
TATION devices (alliteration, onomatopoeia, rhythm, and rhyme). It is not
necessary that you identify all the poetic devices within the
poem. The ones you do identify should be seen as a way of
supporting the conclusions you are going to draw about the
poem.

Having examined the poem's devices and clues closely, you are
now ready to explore the multiple attitudes that may be present
in the poem. Examination of diction, images, and details
ATTI suggests the speaker's attitude and contributes to
A
TUDE understanding. You may refer to the list of words labeled
“Author’s Tone”​ ​that will help you. Remember that usually the
tone or attitude cannot be named with a single word. Think
complexity.
 Rarely does a poem begin and end the poetic experience in the
same place. As is true of most of us, the poet's understanding of
an experience is a gradual realization, and the poem is a
reflection of that understanding or insight. Watch for the following
keys to shifts:
• key words, (but, yet, however, although)
S SHIFTS • punctuation (dashes, periods, colons, ellipsis)
• stanza divisions
• changes in line or stanza length or both
• irony
• changes in sound that may indicate changes in meaning
• changes in diction

Now look at the title again, but this time on an interpretive level.
T TITLE What new insight does the title provide in understanding the
poem?

What is the poem saying about the human experience,

motivation, or condition? What subject or subjects does the
poem address? What do you learn about those subjects? What
T THEME idea does the poet want you take away with you concerning
these subjects? Remember that the thematic idea might be a few
words (love, betrayal), but the overall theme of any work of
literature will be stated in a complete sentence.
Name: Alana Ramos Title & Author: Crimes By Linda Pastan
Poetry Analysis—TP-CAS-TT Protocol
Since the author decided to use a title that is not that
deep and it doesn’t really seem to have a certain
T TITLE meaning behind it I will infer that the author will talk about
crime in general and she will maybe specify certain
crimes and their effects.

Dear Disturber
Of the Peace,
I accuse you of coming uninvited
into my life-
Into a quiet room
where you shattered windows
P PARAPHRASE with light,
where there was just enough space
for one to sleep
and no room for neither pain
nor promises
 For a brief time
I hid you here,
both of us
some type of fugitives
Even though I flee from
things harder to describe-
like the way the sea looks when the wind
Has made it black and blue,
The damage that happiness
can cause with its blind
tramps. You left

The way you came

In a month of vagrant leaves,
In times of shuffling winter
Soon came into sight, the white
Hospital gown simply visible
Beyond the emptying trees.
Now a pot of yellow chrysanthemums
Burns even at dusk
Just as if the sun were going down
At the horizon of my sill.
Once again I chose a life
Of plants and vegetables:
Looking for the safety of peas in a pod;
The dark places on earth
Where sweet potatoes lie
Imitating stones; chrysanthemums.
I hear how the animals call
Through the night,
And see how each cry is a riddle
Whose answer you help simplify.
There are poachers
Everywhere.

Poetic Devices Used:

- Personification
- Winter shuffling
C CONNOTATION - The wind lashed
- Sweet potatoes imitate
- Animals call
 Personification is used in the poem with the idea of
making the authors “demons” more human and really
specifying why certain things bother her.
- Denotation
- Shattered with Light
- The damage caused my happiness
The denotation used in the poem has an effect of
amplifying the author’s thoughts and feelings on certain
things. Having denotation included in the poem works to
really expose Linda’s way of thinking.
- Symbolism
- Chrysanthemums work to symbolize
happiness and joy
- Peas in a pod represent comfort
Symbolism is used in the poem to be able to give the
reader a deeper meaning of both the author’s fears and
her comfort zones.

When looking at the poem and looking into the author’s

tone while writing it, it is very evident that the poem has a
negative and damaged tone. The negative tone is seen
throughout the poem because of the word choice used.
When looking at phrases like “the damage caused by
happiness” and “what I flee from is harder to describe” it
is very evident that the author is not having a good time
and that she has some demons of her own to deal with.
A ATTITUDE The purpose of writing with a tone like this is to be able to
give light to situations where people have to deal with a
lot due to personal issues. It is very common for people
to be misconceived and she wrote this way to be able to
show what her life is really like and to express her
thoughts and fears. The damaged tone is also portrayed
throughout the poem and it is seen through the
pessimistic ideas of her having to escape a certain
someone or something to feel at comfort.

When looking at this poem there is an evident shift in the

mood. The shift can be clearly seen when looking at the
last stanza. At the beginning of the poem, there are
S SHIFTS multiple words that show a negative mood some of them
are the following: accuse, damage, fugitives, tramplings,
etc. These words are used to describe the effect of this
 new factor barging into her life. The sudden shift is seen
when the author starts to talk about her comfort zone.
Linda talks about choosing a life of fruits and vegetables
where there is safety found in peas in a pod. This
symbolizes her going back to what she is used to and her
simple comfortable life. The shift is seen because at first
she is complaining and in the end, she notices what
keeps her calm and comfortable so she decides to go
back to it.

After reading and analyzing the poem I can see a deeper

meaning to the title. At first, I could see nothing more
than just the word crimes but now I can see how she
decided to title this poem “Crimes” because something or
someone decided to barge into her life with no
permission and it had a big negative effect on her and her
T TITLE way of living. A common crime is breaking and entering
and in this poem, the idea of something or someone
breaking and entering into her life and having a huge
effect on the way she lives is portrayed very clearly. She
decided to title this poem crimes because she feels it was
unfair of this person or thing to come into her life and
have such a big effect without her approving of it.

After reading and analyzing the poem I can see that the
theme is both comfort and attachment. This is the theme
of the poem because it shows how having a simple life
caused the author to have more irrational fears due to
being used to the comfort of living a simple life. This can
all be seen in the poem because she starts off by talking
about what bothers her and what her fears are and look
T THEME like and she then mentions how after all she again
decided to choose her simple life. When looking at the
final sentence which says “There are poachers
everywhere.” It is seen how this represents the ideas of
how there's always going to be a temptation of evil and
wrong around you but it is always important to keep in
mind what is comfortable for you and what you like and
want in life.

RL.1 - A
RL.2 - M
RL.4 - A
L.5 - A