Reading and Understanding Literature-Poetry

PPT Notes adapted from http://bit.ly/38HCCCb

 According to poetry.org
Reading poetry is both an attitude and a technique.
Curiosity is an attitude that will lead you to ask questions about the topic of a certain
poem.
Asking questions can be one of the many techniques of understanding poetry.

Given the nursery rhyme:

“Jack and Jill Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water
Jack fell down and broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after.”

What questions could you ask about this well-known nursery rhyme? Are those questions
product of your curiosity? Are those questions about the observable features of the poem
(rhyme and meter)? Or are your questions more of the poem content?
 False Assumptions when Reading Poetry
http://bit.ly/38HCCCb

1. Something is wrong with the poem or with the reader the first
time you do not understand its meaning on first reading.
2. Considering a poem as a code that has one and only one
meaning and that the code needs to be cracked to decipher
the meaning the poem tries to impart.
3. The meaning of a poem depends on the one who reads it or it
is the reader who gives meaning to the poem he/she reads.
 Lyric 17 by Jose Garcia Villa
Read this poem:
First, a poem must be magical,
Then musical as a sea-gull.
It must be a brightness moving
And hold secret a bird's flowering.
It must be slender as a bell,
And it must hold fire as well.
It must have the wisdom of bows
And it must kneel like a rose.
It must be able to hear
The luminance of dove and deer.
It must be able to hide
What it seeks, like a bride.
And over all I would like to hover
God, smiling from the poem's cover.
Reflect on the following questions:
• Can you decipher the
meaning of this poem on
first reading?
• Did you miss the point once
you did not understand
what it means right away?
• Do you think this poem
would mean the same thing
to different readers?
 The best poetry http://bit.ly/38HCCCb

“has a magical quality—a sense of being more than the

sum of its parts—and even when it’s impossible to
articulate this sense, this something more, the power of
the poem is left undiminished.”

Does it mean even if the poem is not understood, its power

remains the same and is not reduced?
 Reading a Poem Aloud
One way of understanding a poem is by reading it aloud.
Poetry.org has the following questions that may guide you in reading a poem
aloud:
1. Do you notice any special effects?
2. Do any of the words rhyme?
3. Is there a cluster of sounds that seem the same or similar?
4. Is there a section of the poem that seems to have a rhythm that’s distinct
from the rest of the poem?
If after reading, “you find your voice distracting”, ask somebody to read the
poem for you.
 Poetry.org suggested some questions when reading
a poem for the first time http://bit.ly/38HCCCb
Who is the speaker?
What circumstances gave rise to the poem?
What situation is presented?
Who or what is the audience?
What is the tone?
What form, if any, does the poem take?
How is form related to content?
Is sound an important, active element of the poem?
 Poetry.org suggested some questions when reading a poem for the first time
http://bit.ly/38HCCCb

Does the poem spring from an identifiable historical moment?

Does the poem speak from a specific culture?
Does the poem have its own vernacular?
Does the poem use imagery to achieve a particular effect?
What kind of figurative language, if any, does the poem use?
If the poem is a question, what is the answer?
If the poem is an answer, what is the question?
What does the title suggest?
Does the poem use unusual words or use words in an unusual way?
 Text and Context
Can we fully understand a poem out of context, or can we make sense of a
poem without considering any source related to it? Can a poem really exist
in a vacuum?

The answers to the questions are captured here according to poetry.org.

“Most poems are open to interpretation without the aid of historical context
or knowledge about the author’s life. In fact, it’s often best to approach a
poem without the kind of preconceived ideas that can accompany this kind
of information. Other poems, however, overtly political poems in particular,
will benefit from some knowledge of the poet’s life and times.”
http://bit.ly/38HCCCb
 Pakpak Ni Jose Corazon de Jesus
Bigyan mo ng pakpak itong aking diwa
at ako’y lilipad hanggang kay Bathala.
Maisipan ko’y mga malikmatang
sukat ikalugod ng tao sa lupa;
malilikha ko rin ang mga hiwaga,
sa buhay ng tao’y magiging biyaya.
Ano ba ang sagwang sabay sa paghatak
kundi siyang pakpak ng bangka sa dagat?
Ano ba ang kamay ng taong namulat
kundi siyang pakpak ng kanyang panghawak?
Ano ba ang dahon ng mga bulaklak
kung hindi pakpak din panakip ng dilag?
Refer to this source for the complete copy of the poem:
available at http://bit.ly/3nIeYcT
 Text and Context in “Pakpak”
Essential Question:
Do you think the poem “Pakpak” written by Jose Corazon de Jesus” can be
understood apart from its context?

“Oh, ibon ng diwa, ikaw ay lumipad,

tingnan mo ang langit, ang dilim, ang ulap,
buksan mo ang pinto ng natagong sinag,
at iyong pawalan ang gintong liwanag
na sa aming laya ay magpapasikat
at sa inang bayan ay magpapaalpas.”

Based on the last stanza of the poem, can we assume that the persona in
the poem is advocating for something?