“Guess what guys! We are going to start a new unit today… Poetry!”
“Mrs. Rice, are you kidding me? I HATE poetry?”
” Are we going to be reading sappy love poems?”
“I don’t understand poetry.”
“Do I have to write a poem?”
I feel that the conversation above is a classic staple in every English 10 classroom. The second that you introduce poetry, the walls goes up, the attitudes come out, and the eye rolls begin. What is it about poetry that frightens our students? Why has poetry got a bad rap? The Bad Reputation poetry has been given leaves Bad Blood between students and these poems.
So how do we create a Love Story of poems for our students and make them feel Fearless when it comes to analyzing poetry… The answer in case you haven’t guessed is my favorite glam girl and singer.. Taylor Swift!
How to Analyze the Poem
The inspiration behind this idea must be credited to The Daring English Teacher‘s Poetry Collaboration Poster which you can check it out HERE. In her post, Christina shares how she uses the S.W.I.F.T. method to have her students analyze a poem. In order to go with my Taylor Swift theme, I have created the T. S.W.I.F.T. method.
Tone
Tone focuses on the author’s attitude towards their subject. Taylor Swift is great because almost all of her poems are about love. I tell my students to think about the tone that T Swift is taking towards love in a particular songs. She does not always feel romantic, sometimes it’s hatred, frustration, gloomy, lackluster. By using her songs, students grasp this concept with ease.
Structure
We study the form of poems in my poetry unit and the form is of course at its base is a song. Just in itself, students forget that songs are a type of poetic writing. Songs are the best place to start with poetry because they are easier to grasp and more relevant to today and our students… even if they hate Taylor Swift (but really who could hate her). Students will also examine stanza formation and rhyme scheme in this section of their analysis. This is also the place to observe sound devices such as onomatopoeia, alliteration, rhyming etc.
Word Choice
Students struggle with author’s style but one of the best ways to help to overcome this hard concept is to examine word choice. Students will look at the types of words used by Taylor Swift in her lyrics and while her word choice may be simple the way that she describes things creates a vivid picture and shows her style. We also focus on connotation and denotation and how Swift creates new meaning to this word LOVE.
Imagery
Imagery is key when analyzing a poem, and Taylor Swift creates vivid images within the lyrics of her songs. Students will search with all of their senses to find imagery in Swift’s songs. Imagery is always the easiest element for the students to find and is always a good starting place if a student is stuck.
Figurative Language
Finding examples of figurative language is one of the easier tasks for this activity. Simile, metaphor, hyperbole, personification, etc. have been taught to our students for a long time so I tend not to believe my students who share that they do not know what figurative language is. I also provide a Poetry Cheat Sheet that lists figurative language examples that students can look for in their poem.
Here is the list of figurative language that I give them:
- Alliteration
- Simile
- Metaphor
- Repetition
- Personification
- Irony
- Symbol
- Allusion
- Hyperbole
Theme
Theme is perhaps the most important part of poetry analysis and is the most common literary element that students will be asked to identify in their standardized testing. Taylor Swift’s messages are clearly stated in her songs which helps students to understand and identify theme.
Taylor Swift Poetry Day
So now that I have shared how I have students analyze the poem, I will share the set up of Taylor Swift Poetry Day.
- Have Taylor Swift music blaring when the students arrive.
- Divide students into self selected groups for this activity (2-3 students per group to ensure that everyone participates)
- Allow students to pick any Taylor Swift song for this activity.
- Students will then copy and paste their T Swift lyrics onto a word document. Students should then print the lyrics out and glue to poster board.
- Students will read and annotate the song their own.
- Complete a T. S.W.I.F.T. analysis on their song that includes a cited example for each of the elements and an explanation of how that example proves the element.
- Create a gallery walk where each student can display their poster creations and examine the song analysis of their peers.
- Make Taylor Swift song references for the rest of the day.
While not all of my students will leave my classroom loving Taylor Swift, they will have the confidence to analyze the harder poems that we will encounter in this unit. So give your students a Blank Space and watch them become Enchanted with poetry.
So Are You Ready for It?
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