How do you read a poem? Here are the top 7 tips on how to effectively read poetry:
-
Dispell the idea that reading poetry will drastically change your life (fun fact: it doesn’t). People are always changing, so don’t try and make that change occur through analyzing the words of others.
-
Even if it’s not entirely meant to be a spoken-word poem, READ IT OUT LOUD. This will help you get a feel for the poem that you are reading, as well as giving you a pace for reading it.
-
Different kinds of poems do exist, so not all of them will come easily to your understanding. So, instead of just giving up on it, try and find a way to read it that makes sense to you.
-
Don’t just move on from it. Stick it out and finish reading the poem you are on (without rushing), before moving on to another poem, or activity.
-
Remember, you can’t paraphrase a poem, since that changes the meaning of the words. Even if it’s a pain, just quote it.
-
Don’t always make a connection between the poet and the poem. The poet always wears a mask (even unconsciously), so maintaining that the speaker and the poets are one and the same takes away from the texts’ imaginative force.
-
Finally, don’t search for the meaning of a poem. You are the reader, its meaning is up to you.
Source:
Yakich, Mark. “The Atlantic.” The Atlantic, theatlantic, 2 Nov. 2014, www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/11/how-to-read-poetry-a-step-by-step-guide/380657/. Accessed 14 Apr. 2021.
This is because she follows the government’s/society’s guidelines without questions, even though the laws are quite obviously flawed. In the book, Mildred also suffers from the societal obsession with technology, even trying to push her husband into buying a third TV: “It’s really fun. It’ll be even more fun when we can afford to have the fourth wall installed. How long you figure before we save up and get the fourth wall torn out and a fourth wall TV put in? it’s only two thousand dollars.” (Pg. 18). This quotation exhibits how she is willing to sacrifice a good chunk of her husband’s income for leisure instead of purchasing necessities. Because of input from the government and the censorship of all books, Mildred has morphed into the perfect brainwashed citizen of the society.
