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Approaching An Unseen Poetry - The Letter Miriam Lo
Approaching An Unseen Poetry - The Letter Miriam Lo
Who is speaking, and who are they speaking to? What situation are they in? Are they doing
anything in the poem?
What tone of voice is the poem’s speaker using?
What does the poem seem to be about? Themes/main concerns? (…keep this in mind at all
times when considering language effects)
Language: figures of speech and diction, images of the senses etc
Structure: how is the poem organised? Where does it begin, what happened next, how and
where does it conclude? Does it work up to a climax of some sort or become more
philosophical – moving from particular to general?
Verse form? Metre, rhyme (if there is any).) Pace. Special sound effects eg alliteration,
onomatopoeia etc?
What sort of atmosphere is created through the words, images, tone used?
Repetition of stranger – the mother is afraid of her son being a stranger, it shows the alienated
feeling that she feels towards him.
Name at the beginning and no name at the end – her son is drifting off the the Australian girl
‘He looks away’ – the son as if he knows what his mom’s reaction would be, she looks away. The son
answers with a one-word answer: ‘Susan’