Poetry: Imagery and Symbolism

Methods in this video

Tap a time to jump to where the video teaches that method.

1. 1

   Read by sentence, not by line

   ▶ 0:36

   When to use it: The poem is cut into short lines and you lose track of the sentence, the words are in an unusual order, or the question gives a line or verse number and asks what a word there points to.

   • A new line isn't a full stop. Follow the punctuation to the full stop or question mark.
   • If the words are back to front, find who is doing what and turn it around. If you see it, go back up the sentence to find what it means.
   • If the question gives a line or verse, read that whole sentence, plus one line before and after.
2. 2

   Who is speaking, and from where

   ▶ 1:02

   When to use it: The question asks what the writer or poet is doing in a verse or in some lines, where the scene is viewed from, or the options mix up how he feels and how others see him.

   • Who is speaking? Is there an I in the poem? If not, it's someone watching from nearby.
   • Where is he standing? List what he can see at the same time, and what he can't.
   • How others see him isn't how he feels. Read one more line to hear what he says himself.
3. 3

   Say what really happens

   ▶ 2:05

   When to use it: The poem says something that can't literally happen, or uses a comparison or an image, and the question asks what it means, why the poet wrote it, or what it signifies.

   • First say what really happens, and what the thing is really like.
   • If it asks how they are alike, stop at the likeness.
   • If it asks why the poet mentions it, link it to what is going on; if it asks what it signifies, go on to a feeling, and still back it with the poem.
4. 4

   What is the form doing

   ▶ 3:23

   When to use it: The question asks what repetition, rhyme, the shape of the poem or the length of its lines is doing.

   • First say which words repeat or rhyme.
   • Look at where they come: the start, the end, or where something suddenly changes.
   • Then ask: what is it copying, and how does it make the poem feel?
5. 5

   One extra idea makes it wrong

   ▶ 4:43

   When to use it: An option sounds reasonable, but part of it isn't in the text.

   • Every part of the option must be in the text.
   • Sounding right isn't the same as being in the text.
   • Nobody visits doesn't mean nobody knows. Looks like doesn't mean is.
6. 6

   Watch the small words

   ▶ 6:03

   When to use it: The evidence or the question has a small word like although, but, no, only, eventually, when or most.

   • What comes after although or but is what matters.
   • No and not turn the meaning around.
   • When, most and main in the question tell you where to look.