Hannum's Reading and 
Study Skills Tips and Strategies
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How to Read Poetry

Read it at least 4 times

1. Read once all the way- read it aloud if you can.
2. Read for meaning. Ignore the line breaks and rhyming.  Poets break in the middle for effect-don’t let it throw you.
3. Read again thought by thought-figure out what the thought means. If the poem has sentences-figure out what each sentence means.
4. Read again with feeling-read it aloud.

7 Strategies

1. Look for double meanings in words.
2. Think about what images the poem creates
3. Look for repetition- of words, themes,images, symbols and sounds. This is the way the author shows feelings.
4. Listen to the rhyme-see what effect it gives you.
5. What emotions do you feel?
6. Evaluate the poem. What don’t you get?
7. If it tells you in an introduction about the author, check why he wrote the poem.