HAIKU
Originally Japanese. 1st line, flash. 2nd line, recognition. 3rd line, afterthought. 3 lines: 1st line 5 syllables, 2nd line 7 syllables, 3rd line 5 syllables, total 17 syllables. Lines should make sense, not just cut off from end of one line to the next. EXAMPLE by 1500s Japanese poet Moritake.

Read a poem with pencil in hand. Mark it; write in margins; react; get involved. Circle important, striking, or repeated words. Draw lines to connect related ideas. Mark difficult or confusing words, lines, passages. Read through the poem several times silently and aloud.

The Poem's Basic Subject - Consider its title carefully. What does it tell you about the poem's subject, tone, and genre? What does it promise? After reading the poem, return to the title. Consider further its relationship with the poem. What is your initial impression of the poem's subject? Ask, "What is this poem about?" Return to this question throughout your analysis. Be precise. Aim for more than just a vague impression of the poem. What is the author's attitude toward the subject? What is the poem's basic situation? What goes on in it? Who's talking? To whom? Under what circumstances? Where? About what? Why? Is a story being told? Is something tangible or intangible described? What specifically can you point to in the poem to support your answers? Because a poem is highly compressed it may help you unfold it by paraphrasing the poem aloud, moving line by line through it. If the poem is written in sentences, what's the subject of each one? The verb? The verb's object? What a modifier refers to? Untie syntactic knots. Is the poem built on a comparison or analogy? If so, how is the comparison appropriate? How are the two things alike? How different? What is the author's attitude toward his subject? Serious? Reverent? Ironic? Satiric? Ambivalent? Hostile? Humorous? Detached? Witty? Does the poem appeal to a reader's intellect? Emotions? Reason?

The Poem's Context - Are there allusions to other literary or historical figures or events? How do these add to the poem? How are they appropriate? What do you know about this poet? About the age in which he or she wrote this poem? About other works by the same author?

The Poem's Form - Consider the poem's sound and rhythm. Is there a metrical pattern? If so, how regular is it? Does the poet use rhyme? What do the meter and rhyme emphasize? Is there any alliteration? Assonance? Onomatopoeia? How do these relate to the poem's meaning? What effect do they create in the poem? Are there divisions within the poem? Marked by stanzas? By rhyme? By shifts in subject? By shifts in perspective? How do these parts relate to each other? How are they appropriate for this poem? How are the ideas in the poem ordered? Is there a progression of some sort? From simple to complex? From outer to inner? From past to present? From one place to another? Is there a climax of any sort? What are the form and genre of this poem? What should you expect from such a poem? How does the poet use the form?

The Poem's Word Choice - One way to see the poem's action is to list its verbs. What do they tell you about the poem? Are there difficult or confusing words? Even if you're only slightly unsure about a word's meaning, look it up in the dictionary. If you're reading poetms written before the 1900s learn to use the Oxford English Dictionary, which tells how a word's definition and usage have changed over time. Be sure that you determine how a word is being used as a noun, verb, adjective, adverb to find its appropriate meaning. Also consider various possible meanings of a word. Be alert to subtle differences between words. A good poet uses language very carefully. As a good reader you in turn must be equally sensitive to the implications of word choice.

What mood is evoked in the poem? How is this accomplished? Consider the ways in which not only the meanings of words but also their sound and the poem's rhythms help to create its mood. Is the language in the poem abstract or concrete? How is this appropriate to the poem's subject? Are there any consistent patterns of words? For example, are there several references to flowers, or water, or politics, or religion in the poem? Look for groups of similar words. Does the poet use figurative language? Are there metaphors in the poem? Similes? Is there any personification? Consider the appropriateness of such comparisons. Try to see why the poet chose a particular metaphor as opposed to other possible ones. Is there a pattern of any sort to the metaphors? Is there any metonymy in the poem? Synechdoche? Hyperbole? Oxymoron? Paradox? A dictionary of literary terms is helpful. Ask about the poem, "So what?" What does it do? What does it say? What is its purpose?

Pre-writing - planning your essay

Outline - brainstorming, write your topic sentence and arrange your ideas in logical order.

Topic ________________
Thesis statement ________________
     First major point supporting it _______________
         Examples or facts supporting point __________________
         Examples or facts supporting point __________________
         Examples or facts supporting point __________________
     Second major point supporting it _______________
         Examples or facts supporting point __________________
         Examples or facts supporting point __________________
         Examples or facts supporting point __________________
     Third major point supporting it _______________
         Examples or facts supporting point __________________
         Examples or facts supporting point __________________
         Examples or facts supporting point __________________
Conclusion _________________