HSC English - 10 Poetic Techniques You Must Know
Analysing poetry can feel a bit like a black box - where do you start, how are poems different to other text types, what does a 20/20 analyses look like? All valid questions.
Hello! My name is Rowena. I completed my HSC just over a year ago. After studying 4 units of English, ranking 5th in NSW in English Extension 2, and tutoring students in English every week…I’d say I’ve got a pretty good grasp on analysing poetry.
In this blog post, I’m going to share:
10 common techniques used in poetry (which are great evidence for essays)
How to integrate poetic evidence into essays
How to make your essays worthy of a 20/20
10 Common Techniques
1: Metre
The rhythmic structure of a poem, based on the amount of stressed and unstressed syllables.
The most common form of metre is iambic pentameter which is composed of 10 syllables. For example, it was used in “Was it a vision or a waking dream?” (Ode to a Nightingale, John Keats).
Certain metres symbolise certain things - for example:
Iambic TETRAmeter is often used in ballads to create a song-like effect
Iambic PENTAmeter mimics human speech to portray earnest emotions
2: Rhyme
Rhyme or rhyme schemes involve words that have the same sound, typically at the end of a line.
Note: Words do not have to have the same amount of syllables to rhyme.
Poets used this to place emphasis on certain lines and convey emotion.
For example, in ‘When I Have Fears That I May Cease To Be’ by John Keats, uses an ABAB rhyming scheme throughout the poem, as follows:
When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain,
Before high-pilèd books, in charactery,
old like rich garners the full ripened grain;
This then abruptly changes to a rhyming couplet in the last 2 lines, where he writes:
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think,
Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink.
It can be argued that the change in rhyme scheme signals a sense of closure or finality, as if Keats has made peace with what he discusses throughout the poem.
3: Imagery
Imagery is the use of emotive or descriptive language to conjure a mental image, a memory or feeling.
Imagery can use a variety of the senses, including:
Seeing: visual imagery
Smelling: olfactory imagery
Hearing: auditory imagery
Touching: tactile imagery
Tasting: gustatory imagery
When discussing imagery in your analyses, be specific about what type of imagery through an adjective. For example:
Natural imagery
Death imagery
Temporal imagery
E.g. Natural imagery has been used in the line “To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees/And fill all fruit with ripeness to the cores” (‘To Autumn’, John Keats).
4: Tone
Tone is the kind of perspective that a poet or the subject of a poem has. It can be a variety of things, including uplifting, melancholic, elated, disgusted etc.
Note: To analyse effectively, describe WHAT tone is being used. Every piece of literature has a tone - what makes your example significant?
For example, in the line “When I have fears that I may cease to be” (‘When I have fears that I may cease to be’, John Keats), through melancholic tone, Keats reflects on his yearning to be immortal.
5: Symbolism
Symbolism involves using objects, animals and symbols to represent a particular concept
This creates a deeper complexity to a text which is unique to the poetic form
E.g. the nightingale in Keats’ ‘Ode to a Nightingale’ symbolises the immortal beauty of the natural world
6: Repetition
Repetition is the recurring or echoing of words, phrases and lines to reinforce meaning.
An iconic example is Maya Angelou’s repetition of ‘I rise, I rise, I rise’ in ‘Still I Rise’ which she does to reiterate the importance of persisting in spite of adversity.
7: Allusion
Allusion is a reference to another text, event, myth or person.
Two key types of allusion include:
Intertextual - referencing an element of another piece of literature, such as a character. For example, “classical allusion” references ancient literature or mythology (particularly Ancient Greek myths).
Historical - links to real past events or figures
Poets use allusion to draws parallels that assist with interpreting meaning.
For example, Keats uses mythical allusion to a Pegasus in, “I will fly to thee…on the viewless wings of Poesy.” (‘Ode to a Nightingale’, John Keats).
8: Rhetorical question
Rhetorical question is a question raised that is not necessarily answered by the text.
Poets use rhetorical questions to invite introspection and leave a poem open-ended.
For example, Keats ends the poem with a rhetorical question of “Was it a vision or a waking dream?” (‘Ode to a Nightingale’, John Keats), leaving the poem unresolved, inviting the reader to reflect on the blurred line between transcendence and reality.
9: Enjambment
Enjambment occurs when a line continues onto the next without any punctuation which usually disrupts the structure of the poem.
Poets use enjambment to represent the natural flow of a thought, creating a sense of fluidity or building suspense.
For example. “The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;/And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.” (‘To Autumn’, John Keats)
10: Irony
Irony occurs when there is a discrepancy between the intended and literal meaning of a line.
There are many reasons poets use irony, including:
To highlight the difference between expectation and reality
To critique or satirise
To convey a sense of playfulness or humour
For example, Keats writes “Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss,” (‘Ode on a Grecian Urn, John Keats). This line is referencing the two lovers painted on the urn who cannot kiss, and it is ironic because they are described as bold which suggests action and courage, yet they can never act on their desires because they are trapped in a static, unchanging moment.
How to Integrate Poetic Evidence Into Essays
To integrate poetic evidence effectively into an essay, it would be helpful to follow this 3 sentence structure.
WHERE - Situate the evidence in the context of the poem by referencing a particular stanza, then quote it.
WHAT - Introduce the technique you will be analysing, while unpacking the main message of the evidence in the context of the poem.
WHY - Explain how this evidence speaks to the poet’s wider political, social or personal context.
Putting it all together, here’s what it should look like:
Within the penultimate stanza, the persona exclaims, “Thou was not born for death, immortal Bird!”. Employing iambic pentameter to create a musical rhythm, Keats symbolises the consistent beauty of the nightingale’s song and his longing for his poetry to be considered the same. This mirrors how Keats was contextually mocked for being a Cockney poet with a lack of pedigree, leaving his faith in his poetry doubtful.
Additionally, we have a full essay-writing guide on our website that delves deeply into what makes a great essay and how to integrate evidence and analysis seamlessly.
How to improve your poetry analysis skills
Not to sound like a broken record, but the best way to improve anything, is to practise! (It took me hours and hours of refining, perfecting and rewriting to get my poetry analysis concise yet still insightful.)
Another great way to develop your skills is to seek feedback from another person whether it is a peer, a teacher or a tutor. A fresh pair of eyes over the essay you’ve been writing for 2 weeks, is usually very helpful.
Finally, it can be helpful to read exemplar essays to see how to create sophisticated sentence structure and effective poetic analysis which you can find on our website!
Looking for more help? At Sydney Scholars Tutoring, we’re proud to have a variety of tutors who have excelled in HSC English who could offer you that fresh perspective on your work that can take it to the next level. We also have a vast library of exemplars, quote banks, and other resources that can help you get the grade you want.
We hope you found this helpful!
While the poetic form is unlike any other, there’s definitely method to the madness. Be sure to familiarise yourself with poetic techniques, what the poet is trying to say with these techniques, and reflect critically about how the poet’s context might influence meaning. And of course, keep practising!
Looking for more help? At Sydney Scholars Tutoring, we’re proud to have a variety of tutors who have excelled in HSC English who could offer you that fresh perspective on your work that can take it to the next level. We also have a vast library of exemplars, quote banks, and other resources that can help you get the grade you want.
