5 Ways to Write an Effective Critical Appreciation of a POEM (2024)

What is a Critical Appreciation of a Poem?

Critical Appreciation of a poem is evaluating, understanding & analyzing a Literary piece of work from a DISCERNING point of view.

1. Identify the Author’s thesis: Thesis (main idea) of a poem. Every piece of work has a central theme/idea, to begin with, giving a thorough read to the poem more than once can help you identify it.

Studying Writer’s life & background proves vital in understanding the perspective finer.

2. Give a Precise Summary of Poem: While composing a summary highlight the essential parts of the poem (important phrases, words used). Keep the summary precise. Make sure it is intelligible to amateur readers.

Writing summary accordant with stanzas of the poem gives more structure to it.

3. Language & Style: Describe the language used by the writer (figurative or non-figurative). Give info on who the speaker in the poem is, & what is the style, mood & tone of the poem. Providing the rhyme scheme of the poem is always a good notion.

Use of INTERTEXTUALITY (It is the interaction between similar or related works of literature that reflects and influence an audience’s interpretation of texts ) is quite common in Ancient Literature. Giving a brief into the related texts & providing the related story can escalate your appreciation & manifest your understanding in analyzing.

4. Word Play & Figure of Speech: Poets love to use a play of words & literary devices in their works. It’s a clever way to give a translucent way to their outlook.

The use of Juxtapositions, Allusions, Metaphors is quite a lot in the poems and they often reflect upon the profound/deep-seated threads of the poem. Acknowledging them is a gateway to effective critical appreciation.

5. A Final thoughtful idea or reflection: Restate your key supporting points. Give readers a reason to read the poem and follow the poet’s works. Conclude the analysis on the all-encompassing note.

Display a stimulating proposal generated from the poem for the readers to cogitate about.

By following these simple steps can elevate your skills in writing Critical Appreciation of a Poem.