How to read and annotate a poem:1. Initial reading of the poem. Write any questions that pop into your head

while doing the initial reading.2. Identify any words that you do not understand and look them up. Write

the definitions on the poem.3. Discover and mark rhyme scheme using a new letter for each end rhyme

within the poem.4. Count the amount of syllables in each line and mark the number at the

end of the line. 5. Identify figurative language used within the poem. Think about the literal

meaning of each figurative device – and the purpose of the comparison.6. Identify sound devices such as alliteration, assonance, and consonance.

How does it impact the text?7. Identify text that is repeated. Is there any reason the author would repeat

the text?8. Look closely at punctuation. Does it reveal anything about the speaker of

the poem? (Example: Does it make them seem rambling, confident, nervous?)

9. Circle any words that are impactful or interesting. Determine connotative meaning. Are their any patterns? What does it reveal about the speaker’s attitude towards the topic?

10. Reread the poem. What is its theme? If you are still having a hard time understanding the poem, repeat the annotation process!

DreamsBy: Langston Hughes

Hold fast to dreamsFor if dreams dieLife is a broken-winged birdThat cannot fly.Hold fast to dreamsFor when dreams goLife is a barren fieldFrozen with snow.

My Papa’s Waltz

The whiskey on your breath   Could make a small boy dizzy;   But I hung on like death:   Such waltzing was not easy.

We romped until the pans   Slid from the kitchen shelf;   My mother’s countenance   Could not unfrown itself.

The hand that held my wrist   Was battered on one knuckle;   At every step you missed My right ear scraped a buckle.

You beat time on my head   With a palm caked hard by dirt,   Then waltzed me off to bed   Still clinging to your shirt.

Answer the following questions regarding Theodore Roethke’s poem:

1. What do you think this poem is about?

2. What words/lines in particular give you that impression?

2. What is the tone and mood of this poem?

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy EveningWhose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake. The only other sound’s the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.

- Robert Frost

Read and annotate Robert Frost’s poem on your handout. Make as many notes on it as you can for each step in the annotation process.