How to Analyze a Poem

Intended for assist students in AP Literature and Composition. Explains how to analyze poems and pick off the important details of a work. Shortly after, there is a demonstration of a thesis statement formula, followed up with an example of poem explication utilizing Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken".
Please pardon any spelling errors.

[@coolcaveman1992]

This is more than my English teachers have taught me in 2 years

[@__Zyrix__]

true

[@jojoschronicles5006]

This is literally the best explanation ever, and one the best English lesson I have ever encountered. Dude you're a gift . Thank you!!!!

[@rohankapoor773]

Thank you very much, I don't care how irritating and disturbing the music was, this actually helped me get better at this!

[@mikeyamaro9035]

I appreciate the video, but what's up with that music dude...

[@firetiger1227]

its hype asf lmao

[@Aethelhadas]

he's darth he who must not be named

[@misterbooga6466]

It makes it less boring to me, it’s not just empty noise with his voice

[@darwingiovanni5046]

Makes the vid more exciting

[@francisfigueroa4579]

it made me less fearful

[@lacebird9548]

"Read the damn poem!" - I want that framed on my wall XD

[@afsanaashrafi8462]

same here XD XD XD

[@gerrardshaw6678]

@Jack Wilsher what about on the head ???

[@gerrardshaw6678]

@Jack Wilsher would it look dope??

[@Colton.ontheadventure]

Night before the exam!!!

[@cocotaveras8975]

Colton Brown Morning before the exam 😔😔😰.

[@AladinDelsar]

same lol

[@GTXTi-db5xu]

@Tasneem IDRIS I'm literally doing one tomorrow morning.

[@rashaalhosain351]

same but i cant focus cus of the music, how did ur exam go tho?

[@marichatismynameandladynoi1990]

Tommrow is mine

[@SirDonald]

I didn't even notice the music until people pointed it out

[@helmsylvanian]

Dlonad

[@markraymunddumaog8577]

Same LOL

[@suzanneofthesouthernisles1224]

Very helpful is clarifying what was puzzling to me for years. I would drop the music, though, or change it to something not distracting.

[@teacherdowrich2028]

As a Literature teacher, I commend you on this video. It is exactly what I teach my students to do. The background music is a little distracting. It could've been softer.

[@sharonmoteane9933]

Hi Miss(rs) Dowrich. Will you be so kind to assist me with the poem by Lesego Rampolokeng "Johannesburg". Thanking you in advance if you can assist in these trying times.

[@nolnol815]

Distracting? The music was a little distracting? You’re being kind. True peer review to help him become a better instructor would be to just knock it off with the music all together. Silly attempt at what?

[@benswolo6928]

@@nolnol815 dude I’m a PhD student in physics. This was just some high school project that caught the algorithm. Awfully aggressive on an 18 year old at the time. But you’re right in a way. I did knock it off with the poetry altogether.

[@nolnol815]

@@benswolo6928 I thought your teaching method was very good. I wrote that. In fact, I hardly believed you were an adolescent. By your instruction, I thought you were a professional English teacher. My one and only single, solitary critique was the background music. Period. I hope you always return to poetry throughout your life. And share it with all the loved ones around you.

[@benswolo6928]

@@nolnol815 No issues at all. Best of luck with your actual teaching. I could never deal with high schoolers in a classroom. I stick to laboratories and such nowadays.

[@sammars1862]

PLLLLLZ MUSIC IS DISTURBING!!!!

[@lifelearner45lloyd97]

Yes.

[@SeverusHD860]

It wasn’t stopped it from being fucking boring

[@cadenparry6954]

the music is amazing

[@jehshroff3054]

I love how this channel has 4 videos, one of them is the most helpful video I've seen for AP Literature and the other 3 are just StarWars videos

[@shadamiari6232]

you are very authentic !! thanks a lot for the help!! i wish there was a way i could be in touch with you to help me further more. Thanks again !!

[@therockz3221]

The force is strong with this one. Thank you general kenobi

[@MetalHeadSnoopy]

“READ THE DAMN POEM” I need that on a shirt

[@lovearc6363]

Where can I buy it haha😂

[@bronson5129]

YEAAA WHO'S READY FOR TOMORROW!!!

[@100subscribersbutnovideos6]

Hell yeah

[@JeanneLin]

Bronson McLeod hell no😭

[@Colton.ontheadventure]

Me my man

[@gerrardshaw6678]

YEAAA!!! BOIIIIIII

[@gbcv4655]

Not me

[@yuzuru525]

the music made me feel like i was having military training

[@Chirp-chirp]

The music is fire idk what yall talking about it made me more focus. Plus his voice is calm so it doesn't set you off.

[@__________________________5718]

you are the teacher i never had

[@sultanarazia1800]

I can't hear you for the music

[@PinoBooba]

Awesome video! Incredibly helpful for my poetry analysis that I have to work on.

[@hyunmin1497]

Teachers should teach like this bro 🔥🔥🔥

[@koopiedoobie1416]

Can we please just appreciate the time that he had put into making this video to help us instead of whining about the music??? It doesn’t bother me at all! Y’all are just being dramatic

[@samualwilliamson369]

These beats are 🔥

[@Deftonedd4]

This was really the best tutorial ever.

[@xMyLifeAsJoseexx]

I didn’t even notice the music thanks for helping

[@k.m2149]

I was paying attention so hard, that I didnt even notice the music until i read the comments haha

[@Dw-rs9ed]

Very helpful. studying literature at A level next year without studying it for my GCSEs, this gives me an idea of how to analyse pieces of text.

[@stayysid]

11 seconds into the video and I already love it

[@astnne]

I don't think our teacher teaches this at school

[@rodpruitt8926]

Super helpful. Thax. Speaking of super, I think it's so cool that Bat Man has a youtube account.

[@animeworld1901]

Great video. I really enjoyed the music it helps me concentrate on the lesson. Thanks a lot dude

[@zhihaolu6917]

OMG, that's the poem I'm literally going to do!!! thankyou!!!!

[@k.m2149]

lucky lucky lol

[@topherlew]

I appreciate the workmanlike approach to poetry analysis, and especially its utility in the context of an AP Lit/Comp class/test. However...this video, its theme and many of its details, exemplifies why students, and people at large, don't...read...poetry. The overall message here: poems have a "message", a "purpose", a "meaning", and it's my job as a reader to "crack" the poem, explain it, and why I think what I think about it. Is this what we should be teaching about poetry? Finally - at 7:54, our host falls into a trap, though I'm certain unintentionally, he seems a consummate professional, that many readers fall into when reading THIS VERY POEM...he mixes up the "message" of the poem (taking the less-travelled road makes all the difference!) with the poem's title ("The Road Not Taken"). In the hurry to quickly, efficiently, cogently and convincingly explicate the poem, he misses the work's central contradiction, the one that deepens the poem's meaning beyond the "life-lesson" status the poem represents to the vast majority of readers: Why is a poem, known for stressing the importance of choosing that which is uncommmon, against-the-grain, etc....the "road less travelled by"..., why is that poem entitled "The Road Not Taken"? NOT taken...not taken...doubt? Uncertainty? Regret? Perhaps the refusal to make either choice? Can we even trust the narrator? None of these challenging, beautiful, meaningful ideas can be explicated on an AP test.

[@PvtRichardReiben]

I totally agree with you, but (as it sounds like you know) the AP is almost entirely assessment-driven, and "success" is based upon your test scores. Merely pondering doesn't equate to a passing AP test score, and (in my experience) most of the students in AP classes are hell-bent on earning a passing grade, not necessarily organic learning/growing through patient poetic appreciation. It's a massive bummer because in order to entice most of these kids, there has to be a grade-based incentive behind nearly everything I do. I was probably the exact same way in high school, but it sucks that there's little-to-no consideration for anything that's not immediately beneficial to them.

[@francisfigueroa4579]

I like the music. It made me feel less fear and made me excited to learn.

[@everythinggirly916]

This video is honestly really helpful. It made me feel more confident before writing my essay.

[@mariya7301]

Bravo pls continue to share other vids about literature n poetry

[@futto585]

BRO THANK YOU SO MUCH THIS HELPED ME A LOT and tbh the music kinda helped idek why the dudes in the comment section are whining about it

[@claudememon9833]

Bro people hating on the music.. it’s so good. The music made me hyper focus it was so good

[@JeanneLin]

The formula is so helpful for someone with a math brain like myself lol thank you for this!

[@benswolo6928]

Funny enough, my major is in physics w/ a concentration in biophysics XD

[@travis9629]

BenSwolo69 hilarious

[@anonymousaccountacir6401]

I just downloaded Meriam bcoz of this legit video. Thank u so much for sharing your knowledge. 💯✨

[@shamilasaley2695]

The music - I can't concentrate and I can tell this is good stuff🙉🙈

[@lifelearner45lloyd97]

Love the How to Analyze a Poem Steps & the Poetry Google's.

[@janohrca8875]

I don't know how to say this without being blunt but thanks, i liked this.

[@leowabby4958]

hi, could you analysis a poem called "Letters from home" by Grace Chua plsss? My exams are coming and I have no idea what the poem is talking abt😭

[@benswolo6928]

I read over it. I'm no english teacher, I am a physics major in 4th year university at this point, but here's what I gleamed. It is a poem that has themes of naivity, time always flowing foward, and coming of age. It uses allegory, repetition, and rhyme scheme to portray a mother who is writing to a child who is out of the house, and afraid of letting him go into the dangers that the world has. I reccomend reading up on Daedelous and Icarous from greek mythology for the metaphor to click. Also be sure to check out some of my other content :)

[@leowabby4958]

BenSwolo69 but my literature teacher said that the boy who the mother is writing to, is dead.

[@benswolo6928]

@@leowabby4958 exactly. thus the icarus metaphors :)

[@leowabby4958]

BenSwolo69 But thank you for taking the time and effort to read it:)

[@benswolo6928]

leow abby the poem is a ballad to hindsight and regret that she can’t have one more day with the child

[@PinoBooba]

The music almost makes me feel cool analyzing a poem

[@benswolo6928]

Real gangsters go on to study physics ;)

[@PinoBooba]

@@benswolo6928 couldn't agree more.

[@maxding1381]

Thank you this helped me pass PHYS 20BL

[@mimicha9099]

very helpful. Thanx!!!

[@SF-hb2kx]

talk louder when the music goes up it was like a contest of who tf could I hear

[@mache8669]

God !! Where were u back when i was studying this alone

[@heberfenderful]

AWESOME STUFF , MUCH NEEDED INFORMATION! 😃

[@chritianmelgar]

I appreciate it! I've learned something on here

[@jodiaz3410]

You are terrific at teaching poetry.

[@omaroutbouzmoult6362]

i want to thank you so much for great job that you do

[@oussamaaaae]

This can't get any simpler than that

[@nraishanzr3333]

You’re really good at this, I wish I could be. Great video! Thanks!

[@mariaangelagalvez4985]

Thank you so much for this. This is really helpful!!!!

[@ekanshsharma1449]

Wow man, thankyou so much

[@eshaalfatima557]

It's been so helpful. Thanks so much

[@danieldaniel-vb8rh]

God bless you a lot! what you have done it's incredible

[@abhinashdeep718]

Nice video mate keep it moving

[@melaniesandsslater41]

"...knowing how way leads on to way.."

[@benswolo6928]

@@melaniesandsslater41 I know. Those 15 year old high school projects aren’t held to a high enough pedagogy.

[@majaaudran2532]

Really good! Thank you.

[@nuvesv6933]

So great, thank you!

[@_Becca_in_Canada]

Thanks man u saved my life ❤️

[@MariyaLoveyah]

What is your pencil grasp called?

[@Theophilus703]

Thank you very much brother. In fact,you helped so much 💖💖❤💪

[@Ggirl416]

great info bro! thanks for helping all of us !

[@adamnassor5450]

Really helped Thanks!

[@readea152]

this was amazing !

[@karanveersingh5442]

I really loved your video it helped me a lot Thank you

[@elle7037]

Turning the CC captions are helpful if the music is too distracting

[@spicychemical1475]

why dont you make more videos? this is so helpful

[@jamiepoems]

I write poetry and I love it and I speak to the ladies at the Dylan thomas museum and they say am a bit like him

[@johnbingham6355]

what"s with the backround music..........isn"t it a distraction?...when referring to metre.....one thing at a time please....

[@dhruvmahesh6450]

really helpful video dude!!! thank you

[@notcardlinsytaccount1355]

I like that my English teacher linked the class a video from a channel called BenSwolo69.

[@benswolo6928]

Got’em good

[@MariaVazquez-oq1hk]

Teaches how to analyze poems.. can’t spell imagery

[@nomanm.5884]

still saves my english gcse

[@Missmmmmmmmmmm]

and mine sis, what are you doing for us?

[@sarahalizada3701]

THANK YOU SO MUCH .

[@4inaftermath454]

You sound like Miles Teller, also you're very helpful

[@rishiravi134]

glad i found this

[@guyfawkes7949]

It is 'The Road Not Taken' , not 'The Road less taken'

[@elizabethjoseph7030]

Good analysis. Watch out for spelling errors! Imagery and permanence were misspelled a few times.

[@edgar7671]

5:08 what’s the song?

[@nawallovato5956]

That was very helpful thank you 💜

[@saiguynospy]

Wait, what do we do if our thesis statement is 24 lines long....... Cuz mine might or might not be Lmao

[@MariyaLoveyah]

Wow, you just changed your grasp to tripod! Congrat! lol

[@briathelion7302]

Is this the Odd1sout lit teacher, Mr. Batman??

[@meg6299]

I didn't even notice the music was there until I read the comments

[@daisyq2501]

Good video but music is loud. I think no music would gave been better. It was distracting.

[@lifelearner45lloyd97]

Thanks.

[@decentangel2896]

you're a gem 💎

[@palomaquinn5281]

Thanks for this excellent explanation. May I ask if you offer online tutoring lessons? Thank you!

[@4dr_14n2]

Ty dude, very helpful

[@ditta7865]

This is an excellent piece of analysing of poetry break down, probably more than what would be taught in school, but you can use help from someone of knows more about cameras, lighting and sound.

[@benswolo6928]

Lol this was a project I made about 5 years ago for AP Literature. I promise I've gotten better at production value since then. Never expected the video to blow up, but I won't complain.

[@nureha]

Poetry goggles!! Thank you

[@MariyaLoveyah]

I can only concentrate on your grasp, nothing else. lol

[@xpubgmobile2342]

music name please

[@hibavadakkan7016]

Pls do avoid the background music.its annoying... the video is helpful..

[@patriciascottbess525]

Thanks so much

[@nellycolonel7051]

Your teachings are sweet but the background music is not making sense.