If you gave me a pile of students’ annotated ‘unseen’ poems after an exam, I could probably identify the top-scorers. Their ‘unseen’ poems would be scratched all over with comments, words would be circled, and there would be slews of arrows and brackets linked to notes. Some would even go in for colour coding.
It’s not a case of examiner’s prejudice. A well-annotated poem shows the student having a deep and intimate conversation with the poem, noting areas of clarity, of ambiguity, and returning to answer doubts as further reading clarifies her questions.
The NOTE-MAKING is a WAY OF CREATING KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE POEM, constructing your reading. You tell yourself, “Ok, first I’ll try to spot the theme. How do the various stanzas develop the central idea? What is the last thought the speaker leaves us with in the final lines? Now let me see how the imagery adds to the theme. I’ve done that; time to look at the way the writer uses metaphors, similes, personification. Are there clusters of words related to the theme or which create an atmosphere—let me check them out. How do the sound effects convey the speaker’s tone to me?”
Annotation is also AN ORGANISED WAY OF RESPONDING TO THE POEM FROM MANY ANGLES. It ensures that you will have something to say about all parts of the poem, and that you will engage various literary devices, which is essential for a convincing response to the text.
Do make the effort to learn how to ANNOTATE EFFECTIVELY.
A LAYERED APPROACH TO ANNOTATING A POEM
To develop a coherent response to the poem, you should annotate in an orderly fashion, examining some aspects of the poem before others so as to follow a sequence of building meaning.
I would suggest four stages:
Stage 1— WHAT IS HAPPENING?
The first step is to make out the situation or action that is featured. Who is the speaker, and to whom is s/he speaking? What is s/he speaking about? Where is the action happening? Is the speaker observing someone else (third-person perspective) or talking about his/her own experiences (first-person perspective)?
Stage 2—WORKING OUT THE THEME/MESSAGE
Now that you know the situation or action, you need to explore what it means to the speaker. How does s/he view what is happening as meaningful in some way? Does the situation or action reveal something about a specific society or culture or does the speaker see it as demonstrating a universal human trait or problem? Does the poem offer you any interesting insight into life?
This is a very important stage of reading. You’re discovering the essence of the poem. Everything else you analyse about the poem will relate back to this core message/insight of the poem.
There are a few strategies to use to discover this inner core of meaning of the poem. We will discuss that further down this post.
Stage 3—EXAMINING LANGUAGE, STYLE AND FORM
Okay, now you’re ready to identify literary devices such as imagery, figures of speech, and sound effects such as alliteration, rhyme scheme, the rhythm and flow of the poem. You should also think about tone, the use of diction, structure, poetic form and the creation of a mood or atmosphere. You can do all these in any order you please. But always think about how the device contributes to meaning, and connect the literary device to the central idea/insight of the poem that you’ve worked out in stage 2.
Stage 4—READ THE QUESTIONS…
Only now should you even glance down at the two questions that you’ll be asked about the poem.
There is a danger in reading these questions first before you do your initial reading of the poem: you will only ‘see’ in the poem whatever seems to be relevant to the two questions. This limited angle will not allow you to work out the core meaning of the poem. Instead you will find yourself discussing peripheral issues in the poem. That will guarantee a shallow analysis of the poem, not grade-A work. So give yourself some independent time with the poem first.
At this final stage, having read the two questions, do another level of annotations if required. Also look over existing notes and mark off those that are important to the questions asked.
EXAMPLE: “the coffee house, cockpit hotel” by Arthur Yap
Let’s apply this four-stage method to reading Arthur Yap’s poem. My notes on the margins will be informal, in point form, just as you would annotate a poem.
Stage 1—making out the situation, event
Note the setting, identity of speaker, the occasion that prompts him/her to speak. Mark any initial signs of conflict, tension. Note parts that confuse you.
Summary: The speaker of the poem is at a Singapore hotel coffee-house and having dinner when his attention is drawn to a group of women. He infers from their dressing and behaviour (their waiting, not dining despite being in a coffee house) that they are a bridal party who are waiting to go downstairs to join the Chinese wedding dinner reception that is taking place in the Dragon ballroom. The speaker is interested in the bride’s anxiety over her looks and her appearance of modesty. He seems concerned at her suffering from gender inequality and wonders if marriage will elevate her status in this Chinese community. His mind switches from observing the bride and her group in stanzas 1 and 3 and then speculating in verses 2 and 4 about what is happening or will happen downstairs at the wedding dinner.
STAGE 2: finding out more about the core message of the poem
An event in a poem is never just about the event but it is a means the poet uses to throw light on larger issues. Now that we know the situation or event in the poem, we want to know how the writer/speaker gives significance or meaning to this event. Does he depict the incident as expressing a certain truth about life, about moral values or is the event presented as telling readers about a particular community at a certain time and place? Does it implicitly or more directly attack prevailing views, attitudes about an issue?
To do this, we could start by identifying certain interesting phrases or words and think about how they add meaning to the incident. Look out for patterns and repetitions of ideas. Think about binary oppositions and parallels in the poem and consider how they develop your understanding of the poem’s central theme. Take another look at the title and ending of the poem in relation to what have initially spotted as an important theme of the poem.
Summary: Our second scrutiny of the poem confirms and elaborates on the speaker’s interest in gender issues. The allusions to Singapore and Chinese culture suggests the speaker/writer is concerned about local Chinese gender culture where women need to rely on marital status to gain an identity for themselves.
The speaker/writer is also struck by the body/mind inner conflict the woman experiences between having to externally project an image of feminine modesty and humility while trying to find ways to attain her desire for gender equality and power.
The poem’s emphasis on gender hierarchy exposes the patriarchal quality of local Chinese culture in the 1970s, when the poem was published. The imagery of eyes and watching depict the way the patriarchal culture views women as objects as seen in the way the bride is hidden away and then enjoyed as a spectacle of beauty when she enters the dining room.
But do you think the persona too is guilty of viewing the woman as an aesthetic object rather than as a person with thoughts and feelings? Or does his portrayal of her alert us to the possibility that a woman may act coy and demure, as subservient to men, but that she really would prefer to be treated as equal to men and given more power?
Stage 3: focussing on stylistic and formal features
Since we have already identified some patterns of imagery and diction in the earlier rounds of analysis, let’s focus on linguistic and formal features as well as literary devices we haven’t yet discussed. In addition to marking them out, note their effects on meaning.
Stage 4: Further annotation for the questions
These were the two questions posed about this poem in the 2008 O-Level exam:
i. What are your feelings about the bride as you read the poem?
ii. What do you find striking about the way the poet uses words and images to describe the situation?
These two questions can be answered by simply adapting the notes you have already made. You don’t need to make further annotation.
For question i, you simply have to state how your emotions or attitude towards the bride changed with each passing stanza. You could return to your notes and add a ‘feeling word’ next to the notes you’d like to include in the answer. Choose an appropriate ‘feeling word’ such as “puzzled,” “contemptuous”, “amazed”, “sympathetic”, “disappointed”, “angry”, “shocked”, “pleased”, etc. Don’t forget to connect your commentary to the poem’s thematic concerns.
For question ii, go back to the annotation and select a few examples of words and images that illustrate striking use of sound effects, figures of speech, imagery and diction. Argue that they are ‘striking’ in the way they throw light on the central ideas of the poem.
In most cases, adaptation of your notes to the poem is all that’s required.
Sometimes, for instance when you’re asked to comment on the “meaning”, “theme” or “central idea/concern” of the poem, the answer becomes an easy matter of transcribing your annotation into your exam answer.
Occasionally, you may be asked to comment on a specific element such as irony or rhythm, where you may need to make a few extra notations.
But in all cases, ensure that your responses to the two questions make reference to the main ideas/concerns of the poem.
For heritage picture of the now-defunct Cockpit Hotel, see here:
For background pic and info on Arthur Yap, see here:
