Definitions
Define theme
The central idea or moral of a literary piece
He'll be watching the pretty hummingbirds,
A warm smile upon his face,
And as he leaves to go about, he'll
Be walking with strength and grace
Watching - Neutral
Pretty, Warm, Strength, Grace, - Positive
Moist
Soggy
Damp
Wet
I ask them to take a poem
And hold it up to the light
Like a color slide
Or press an ear against its hive.
...
But all they want to do
Is tie the poem to a chair with rope
And torture a confession out of it.
Readers are fixed on analyzing every detail of a poem, instead of enjoying it
Define connotation
The emotion or idea a word conveys
A clamor of crows mobbing an eagle, it seems
Until I see the gull, low down and desperate
Flying for its life, it swerves across the open water
Striving for the open sky
Mobbing, Desperate - Negative
Swerves, Striving - Neutral
Guest
Intruder
Visitor
There may be water.
There may be stones.
There may be high places
you cannot go without
the hope socks bring you,
the way they hold you
to the earth.
You can overcome any obstacle with the right things.
Define denotation
The central/objective definition of a word,
I want them to water-ski
Across the surface of a poem
Waving at the author’s name on the shore.
Water-ski across - Positive
Waving - Positive
Clique
Mob
A set of people
He wasn't famous in this world
Nor did any heroic deeds.
He was a strong, hard-working man,
Taking care of those in need.
You don't need to be heroic or famous in order to be a good person
Define annotation
An analysis of text involving interaction (writing, highlighting, underling, etc)
Take the thickest socks.
Wherever you're going
you'll have to walk.
Take - Neutral
Thickest - Neutral
Walk - Neutral
Inquisitive
Nosy
Curious
But the eagle is always above and behind it, parallel
Like the male of a pair of ice dancers
Spreading his dark arms above his partner's every move
Like that the eagle shadows the gull
Drives it, bleating over the bay
The poem compares an eagle and a gull to a pair of ice dancers.