What is the best way to write essays on poems? Do you need to write about your own thoughts?

Depending on the essay prompt you receive or the requirements for the specific assignment, you may be asked to write an essay that analyzes and interprets a poem or a reflection essay. Or your assignment may ask you to take both approaches in one essay. 

To write an essay that analyzes and interprets a poem, first determine the denotation of the poem, or its face value meaning. You should state in one or two sentences the overt message of the poem. For example, in the poem "Out, Out--" by Robert Frost, you would say that the poem describes an event where a boy lost his life due to an accident while sawing wood with a buzz saw. Then discuss the poem's theme or connotation; this is a deeper meaning that goes beyond the facts presented to offer some kind of universal truth. Then, go on to analyze the way the poet uses word choice; figurative language such as similes, metaphors, and personification; and poetic devices such as rhyme, rhythm, meter, assonance, alliteration, consonance, and repetition. Point out how these techniques make the poem more powerful or support the message of the poem. In "Out, Out--" for example, you could comment on the personification of the buzz saw, the onomatopoeic words "snarled" and "rattled," and the understatement at the end of the poem. In an analysis and interpretation essay, you do not need to specifically speak of your own thoughts or reactions to the poem, although the way you present the connotation will be your own interpretation of the piece.

For a reflection essay, you would answer some or all of the following questions about the poem: How does the poem make you feel? What experience in your present or past does the poem remind you of? What surprised you about the poem when you first read it? What is your favorite part of this poem and why? Has the poem helped you look at a subject in a different light? Does this poem remind you of any other works of literature? When will you remember this poem in the future? This type of essay is all about your own thoughts on the poem.

When writing an essay about a poem, be sure to understand the type of essay required--whether an analysis and interpretation or a reflection--and develop your response accordingly.