DECODEDA rhetorical analysis of your

favorite song

DECODED Select a song to dissect (remember

if it is your favorite- it may no longer be…so choose wisely).

You will analyze this song. You will create a Poster or

PowerPoint to provide to me. You must follow the rubric given on

the following slides (ei: the slides are the RUBRIC and the ORDER of the presentation – Each slide worth up to 10 points)

The due date is your SEMESTER EXAM DAY

(JUNE2 or 3)

DECODED: Slide 1 Biography of the author

of your song (if a band-who wrote it & who performed it:Slide must include achievements, influences, and other major hits.Include at least one good viewable picture (of your artist or band)Cite your sources - MLA

DECODED: Slide 2

COPY OF THE SONG’S LYRICS - REQUIREDMAY INCLUDE VIDEO (OR LINK TO) OF SONG. (CLEAN VERSIONS ONLY)

LADY GAGA "POKER FACE"

I wanna hold em' like they do in Texas pleaseFold em' let em' hit me raise it baby stay with me (I love it)Luck and intuition play the cards with Spades to startAnd after he's been hooked I'll play the one that's on his heart

Oh, oh, oh, oh, ohhhh, oh-oh-e-oh-oh-ohI'll get him hot, show him what I've gotOh, oh, oh, oh, ohhhh, oh-oh-e-oh-oh-oh,I'll get him hot, show him what I've got

[Chorus:]Can't read my,Can't read myNo he can't read my poker face(she's got to love nobody)Can't read myCan't read myNo he can't read my poker face(she's got to love nobody)

I wanna roll with him a hard pair we will beA little gambling is fun when you're with me I love it)Russian Roulette is not the same without a gunAnd baby when it's love if its not rough it isn't fun, funOh, oh, oh, oh, ohhhh, oh-oh-e-oh-oh-ohI'll get him hot, show him what I've gotOh, oh, oh, oh, ohhhh, oh-oh-e-oh-oh-oh,I'll get him hot, show him what I've got

DECODED: Slide 3 ANNOTATE

Complete poetry/song analysis You may provide a SNAPPED phot for this slide to PROVE YOUR WORK!

How to Annotate a Poem/Song Read the poem/song aloud. Identify the following elements and

make notations: rhyme scheme, figurative language images, symbols, sound devices (alliteration, rhythm, onomatopoeia, off rhyme, free verse).

Circle any part of the poem that stands out, confuses them, or is important.

Write questions in the margin. Highlight unusual words; mark

phrases that indicate the poem's meaning.

Determine the poem's theme and draw arrows to the lines that support the theme.

DECODED: Slide 4a Complete a

TPCASTT of whole song.

Information must be included in slide format and be detailed per each section of the TPCASTT

LARGER VERSION OF TEMPLATE ON 4b

TPCASTT Template An Effective Poem Analysis Method: title, paraphrase, connotation, diction, attitude, tone, shift(s),

title revisited and theme   Title Before you even think about reading the poetry or trying to analyze it, speculate on what you think

the poem might be about based upon the title. Often time authors conceal meaning in the title and give clues in the title. Jot down what you think this poem will be about…

  Paraphrase Before you begin thinking about meaning or tying to analyze the poem, don't overlook the

literal meaning of the poem. One of the biggest problems that students often make in poetry analysis is jumping to conclusions before understanding what is taking place in the poem. When

you paraphrase a poem, write in your own words exactly what happens in the poem. Look at the number of sentences in the poem—your paraphrase should have exactly the same number. This technique is especially helpful for poems written in the 17th and 19th centuries. Sometimes your teacher may allow you to summarize what happens in the poem. Make sure that you understand the difference between a paraphrase and a summary.

  Connotation Although this term usually refers solely to the emotional overtones of word choice, for this approach the term refers to any and all poetic devices, focusing on how such devices contribute to

the meaning, the effect, or both of a poem. You may consider imagery, figures of speech (simile, metaphor, personification, symbolism, etc), diction, point of view, and sound devices (alliteration, onomatopoeia, rhythm, and rhyme). It is not necessary that you identify all the poetic devices within the poem. The ones you do identify should be seen as a way of supporting the conclusions you are going to draw about the poem.

Attitude (TONE) Having examined the poem's devices and clues closely, you are now ready to explore the multiple attitudes that may be present in the poem. Examination of diction, images, and details suggests the speaker's attitude and contributes to understanding. You may refer to the list of words on Tone that will help you. Remember that usually the tone or attitude cannot be named with a single word Think complexity.

  Shift Rarely does a poem begin and end the poetic experience in the same place. As is true of most us, the poet's understanding of an experience is a gradual realization, and the poem is a reflection of that understanding or insight. Watch for the following keys to shifts: • key words, (but, yet, however, although) • punctuation (dashes, periods, colons, ellipsis) • stanza divisions • changes in line or stanza length or both • irony • changes in sound that may indicate changes in meaning

• changes in diction Title revisited Now look at the title again, but this time on an interpretive level. What new insight does

the title provide in understanding the poem.    

SLIDE 4b TPCASTT Template An Effective Poem Analysis Method: title, paraphrase, connotation, diction, attitude, tone, shift(s), title revisited and theme   Title Before you even think about reading the poetry or trying to analyze it, speculate on what you think the poem might be about

based upon the title. Often time authors conceal meaning in the title and give clues in the title. Jot down what you think this poem will be about…

  Paraphrase Before you begin thinking about meaning or tying to analyze the poem, don't overlook the literal meaning of the poem.

One of the biggest problems that students often make in poetry analysis is jumping to conclusions before understanding what is taking place in the poem. When you paraphrase a poem, write

in your own words exactly what happens in the poem. Look at the number of sentences in the poem—your paraphrase should have exactly the same number. This technique is especially helpful for poems written in the 17th and 19th centuries. Sometimes your teacher may allow you to summarize what happens in the poem. Make sure that you understand the difference between a paraphrase and a summary.

  Connotation Although this term usually refers solely to the emotional overtones of word choice, for this approach the term refers to any and all poetic devices, focusing on how such devices contribute to the meaning, the effect, or both

of a poem. You may consider imagery, figures of speech (simile, metaphor, personification, symbolism, etc), diction, point of view, and sound devices (alliteration, onomatopoeia, rhythm, and rhyme). It is not necessary that you identify all the poetic devices within the poem. The ones you do identify should be seen as a way of supporting the conclusions you are going to draw about the poem.

Attitude (TONE) Having examined the poem's devices and clues closely, you are now ready to explore the multiple attitudes that may be present in the poem. Examination of diction, images, and details suggests the speaker's attitude and contributes to understanding. You may refer to the list of words on Tone that will help you. Remember that usually the tone or attitude cannot be named with a single word Think complexity.

  Shift Rarely does a poem begin and end the poetic experience in the same place. As is true of most us, the poet's understanding of an experience is a gradual realization, and the poem is a reflection of that understanding or insight. Watch for the following keys to shifts: • key words, (but, yet, however, although) • punctuation (dashes, periods, colons, ellipsis) • stanza divisions • changes in line or stanza length or both • irony • changes in sound that may indicate changes in meaning

• changes in diction

Title revisited Now look at the title again, but this time on an interpretive level. What new insight does the title provide in understanding the poem.

TPCASTT Template

TPCASTT: Poem Analysis Method: title, paraphrase, connotation, diction, attitude, tone, shift(s), title revisited and theme

Title of poem means

Paraphrase parts of the Poem – not a summary – a REWRITE

Connotation Of some of the words – changing literal meaning to implied or associated values

Attitude What is the attitude of the author, characters or yourself?

Shift At first we think or feel one way – then there is a shift: identify the shifts and explain

Title Revisited Any new insights on meaning or significance of title?

Theme What is the theme – concrete or abstract – underlying, overt?

DECODED: Slide 5 Based on the information compiled from

the artist’s biography your analysis and TPCASTT analysis, answer the following questions in slide format: How did the artist's life, achievements, etc.

affect his or her works? What possible influences can be seen in his/

her work based in their background? Each response should be at least 2-4

sentences. Justify your response from specific examples from the texts (biography, analysis, and song phrases, etc.)

DECODED: Slide 6If you reference a video:

Compare and contrast video to lyrics using C&C graphic organizer of your choice (examples

below)NOT REQUIRED!!!!!! BUT Please enter –

‘ Slide 6 Left Intentionally Blank’ if you do NOT complete to keep the slide #s in

order.

DECODED: Slide 7-9 Include at least 3 specific examples of

rhetorical devices or language used in song.

For example: In Lil’ Wayne’s song “6 Foot, 7”, he states,

"I got through that sentence like a subject and a predicate”. This line is an examples of a simile and it is referring to the jail time he served in 2010. The phrase insinuates that he may not have considered jail difficult.

YOUR TURN TO WRITE SELECT any stanza/verse from the song and

REWRITE it to CHANGE the meaning to make it HARSHER or LIGHTER.

Describe in a brief detail, why you made the changes and which words you chose to change and the effective connotative meaning provided by the change (in other words: how do word choices change the meaning of the piece)

DECODED: Slide 10 WORKS CITED page MLA CITE all sources that were used in your PowerPoint here – on

slide # 10