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“Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” Analysis

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Template and Class Instructions
Rubric
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TP-CASTTing "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening"

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Activity Overview

Poetry is one of the most expressive forms of literature. It can evoke emotions, set a mood, tell a story, or create a deeply and universally understood feeling in its readers. This makes expounding its elements, and understanding its rich meaning, comparisons, and symbols, even more important.

The TP-CASTT method of poetry analysis is a great way to teach students to dissect a poem and understand its parts. It helps students to uncover the deeper meanings within poems while giving them the confidence to be self-educators. TP-CASTT Poetry Analysis is an order of operations similar to PEMDAS for math. It asks students to list items in sequential order and answer questions based on their reading of the poem.

TPCASTT Example for “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening”

T	TITLE	The title sounds like the narrator is in the woods on a snowy night. Maybe it's Christmas time?
P	PARAPHRASE	The narrator stops in the woods of a local villager. He thinks his horse might wonder why they’re stopping in the middle of nowhere, because it’s the darkest night of the year. The horse shakes his harness, as if he is confused. The only other sound is the wind and light snow falling. The narrator observes the beauty of the deep woods, and the peace and dreamlike calm they give him, but realizes he must move on because he still has more distance to go before he can rest.
C	CONNOTATION	The narrator uses words such as “without a farmhouse”, “frozen lake”, “darkest evening”, “easy wind” and “downy flake” to create an image of his isolation in the middle of a winter night. He admires the beauty of the “lovely, dark and deep” woods but pulls himself away, noting that “sleep” or peace of mind, can’t happen quite yet.
A	ATTITUDE/TONE	The narrator’s tone is gentle, contemplative, and calm as he discusses the cold winter night and his horse’s reaction until the shift, where he sounds resigned.
S	SHIFT	The shift occurs when the narrator snaps out of his reverie and realizes that as nice as it might be to stay in the woods and admire their beauty, he needs to keep going.
T	TITLE	The title is about a narrator stopping in the woods and admiring them on a dark winter’s night. He wants to stay in the woods, but he knows he has obligations to keep.
T	THEME	The theme of the poem is the desire for peace of mind, which can be found in nature, but is often interrupted by the daily obligations of life.

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Template and Class Instructions

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Student Instructions

Perform a TPCASTT analysis of “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening”. Remember that TPCASTT stands for Title, Paraphrase, Connotation, Attitude/Tone, Shift, Title, Theme.

Click "Start Assignment".
Choose any combination of scenes, characters, items, and text to represent each letter of TPCASTT.
Write a few sentences describing the importance or meaning of the images.
Finalize images, edit, and proofread your work.

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Lesson Plan Reference

Grade Level 6-12

Difficulty Level 3 (Developing to Mastery)

Type of Assignment Individual

Type of Activity: TPCASTT Poetry Analysis

Common Core Standards

[ELA-Literacy/RL/6/4] Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone
[ELA-Literacy/RL/6/5] Analyze how a particular sentence, chapter, scene, or stanza fits into the overall structure of a text and contributes to the development of the theme, setting, or plot
[ELA-Literacy/RL/6/7] Compare and contrast the experience of reading a story, drama, or poem to listening to or viewing an audio, video, or live version of the text, including contrasting what they “see” and “hear” when reading the text to what they perceive when they listen or watch

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Rubric

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TPCASTT Analysis Rubric Template

Analyze a poem using the the TPCASTT method: Title, Paraphrase, Connotation, Attitude/Tone, Shift, Title, Theme.

	Proficient	Emerging	Beginning	Needs Improvement
TPCASTT Responses	Every part of TPCASTT was thoroughly answered and there was sufficient evidence from the text.	Most parts of TPCASTT was answered with sufficient evidence to support claims.	Less than half of TPCASTT was answered and/or responses had insufficient evidence from the text.	Examples and descriptions are missing or too minimal to score.
Depictions	Depictions chosen for each section are accurate to the poem and reflect time, effort, thought, and care with regard to placement and creation of the scenes.	Depictions chosen for each section are mostly accurate to the poem. They reflect time and effort put into placement and creation of the scenes.	Depictions chosen for each section are inaccurate to the poem. The depictions may be rushed or show minimal effort, time, and care put into placement and creation of the scenes.	Most depictions are missing too many elements or are too minimal to score. Little time or effort has been put into placement and creation of the scenes.
English Conventions	There are no errors in spelling, grammar, or mechanics throughout the storyboard. All writing portions reflect careful proofreading and accuracy to the poem.	There are a few errors in spelling, grammar, and mechanics throughout the storyboard. All writing portions show accuracy to the poem and some proofreading.	There are several errors in spelling, grammar, and mechanics throughout the storyboard. Most writing portions do not reflect proofreading or accuracy to the poem.	Errors in spelling, grammar, and mechanics in writing portions of the storyboard seriously interfere with communication.

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