For homework i was asked to write a personal response to one of the poems that we did in class ("the great hunger' section 1 by Patrick Kavanagh)

Question

I really don't know how to start,
I read that "personal response" is what i think about the poem but what kind of fancy sentences could i use?
pls help :)

Answer 1

http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/ReadingPoetry.html#top

http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/poetry-explication.html

There are some good ideas in these websites. First of all, be sure you re-read the poem you'll be writing about. Second, make sure you can summarize very briefly what is going on in the poem. Third, choose lines in the poem that really appeal to you ("speak" to you!), and then write only about them and how you react to those lines.

You don't want to write a complete explication of the poem -- that goes too far into meter, rhyme, and other technical aspects of the poem. But you do want to include what the poem's about (very briefly) and then address the sections (lines) that particularly appeal to YOU and explain why.

Answer 2

Ignore fancy sentences! Write what you feel when you read the poems. Did you smile? sigh? frown? What experiences do they make you relive/remember? What questions flashed through your mind?
After you have done some writing, please repost and we will be happy to make comments or suggestions.