Students of literature lessons are often given the task of at least superficially analyzing a poem in order to better understand its meaning. The overwhelming majority of students perceive the request to do this analysis as an attempt by teachers to give the most unnecessary task, which you can even think of. However, such a task not only broadens the horizons and improves the ability of students to think, but also develops creative abilities.
Perception Features
The theme and main idea of the poem by different people can be defined in different ways, and the differences in interpretation are sometimes shocking. Of course, some teachers work strictly according to the textbook, so the student’s attempts to explain the verse are somehow perceived in their own way as a whim and unwillingness to observe the sacred standard. Such educators should remember the main goal of education: first of all, to teach the child to think, not to cram and repeat what “smart people” once said. And there is no need to speak about a single opinion in such an area as literature.
Concept and its help in defining the topic
It is noteworthy that not every literature teacher will be able to easily explain what the theme of the poem is. In lyric works there is a very fine line between subjectivity and objectivity, and therefore the definition of this concept should sound as simple as possible, so as not to further confuse the student. Defining a topic in the literature is a very sensitive issue that has always been relevant. This is just the case when many can say "I understand, but I can’t explain." But what about those who don’t even understand? It is believed that the main theme of the poem is determined by analyzing its conceptosphere, but this approach is too complicated to represent in school. Be that as it may, it is he who is the most objective. The reader identifies the first five to seven associations that arise when reading a work, and then searches in the text for the words that caused these associations. And here is the image that "picks up" the most words, and will be the theme of the poem.
Postmodernism and the problems of finding meaning
We can say that the concept is at the same time the theme and the main idea of the work. Literary scholars sometimes even present the conceptual sphere visually in the form of a “web”, in the center of which the strongest, basic concept is located, and all other associations are located on the entire periphery. This design allows you to clearly visualize the structure of the poem and highlight all the stylistic means used by the author to create a certain atmosphere. However, even after such an analysis, students may not understand what the theme of the poem is. Especially often, questions arise when analyzing poems of a controversial nature related to postmodernism, where the emphasis is on imagery and emotionality. It is generally very difficult to analyze the works of this direction, regardless of the form of the narrative. The theme and idea of the poem in this case will be very blurry, multifaceted, unless the author himself explains them in an epigraph or in an explanation in a footnote.
Have a question? There is an answer
The analysis of the conceptosphere is suitable for students of the philological department or just for people who are versed in
stylistic techniques and who can analyze the language. Students need a simplified version. In order to explain what the theme of the poem is literally on the fingers, you can use the following algorithm. The theme of the poem is the question that the author asks, and the idea is the answer that he gives in the course of the story. Sometimes a topic can be determined simply by name, but you have to think about the idea with your brain. Of course,
this explanation causes skeptical laughter among linguists and literary critics, but practice shows that it really helps to understand the essence of the definition. For example, in a poem where the author cries about
unrequited love, the theme and idea may be as follows: “Who is guilty, that love is unrequited?” / “Nobody is guilty, that’s how fate happened.”
The main difference between lyrics and prose: the lack of rhyme
The explanation given above helps to understand what the theme of the poem is, but does not go too deep into its hidden meanings. Still, poetry is a very delicate matter, and emotional author's metaphors can be disassembled for hours before their true meaning is comprehended. The lyrics differ from the bulk of prose just in that the authors use figurative stylistic means much more often. This can be easily explained: in the lyric work, the poet has less time to impress the reader, since the "regulation" of the poem is, more often than not, several verses. In this volume, the author needs to invest all his thoughts and feelings, and it is just stylistic tools that help to do this best. Metaphors, allegories, hyperbole, allusions, as well as some phonetic techniques (assonance, alliteration) - all this adds to the poetic work of imagery and strengthens its emotional message.
Theme - copyright and subtle
It is noteworthy that in modern lyrics sometimes the author himself does not know what his theme of the poem is. The poet simply writes what he feels and hopes that he can arouse these feelings in the reader. Sometimes, due to excessive imagery, his work seems overloaded, and it is very difficult for the reader to understand such works. They do not always show even a hint of an idea, even if the author has several successful collections. In any case, determining the topic and idea of a poem is a very subjective matter. Students should not be blamed for seeing a hint of hatred in a love poem, just praise them for their quick wits.