Poem One: "My Last Duchess
You have two poems to analyze today. The first is "My Last Duchess," and the second is "Barbie Doll."
"My Last Duchess" is a difficult poem for students to understand on the first read, but please make your best efforts. Remember, that the discussion links are designed to help you develop and expand your ideas about the literature. If you don't understand the poem, at least take a guess.
Make sure to pay attention to the punctuation, and you may need to look up specific words if you do not understand them. Remember that in poetry, every word counts. This poem is a dramatic monologue, which means that one person is speaking to another person who remains silent, and during the discourse or conversation, the speaker reveals something about him or herself that they did not intend to. To analyze this poem, you need to answer the following:
1. What is the dramatic situation/setting?
2. Who is speaking?
3. Look at the title, what is its significance?
4. What does the speaker mean by "last" duchess?
5. What has happened to the last duchess?
6. What kind of person was the last duchess?
7. What does the speaker reveal about himself? In other words, what type of person is he? I will give you a hint. Think of Monstressor from "The Cask of Amontillado."
8. What is the tone of the poem? What type of diction does the speaker use? Make sure to look at your poetry terms.
9. Does the poem rhyme at the end of each line? What is the rhyme scheme? Remember, rhyming words sound alike. For example, pie rhymes with sky. Each time a new rhyme begins, assign a new letter. For example:
A little learning is a dangerous thing; (a)
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring." (a)
Be not the first by whom the new are tried (b)
Nor yet the last to lay the old aside. (b)