Interpreting Three of Emily Dickinson's Poems with TPCASTT

This lesson plan features three poems by Emily Dickinson. The poems are “Because I Could Not Stop for Death,” “There’s a Certain Slant of Light,” and “I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died.” You may have these three poems in your literature book but there is a copy of each here if you don’t. Students have a worksheet for each. There are three answer KEYs included. Also included is a prewriting assignment for a short analysis essay over one of the poems of the students’ choosing. This prewriting assignment is a graphic organizer based on TPCASTT. TPCASTT is an acronym for Title, Paraphrase, Connotation, Attitude, Shifts, Title (again), and Theme. Also, several literary terms that are in the poetry are reviewed.
This lesson contains:
• Three separate copies of all three poems
• Three separate worksheets analyzing each poem
• Answer KEYs for three worksheets
• Literary terms discussed are personification, metaphor, mood, and oxymoron
• Prewriting graphic organizer using TPCASTT
I also offer a FREEBIE analysis lesson on Dickinson’s poem, “My Life Closed Twice Before Its Close.” It fits in nicely with this lesson. Find it in my store at
www.TeachersPayTeachers.com/Store/Elyse-Allen .