Diction List four strong, important words from your poem. In two to four complete sentences, think about each word and answer the following questions about each word. What do these words tell us about the author’s tone? How does he/she feel? Is the word positive, negative, or neutral? What emotions are associated with this word?

Imagery
Read your poem and choose an image the poet describes. Type or write it here. In complete sentences, think about this image and answer the following questions. How does this image reflect the author’s tone? How does he/she feel?

Details
Read your poem and choose two to three details the poet uses to describe a person or scene. Type or write it here. In complete sentences, think about these details and answer the following questions. What do these details tell us about the author’s tone? How does he/she feel? What is the effect of those details? Do they paint a particular picture?

Syntax
Read your poem and type or write one or two lines in which the poet uses a unique syntax. Type or write it here. In complete sentences, think about this syntax and answer the following questions. What does this syntax tell us about the author’s tone? How does he/she feel? Does the writer use punctuation marks to create pauses or communicate emotion?

Tone: Based on the evidence in this chart for your poem, what is the author’s overall tone (how does he or she feel) regarding the subject of the poem?

I have to answer the questions listed above using this poem:

The Fist
by Darek Walcott

The fist clenched round my heart
loosens a little, and I gasp
brightness; but it tightens
again. When have I ever not loved
the pain of love? But this has moved

past love to mania. This has the strong
clench of the madman, this is
gripping the ledge of unreason, before
plunging howling into the abyss.

Hold hard then, heart. This way at least you live.

Segment 2 Advanced 02 Taking It Apart

PUTTING DIDS TO WORK

Now you will choose a poem and analyze it using the DIDS method.

Poem

Title:  

and

Poet:

The fist

by Derek

Walcott

Subject of the poem: The subject is love and the complications to follow.

Your Name:  

Diction

Brightness

Clenched

Heart

Gripping

Brightness: He is scared, and he feels afraid that he sees brightness because that basically means he is close to death. He could also be referring to waking up early and feel like he cannot breathe and is too bright in the morning.

Clenched: His heart is being held by someone who is struggling to breathe because of love. He uses this word as a metaphor because he says “This has the clench of the madman” but before that, you can know what he is referring to and how this has to do with anything when referring to a clench of a madman. This means a strong grip or heartache basically.

Heart: This is obvious because he refers to his heart hurting and aching because of love. In his first sentence, he says, “The fist clenched round my heart” This can also be referred to as heartbreak because that is what he is starting to during his whole poem. He also uses his heart in the last sentence of his poem when stating “Hold hard then, heart. This way at least you live.” In this, it is referring to his heart to keep going and not struggle or fail because he had been in love which we can tell did not go well and he is now upset, and his heart is breaking.

Gripping: He uses this to refer to someone holding his heart tightly making him not  breathe this is all because of love, a hard thing to do. He uses this before screaming because of all the pain from his heart hurting him. Therefore, he thinks love is not safe or good for your heart. The 4 words tell us that the author's tone is daring. It tells us that he feels scared. The words are neutral, and he is scared, frightened, and nervous.

Imagery:  I believe that this image of a hand tightly squeezing a heart represents the literal and metaphorical meaning of the poem. It shows that his heart has been hurt and squeezed so many times because of the love he feels. Or more of how he felt. In the last sentence, he has said “Hold hard then, heart. This way at least you live” This is what he basically means, and this picture works with it as well.

Details: “When have I ever not loved the pain of love?” “This has the strong clench of the madman, this is the gripping the ledge of unreason, before plunging howling into the abyss.” I think these quotes show that Derek compares the painful experience with love that he is plugging into an abyss. I also think that he says he loves the pain of love because he has been through painful things for the ones, he loves but does not regret it.

Syntax: This has the strong clench of the madman; this is gripping the ledge of unreason, before plunging howling into the abyss. But this has moved past love to mania. He uses this to show that his love is not just a feeling anymore. It is more causing his heart to ache and hurt because of love.  I think this sentence also represents a unique syntax by the way it is written and the language he uses. He uses commas to create a fast-paced way of reading that makes a threatening tone. I think he used both words howling and plunging because he wanted to exaggerate and explain more but also be serious.  He could have also done it because he wanted to make the people feel threatened possibly.

Tone: Based on the evidence in this chart for your poem, what is the author’s overall tone (how does he or she feel) regarding the subject of the poem? The author's overall tone regarding the subject is serious and very annoyed. You can tell who he is referring to when he says “This way at least you live” you can tell he is very annoyed and serious. He refers to this as love.

Explanation: