名人教你讲英文：Writing A Poetry Critique 写诗评

名人教英文：Writing A Poetry Critique 写诗评

Writing a critique normally involves two processes:
a) it involves the process of analysis (分析), discussed last week.
b) it involves the process of synthesis (综合). The word "synthesis" is derived from the Greek word "suntithenai" meaning "to put together". It is the opposite of "analysis".

By way of illustration, let us start by following the processes in writing a critique (评论) on the following excerpt of a poem by William Shakespeare.
O Mistress Mine, Where are you roaming?

What is love? 'Tis not hereafter;
Present mirth hath present laughter;
What's to come is still unsure;
In delay there lies no plenty:
Then come kiss me, Sweet-and-twenty,
Youth's a stuff will not endure.
From Twelfth Night
Analysis 分析

The process of analysis involves the steps summarised below:
1. Read the poem several times.
2. Find out more about the poet.
3. Identify the type, form and structure of the poem.
4. What is the poem about? What is the theme?
5. Pick out the motif in the figurative literary trope, imagery, symbolism. They are clues to help you understand the poem better.
6. Jot down simple notes by item, as shown in the table.

Synthesis 综合
Writing a critique implies that the reader has already analysed the poem and is now ready to put all his ideas about the poem together. Like writing any piece of composition, the structure of a critique should comprise:

A. An opening line or an opening paragraph with a clear reference to the title of the poem and the poet. Ideally, the opening should contain an impressive statement.

B. The body of the critique, in one or several paragraphs, should discuss the central theme and the motif of the poem.
C. A concluding summary sentence or paragraph sums up the critique.
Do remember to quote appropriately and work the prompt to support your argument and points of view.
A sample critique of the excerpt is given on the right.
Passage of the Week

A Critique
The genius of Shakespeare is nowhere more evident than in his love poem O Mistress Mine, from Twelfth Night, written some four hundred years ago.
A sestet in rhyming scheme of trochaic tetrameter, aabccb, the poem is about love. It is also touched with expressions of cynicism to indicate that life is short and love is not enduring, particularly physical love.

This poem starts off with a thematic but rhetorical question: What is love? The motif that permeates throughout also indicates the ephemeral nature of love: "Present mirth has present laughter." The insistent use of "present" indicates the temporary nature of love, which is also self-evident in the lover's pleas:
"What's to come is still unsure" and "Youth's a stuff will not endure".

This poem, written such a long time ago, is strangely modern, highlighting the instant, "now" effect of physical love.