Poetry is one of the most expressive forms of literature. It can evoke emotions, set a mood, tell a story, or create a deeply and universally understood feeling in its readers. This makes expounding its elements, and understanding its rich meaning, comparisons, and symbols, even more important.
The TP-CASTT method of poetry analysis is a great way to teach students to dissect a poem and understand its parts. It helps students to uncover the deeper meanings within poems while giving them the confidence to be self-educators. TP-CASTT Poetry Analysis is an order of operations similar to PEMDAS for math. It asks students to list items in sequential order and answer questions based on their reading of the poem.
| T | TITLE |
The title sounds like it might be about bells. But, what kind of bells? School bells? Church bells? Sleigh bells? |
|---|---|---|
| P | PARAPHRASE |
The first and second sections deal with silver and golden bells. Both toll for happy reasons, like life and marriage. The third and fourth section describe menacing bells, ones to be fearful of. The brazen bells are frightening, and the iron bells sound like they are tolling for Death. |
| C | CONNOTATION |
The narrator repeats the word “bells” over and over again, each time combining it with sounds each kind of bell would make. Silver bells tinkle and jingle; golden bells rhyme and chime; brazen bells clang and crash and roar in warning; iron bells toll and moan and groan in despair. |
| A | ATTITUDE/TONE |
The narrator’s tone is upbeat and optimistic in the first two sections; in the last two, the narrator’s tone is fearful, sad, and defeated. |
| S | SHIFT |
The major shift in the poem comes between the second and third sections, where the happy bells turn into ones of warning and sadness, from early life and marriage to aging and death. |
| T | TITLE |
The title is about the different kinds of bells in life, from the silvery tinkling bells of youth, to the tolling iron bells of death. |
| T | THEME |
The theme of the poem is that death ultimately triumphs over life, and every person faces the same journey through each phase of bells. |
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Student Instructions
Perform a TPCASTT analysis of “The Bells”. Remember that TPCASTT stands for Title, Paraphrase, Connotation, Attitude/Tone, Shift, Title, Theme.