1. Learn (a lot) more poetry terms
2. Practice reading/interpreting sonnets
3. Get better at identifying the speaker of a poem
4. Learn the different types of poems
5. Practice figuring out the main theme
The poetry multiple-choice practice section showed me that I lack both knowledge and understanding when it comes to poetry. On quite a few of the problems, I couldn't even figure out what most of the answers meant. It was also difficult for me to interpret what the poems were actually trying to say (and, for whatever reason, the sonnet is what tripped me up the most). I would get caught up on certain words or phrases, and couldn't look at the poem as a whole. Finally, I consistently missed questions relating to the identification of the speaker, which I think also relates to not being able to view the poem as a whole.
I'm impressed at your ability to think through what's frustrating you about the poetry questions--comments like "I consistently missed questions relating to the identification of the speaker, which I think also relates to not being able to view the poem as a whole" show me that you really did think critically about this assignment.
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