Use this strategy for understanding the theme of a poem.

1. A Strategy for Understanding an Author’s Message (THEME)
in a Poem
TPCASTT

2. READ THIS POEM BY EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON…
WHENEVER Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.
And he was always quietly arrayed, 5
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
quot;Good-morning,quot; and he glittered when he walked.
And he was rich—yes, richer than a king,
And admirably schooled in every grace: 10
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.
So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night, 15
Went home and put a bullet through his head.

3.  This title emphasizes that
Richard Cory the poem is about
WHENEVER Richard Cory went down ―Richard Cory.‖
town,
We people on the pavement looked at
him:
He was a gentleman from sole to
crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.
What is it about him that we
should know?
T: TITLE

4.  When you
WHENEVER Richard Cory went down
paraphrase, you re-think
town,
We people on the pavement looked at
and re-word the passages
him:
He was a gentleman from sole to
to make sure you know
crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim. what the author is saying
literally.
 Here the author is
describing how Richard
Cory is considered
gentlemanly and clean.
P: PARAPHRASE

5.  When paraphrasing, now is
the time to look up all words
And he was always quietly
arrayed, 5 you don’t know.
 Vocab: arrayed – to dress
And he was always human when he
talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he
said,
or decorate in splendid attire
 RC doesn’t seem loud or
quot;Good-morning,quot; and he glittered when he
walked.
like he wants to draw
attention to himself.
Still, people are affected by
his presence when he
speaks to them.
P: PARAPHRASE

6. And he was rich—yes, richer than a Vocab: grace – a

king,
And admirably schooled in every pleasing appearance or
grace: 10
In fine, we thought that he was effect
everything
 RC is wealthy and has all
To make us wish that we were in his place
the social manners
learned from the best
schools. People want to
be him.
P: PARAPHRASE

7. So on we worked, and waited for the
light,
And went without the meat, and cursed
the bread;
 The people in town work
And Richard Cory, one calm summer
night, 15
hard and wait for their
Went home and put a bullet through his
head.
chance to be favored as
RC has been favored.
 Then, on a calm night, RC
kills himself.
P: PARAPHRASE

8. Words with meanings that can be
related to another idea:
First, find interesting word choices
, symbols, figurative
Grace, imperially, light, bread, cro
language, allusions, etc.that may have
more than one meaning or lead us to
wn, king all have connotations
another level of understanding that the of royalty and even religion.
word alone wouldn’t lead us to.
What emotional ideas do these words
have?
Are some positive and others negative?
Why are these words used with
RC? Why do the townspeople
curse the ―bread‖ (religious
connotation)?
C: CONNOTATIONS

9. The speaker feels like one of the
townspeople who look up to
Richard Cory and wants what RC
Think about how the speaker (not
necessarily the author) FEELS about the has. The speaker feels bitter that
subject/topic. he was not blessed with the same
good looks, money, charm that
RC has.
Why did the author make the
speaker one of the townspeople?
Why doesn’t the speaker seem
surprised or say about what
happened to RC?
A: ATTITUDE

10. In this poem, the shift occurs
at the beginning of stanza
Shift usually occurs between stanzas four when the speaker talks
towards the end of a poem. Look for it
anywhere in the poem, though Think about the bitterness of the
about a change in any of the following:
townspeople rather than the
•STRUCTURE of poem (syllable glory of RC. Shift in
count, verse length, rhyme scheme)
•PERSPECTIVE
subject
•POINT OF VIEW
•SETTING
•TOPIC/SUBJECT
And then think about what happens after
Why does the author have to
that shift or what the author exposes to us
after and during the shift.
tell us how the townspeople
feel and then surprise us
with RC’s tragedy?
S: SHIFT

11. E.A. (as Edwin called himself)
was in love with a woman
Title (again) but this time on a Figurative
(Emma) who married his
Level? Sometimes you can find puns in brother Herman. After losing a
the title as well as allusions.
business, Herman sank into
This might also be a good time to review alcoholism and died. Emma
the AUTHOR’S BIOGRAPHY for clues to
why he or she would title a work a
said that ―Richard Cory‖ is
particular way. about Herman.
http://www.earobinson.com/pages/HisLife.
html Was EA like one of the bitter
townspeople feeling his brother
had it all? Did he regret his
bitterness? Is that why he
wrote this poem?
T: TITLE (AGAIN)

12. T: THEME
Theme is the message the author
Topic: Pain and emptiness
gives in a work.
Topic Extended: how
It is NOT a direct reference to
something in the literature but a
people cope with pain and
global undestanding or idea. emptiness
Theme is the connection of all parts How author feels: All
of TPCAST—looking at connections
between connotations, speaker’s
attitude, what is the big idea in the
people feel pain and
shift, how the title re-enforces other
ideas
emptiness; even those
whose lives seem fulfilled
To understand the message, you
might try the following: need a connectedness to
Topic:
•
• Topic Extended: (what
others to feel complete.
about the topic-phrase)
• Topic and how author feels
about it:

13. SO, I HAVE THE THEME, NOW WHAT DO I DO????
 Use the theme as your thesis statement of your
essay
 Use specific references from the poem (word
choices, details—names, events, places) to
discuss any of the TPCASTT items as they
relate to your theme (for example, write a
paragraph about the speaker’s ATTITUDE that
will support the theme)
 Cite from the poem and explain how the citation
develops attitude, connotation, shift, etc