What is a dramatic monologue?

Dramatic monologue refers to a type of poetry. These poems are dramatic in the sense that they have a
theatrical quality; that is, the poem is meant to be read to an audience. To say that the poem is
a monologue means that these are the words of one solitary speaker with no dialogue coming from any
other characters. Think of one person standing alone on a stage speaking to an audience. Certainly, you
are part of that audience, but the poem usually implies that the speaker is mainly talking to a specific
person(s).

The reason poets choose to write poems like this is to express a point of view through the words of a
character. However, the tricky part is that often the opinions stated by that character are not the same
as the views of the poet. Most of the time, the speaker is trying to convince someone of something, and
may or may not be telling the whole truth. Sometimes what the speaker doesn't say is just as revealing
and interesting as what he or she does say in the poem.

Here's an excerpt from the dramatic monologue, "My Last Duchess," by Robert Browning (who is often
considered the master of this type of poetry):

Even had you skill

When trying to understand a dramatic monologue, ask yourself these questions:

 What is the situation?

 Who is the speaker talking to and why?

 What tactics is the speaker using to make his case?

 Does the speaker seem to change his mind during the poem?

 What do you think about this character and what he has to say?

Some students have trouble with sight-reading poetry because they don't know where to start. For
example, they see the word "death" in the first line and "tomb" in the third and jump to the conclusion
that the poem (which, in fact, is a sentimental lover's pitch to a woman who has turned him down) must
be about mortality, and they then spend the next ten minutes trying to make the poem fit these gloomy
expectations.

To avoid jumping to conclusions, try going through each poem asking the following questions in an order
something like this:

1. What is the dramatic situation?

That is, who is the speaker (or who are the speakers)? Is the speaker a male or female? Where is he or
she? When does this poem take place? What are the circumstances?

Sometimes you'll be able to answer all of these questions: The speaker is a male psychopath living in a
remote cottage, probably in Renaissance Italy, who has strangled his mistress and is sitting with her
head propped upon his shoulder (Browning's Porphyria's Lover). Sometimes you'll be able to answer
only a few, and sometimes only vaguely: The speaker is unnamed, unplaced, and is addressing an
audience that's unknown. No matter. You've begun to understand the poem.

2. What is the structure of the poem?

That is, what are the parts of the poem and how are they related to each other? What gives the poem
its coherence? What are the structural divisions of the poem?

In analyzing the structure, your best aid is the punctuation. Look first for the complete sentences
indicated by periods, semicolons, question marks, or exclamation points. Then ask how the poem gets
from the first sentence to the second and from the second to the third. Are there repetitions such as
parallel syntax or the use of one simile in each sentence? Answer these questions in accordance with the
sense of the poem, not by where a line ends or a rhyme falls. Don't assume that all sonnets will break
into an 8-6 or a 4-4-4-2 pattern, but be able to recognize these patterns if they are used.

Think about the logic of the poem. Does it ask questions, then answer them? Or develop an argument?
Or use a series of analogies to prove a point? Understanding the structure isn't just a matter of
mechanics. It'll help you to understand the meaning of the poem as a whole and to perceive some of the
art, the formal skills that the poet has used.

3. What is the theme of the poem?

You should now be able to see the point of the poem. Sometimes a poem simply says "I love you";
sometimes the theme or the meaning is much more complex. If possible, define what the poem says and
why.

4. Are the grammar and meaning clear?

You should now be able to see the point of the poem. Sometimes a poem simply says "I love you";
sometimes the theme or the meaning is much more complex. If possible, define what the poem says and
why.
 5. What are the important images and figures of speech?

What are the important literal sensory objects, the images, such as a field of poppies or a stench of
corruption? What are the similes and metaphors of the poem? In each, exactly what is compared to
what? Is there a pattern in the images, such as a series of comparisons all using men compared to wild
animals? The most difficult challenge of reading poetry is discriminating between the figurative ("I love a
rose" — that is, my love is like a rose, beautiful, sweet, fragile) and the literal ("I love a rose" — that is,
roses are my favorite flower).

6. What are the most important single words used in the poem?

This is another way of asking about diction. Some of the most significant words in a poem aren't
figurative or images but still determine the effect of the poem. A good reader recognizes which words —
usually nouns and verbs, adjectives and adverbs — are the keys to the poem.

7. What is the tone of the poem?

Tone is a slippery word, and almost everyone has trouble with it. Tone's sometimes used to mean the
mood or atmosphere of a work, though purists are offended by this definition. Or it can mean a manner
of speaking, a tone of voice, as in "The disappointed coach's tone was sardonic." But its most common
use as a term of literary analysis is to denote the inferred attitude of an author.

When the author's attitude is different from that of the speaker, as is usually the case in ironic works,
the tone of voice of the speaker, which may be calm, businesslike, even gracious, may be very different
from the satiric tone of the work, which reflects the author's disapproval of the speaker.

8. What literary devices does the poem employ?

The list of rhetorical devices that a writer may use is enormous. The terms you should worry about are,
above all, metaphor, simile, and personification.

9. What is the prosody, or rhythm and intonation, of the poem?

Read the poem out loud and note the rhyme, meter, and sound effects. How do they contribute to the
overall tone of the work? Look at the white space, which indicates silence between the words. Is there a
pattern? How does the white space affect the reading of the poem?
What are the metrical features in poetry?

Turn on some hip-hop and listen carefully. Next, read aloud a few verses of a Shakespearean sonnet.
What do they have in common? Each one has a strong rhythmic pattern — or metrical feature — more
commonly known as meter.

When you string a lot of words together, you start seeing patterns. Rhythm is the pattern of stresses (as
in stressed and unstressed syllables) in a line of verse. Much of English poetry is written in lines that
string together one or more feet. Feet, the individual building blocks of meter, are single rhythmical
units that consist of two or more syllables.

Here are the most common types of feet, the rhythms they represent, and an example of that rhythm.

 Anapestic: duh-duh-DUH, as in, Get away!

 Dactyllic: DUH-duh-duh, as in, Honestly

 Iambic: duh-DUH, as in Alas!

 Trochaic: DUH-duh, as in Pizza

To build a line of verse, poets can string together repetitions of one of these types of feet. Such
repetitions are named like this:

 Monometer: one foot

 Dimeter: two feet

 Trimeter: three feet

 Tetrameter: four feet

 Pentameter: five feet

 Hexameter: six feet

So, iambic pentameter is a string of five iambs, as in these lines from Shakespeare's Sonnet 18:

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.

Note the rhythm: Duh-DUH-duh-DUH-duh-DUH-duh-DUH-duh-DUH

In his plays, Shakespeare generally used blank verse — unrhymed iambic pentameter. Don't confuse this
with free verse, which is poetry that is not written in a traditional meter but is still rhythmical. (The
poetry of Walt Whitman is perhaps the best-known example of free verse.)
An African Thunderstorm questions

Questions

4.1 Refer to line 14: 'The Wind whistles by' and line 19: 'In the din of whirling

wind'.

Suggest how the alliteration in these lines is used to describe the wind. (2)

4.2 Refer to line 10: 'Pregnant clouds'.

Explain what the word, 'pregnant' implies about the clouds. (2)

4.3 Discuss the effectiveness of comparing the approaching storm to 'a plague of

locusts' (line 6). (3)

4.4 Refer to lines 16–23: 'In the village … In and out'.

Critically comment on how the structure of these lines conveys the speaker's

attitude toward the wind. (3)

AN AFRICAN THUNDERSTORM' – David Rubadiri

Answers

4.1 The use of 'wind whistles' conveys the shrill, high-pitched, piercing sound of

the wind as it speeds by. The 'din of whirling wind' conveys the rapid,

swirling, spiralling movement of the wind. The sound is deafening.

[Award 2 marks for any two relevant and distinct points.] (2)

4.2 The clouds are heavy, rounded in shape and full of rain. The clouds will

release the rain, which will be life-giving, just as a pregnant woman brings life

into the world when giving birth. Pregnancy is a symbol of fertility, as is the

rain which contributes to the fertility of the land.

[Award 2 marks for any two relevant and distinct points.] (2)

4.3 The image is effective because a plague of locusts overwhelms the

landscape and is an unstoppable force, like the wind and the approaching

storm. Like a plague of locusts, the storm is widespread and darkens the sky.

The image also conveys the relentless progress of the storm, and the
destructive power it will unleash. The storm might destroy the fields and

crops as locusts do. The image effectively conveys man's helplessness and

vulnerability to the ravages of nature.

Candidates might refer to the image being a Biblical allusion and the

significance thereof.

[Award 3 marks for any two ideas well discussed OR three ideas.] (3)

4.4 The short, abrupt lines indicate that the wind unexpectedly twists and turns.

The lines also convey the panicky movement of the women because of their

fear of the wind. The enjambment conveys the swirling, continuous

movement of the wind which rushes by at great speed. The screams of the

children spiral in the twirling wind. The speaker is afraid of the wind because

it is unpredictable, dangerous, relentless and destructive.

Candidates might refer to the speaker being in awe of the power of the wind.

[Award 3 marks only if structure and attitude are fully discussed.]

Questions

4.1 Refer to line 9: 'Like a madman chasing nothing.'

What impression of the wind is conveyed by this description? (2)

4.2 Suggest how the word, 'sinister' (line 13) contributes to the mood of the poem. (2)

4.3 Refer to lines 20–24: 'Women – /Babies clinging … In and out/Madly'.

Discuss how these lines convey the attitude of the women towards the storm. (3)

4.4 Refer to lines 30–33: 'As jaggered blinding …'/'of the storm.'

Comment on whether these lines are an appropriate conclusion to the poem. (3)

Answers

4.1 The impression is that the wind is unpredictable/out of control and dangerous,

bringing with it chaos and disruption.

[Award 2 marks for one idea well discussed.] (2)

4.2 'Sinister' has connotations of something that is evil, frightening and

destructive. The mood is oppressive, ominous and foreboding.

[Award 2 marks only if mood is discussed.] (2)

the storm. Their rushing about gathering their possessions and their children

creates a sense of urgency. The children's having to cling to their mothers'

backs intensifies the agitation of the mothers and their determination to

protect their children. They dread the havoc that the storm might cause.

[Award 3 marks for two ideas well discussed OR three ideas.] (3)

4.4 The conclusion is appropriate because the title creates the expectation that

the poem is about a thunderstorm. The poem's focus is on the build-up to the

storm. By focusing on the elements of the wind and the clouds, the speaker

gives them a significance and power of their own. They are the harbingers

alerting people to the approach of the storm. The lightning flash and the

rumbling thunder create tension as the reader anticipates the final eruption of

the storm.

Candidates might see the thunderstorm as an extended metaphor for the

destructive effects of colonialism. Credit such responses on their merits.

Candidates might suggest that the conclusion is not appropriate since the

storm does not actually break, despite its build-up having been described

throughout the poem. It ends anti-climactically.

[Award 3 marks for two ideas well discussed OR three ideas.] (3)

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