After an introduction, the series opens with a shot of a desert island with a helicopter hovering over it. Just the right way to get a tutorial on poetry underway. On the beach, two books lie open and abandoned by their readers. What is going on? It's actually a neat way of demonstrating the importance of the physical appearance of the poem, which can act as a powerful starting point to understanding it.
For a full explanation, just click on the image and see where it takes you.

Number two focuses on the words of the poem using the oddly-named notion of the 'word field' and a famous Shakespearean sonnet. It demonstrates how this technique can give you further insights into the meaning of the poem.

The third episode turns to sterner stuff, namely, another odd concept, the 'pecking order' of imagery. First up is the simile, hotly pursued by the metaphor. Entertaining visuals help you to grasp the differences between the two.

Continuing the pecking order idea, idea, we move up the ladder with allegory, parable and myth.

We now turn to consider the narrator, who can roughly be divided into three categories:

(1) first person;
(2) second person;
(3) third person.

These can be further subdivided according to the position and amount of knowledge of the narrator.

We explore the two kinds of character: flat and rounded, and note that in lyric poetry character has little chance to appear and to develop.Then come the actions of the poem (if there are any), and the five senses.

The tutorials conclude with metre and rhyme; external references; and the unexpected. Finally, it's now over to you to compose an assessment of the poem based on the principles explored in this series.

To assist you, why not turn to Making Sense of Essay Writing and the two YouTube tutorials which accompany it...