Pink Floyd's Learning to Fly

*We originally shared this to you on google drive, but I guess you didn't see it. Sorry about that! 

TPCASTT:  Poem Analysis Method:  title, paraphrase, connotation, diction, attitude, tone, shift(s), title revisited and theme	Learning to Fly
Title initial thoughts on the meaning / purpose.	Learning to Fly: Learning to fly literally, or becoming free from something or gaining freedom. Learn to fly could also possibly mean learning something new.
Paraphrase “big picture” ideas and images	The tension that is going through someone who is trying to “fly.”
Connotation of some of the words – changing literal meaning to implied or associated values	“a ribbon of black stretched to the point of no turning back” Possibly means a long runway. “fatal attraction” The word “fatal” in this poem is used as a complement to “attraction”, although fatal is usually used as a description of something harsh  or deadly.
Attitude What is the attitude of the author, characters or yourself?	Trying something new. Possibly smoking weed according to the descriptive feelings mentioned . The description he uses is similar to feeling high.
Shift Movement in attitude, meaning, or intention:  identify the shifts and explain them.	Change from a tensed or a scared emotion to a blissful and joyous one. At the beginning, the words that are used suggest that the speaker is somehow afraid and lost, but towards the end he seems free and careless.
Title revisited Any new insights on meaning or significance of title?	The title is literal and refers directly to the lyrics.
Theme What was the author’s purpose in writing the poem?	To express his feelings of before and after accomplishing something that he is scared of (flying for the first time).

1. Audience / purpose - Everyone in general. The people who are listening to the music. The purpose is to deliver a meaningful lyric by using a song that could become catchy to listeners.
2. Content / theme - The content is that the speaker in the text is afraid of trying to 'fly' but after he has done so, his feelings shift from being afraid to having the feeling of freedom. 
3. Tone / mood - The tone in the beginning is filled with fear, creating a somber mood, but later towards the end, the tone becomes happier with the feeling of having freedom and being free.  
4. Stylistic devices - The author uses a lot of descriptive language and symbolism. Alliteration such as "tongue-tied and twisted" were also used. "How can I escape this irresistible grasp?" is a rhetorical question used to create confusion and fear. Repetition and rhyming of words were use to create a feel and a good vibe to the text. 
5. Structure - Instead of writing formally, the text is not written in sentences, but more like small phrases connected together. The text is in the four of a song lyric with rhyming ends. The lyric is divided into 6-2-6-2-6-2-2. With the twos being "Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies. Tongue-tied and twisted, just an earth-bound misfit, I," which is like the chorus of the song and the 6 acting like a beginning, a climax, and an ending to the song. The event in the lyrics is written chronologically and the tone of the speaker in the lyric changes according to what he is feeling as the song advances.
   
   

"Learning To Fly"

Into the distance, a ribbon of black

Stretched to the point of no turning back

A flight of fancy on a windswept field

Standing alone my senses reeled

A fatal attraction is holding me fast,

How can I escape this irresistible grasp?

Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies

Tongue-tied and twisted, just an earth-bound misfit, I

Ice is forming on the tips of my wings

Unheeded warnings, I thought, I thought of everything

No navigator to find my way home

Unladened, empty and turned to stone

A soul in tension -- that's learning to fly

Condition grounded but determined to try

Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies

Tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit, I

Above the planet on a wing and a prayer,

My grubby halo, a vapour trail in the empty air,

Across the clouds I see my shadow fly

Out of the corner of my watering eye

A dream unthreatened by the morning light

Could blow this soul right through the roof of the night

There's no sensation to compare with this

Suspended animation, a state of bliss

Can't keep my mind from the circling skies

Tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit, I