Poetry Analysis EssayImportant Dates: TBD
I will give you feedback during the class workshop; however, if you would like optional written feedback from me, please present me with a full draft, typed, two business days before our class workshop so I can comment on your work before the workshop date.
Length: The first essay assignment in 102 is a very short analytical piece. The length of this paper is 2 full pages minimum, excluding header and title, to 4 pages maximum (this means you’ll have some text on the third page). Please use Times New Roman 12.0 font, 2.0 spacing and one-inch margins.
Format: Name, date, and class should be included. I will not accept your essay without a staple or paperclip.
Prompt: For the first essay writing assignment in English 102, you will select one of the poems found within our textbook and prepare an analysis of the poem, focused upon the writer’s use of language devices, sound devices and/or structure. Any poem may be used except for those which we have discussed as a class and those used for model essays in the text. Since we have been focusing on terminology relevant to poetry, please make certain that you use select terminology covered in class sessions within your essay. Your goal is to demonstrate how the poet uses poetic devices (using terms from the text and class discussion) to create a particular effect within the poem. In essence, you’ll be writing an analysis similar to our approach in class these first few weeks.
The following guidelines apply to this assignment. In order to receive a passing grade, the writer should not deviate from these guidelines:
1. This paper will focus on only one poem we have not discussed in class and not a combination of poems.
2. Writers should not use any secondary source or outside reference for this essay. This paper should represent the writer’s own independent critical thinking. No biographical information is needed for this essay. No secondary/critical resources are needed for this essay.
3. Use present tense when describing the events of the poem. (ex: the poet writes, the speaker states, etc). This is standard convention when writing on a literary piece of any sort since it is assumed that the action of the piece occurs in the present tense every time the piece is read anew.
4. When writing about a poem, it is standard to include the line number[s] at the end of a quoted passage in parentheses (plenty of examples in textbook).
5. Refer to the speaker within the poem as “the speaker” rather than by the name of the poet since the poet is most often using a persona (just as a story writer uses a narrative) to express a position. There are some exceptions to this—Sylvia Plath, most notably—however, when the poem is autobiographical it should be clear.
6. You must properly cite your chosen poem and format your paper using MLA style (See link to Purdue OWL on website or use your textbook’s resources).