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Essay Instructions: Poetry

1. Select eight poems. Do not use the same poet more than twice. You may use up to two song lyrics and you may use up to two children’s poems. You may consider using anyone from Shakespeare to Silverstein (please use two from Silverstein).
2. For each one chosen, discuss some aspect of the poem and its meaning. For example, you may focus on one poem’s imagery and another’s mood or syntax. In any case, explain how one poetic device shapes the poem as a whole. Use formal, analytical language, and be sure that each poem/entry is at least one typed, double-spaced page.
For two of the poems, you may have a shorter analysis and include some creative writing of your own. For instance: you might discuss how metaphors and similes add to the poem and then write your own version that eliminates or changes them. If you choose to discuss the theme of a poem, you might write a poem that emphasizes the same idea or illustrates the same point


This analysis is for a male teenager.


Thanks

Essay Instructions: Please write something of an outline or a paragraph on 2 poems out the offered list (given below) from each author (each of the three authors should have their own separate page [i.e. a page for Cummings, a page for Williams, and a page for Wallace Stevens], and thus, each poem gets half a page, which should have no connection to the other authors. i.e. treat each author, as well as for the most part each poem, separately). Thus, you should end up having written on six different poems, two from each author].

This outline/text should consist of an open-ended interpretive question (a "why" or "how" question, not a "yes/no" question) about a point of interest or ambiguity within the text, and it should demonstrate a close reading of the subtleties of the text. It can be on the implications of a particular conflict, a discernible pattern in the text, an aspect of the writing style or literary form, a complex philosophical or aesthetic idea, a word choice and its associative implications, the purpose of a symbol, metaphor, or some other formal quality of the poem, etc. Explain why the element you choose is significant/important to ones understanding. It should prove a focus for discussion. Strive to show how the poem you chose "resonates" in suggestive ways with other elements in the text (i.e. the other poems that are listed/the author) or with some revenant question.

Avoid obvious or literal statements about the text as well as research or facts about the author or text (gathered from the web or otherwise).

Here are the options:

Cummings: Poem, or Beauty Hurts Mr. Vinal; she being Brand; My sweet old etcetera; since feeling is first; i sing of Olaf; may i feel said he; pity this busy monster, manukind

Williams: This is just to Say; The Sea-Elephant; The Locust Tree in Flower [First Version]; the Locust Tree in Flower [second version]; To a Poor Old Woman; Proletarian Portrait; The Raper from Passenack; The Yachts

Wallace Stevens: Earthy Anecdote; The Snowman; Nuances of a Theme by Williams; A high-Toned Old Christian Woman; The Emperor of Ice-Cream; Disillusionment of Ten O'Clock; Sunday Morning

It would be helpful to read all of the poems so that you can add some general statements of author themes within these poems as well.

If you have any questions please message me.

Essay Instructions: Assignment: Write an explication of a poem by Robinson Jeffers (that we have not discussed at length in class) to expose its central idea or argument. (DO Not use the First Chapter or Second Chapter Poem of the Book).

http://www.amazon.com/Robinson-Jeffers-Selected-Poems/dp/6/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=8&sr=8-1

Prewriting Advice: Remember, an explication is a line by line analysis—a method of interpretation. The purpose is to make the poem's particular meanings explicit in order to interpret the poem’s larger meaning or theme (central idea, argument—there are many ways to say this). You will need to explain the significance of key words and literary figures (metaphor, simile, symbols, etc.) if they occur. You should also discuss the poem's logical structure (i.e., how the ideas develop and conclude, or how the images are related). Pay close attention to the poem’s diction and look up any words that resonate with connotation.

To prepare for this essay assignment, freewrite, brainstorm, and discuss your ideas before outlining and drafting. Don't be surprised if you find it necessary to compose numerous drafts.

Composition Strategies: To reiterate, your interpretation should be based on a close reading of what the poem expresses, i.e., it should be "detail oriented" and should achieve some degree of objectivity. An explication is not a personal response paper. At the same time, you may have to go outside the boundaries of the poem to explain its significance (i.e., its historical, philosophical, or social elements). Furthermore, this explication should be original--your ideas alone. This is not a research paper and I am not interested in what other critics have written in this case. If you need help getting started or generating ideas, just ask me. In any case, your interpretation needs to be argued, explained, and supported.

Format: Your essay should be roughly 4 double-spaced, typed 3 pages. It should have a clear thesis that is developed and expanded upon in a series of coherent and related paragraphs. Create a strong, well-focused introduction and conclusion, as well as a specific, original title. Use MLA format for in-text citation (with poetry we cite by line rather than page number) and work cited.

Audience: Direct the essay to someone who has read but not carefully explicated the poem. This means that you should take your time to develop your arguments and to base them on direct references to significant words and lines in the poem. Avoid unnecessary summary and paraphrase.

Essay Instructions: Write a multi-paragraph essay exceeding beyond the five-paragraph essay model. The format will be COMPARE/CONTRAST the poems Rossetti “Uphill” & Frost “The Road Not Taken” to discover which one conveys its meaning best, fully explain how it achieves this and why you think one is better than the other.

Create an arguable, interesting, specific thesis that will be outlined in your introduction. Your paper should introduce your topic and the text (including its author), present your thesis, present a compare/contrast plan of development for the points you will cover, include textual evidence that is cited properly, and be properly proofread and corrected for grammar, sentence structure, and spelling.

Poetry Compare/Contrast Essay Organization:
Organize essay’s body paragraphs by points of comparison, for example:
I. Speakers
• A. Poem 1: Speaker
• B. Poem 2: Speaker

II. Depictions of the Fathers
• A. Poem 1: Depiction of Father
• B. Poem 2: Depiction of Father

III. Imagery
• A. Poem 1: Imagery
• B. Poem 2: Imagery

Sample Introduction Paragraph with Thesis Statement for compare/contrast writing:

The bond between parent and child is the vital foundation of dealing with interpersonal relationships for the rest of our lives. Although maternal and paternal relationships differ greatly, boys are more likely to develop an emotional detachment from their fathers, while girls often cling to their fathers in inappropriate ways. These emotional perplexities can be resolved or intensified, depending upon whether the parent and child’s relationship either matures into a healthy one or devolves into a damaged relationship. Both Robert Hayden’s poem “Those Winter Sundays” and Sylvia Plath’s poem “Daddy” explore the path that each parent and child relationship can take; however, Plath’s speaker, descriptions of the father, and imagery portray the intensely intricate father and child relationship much more vividly than Hayden’s poem.

The above exemplary introduction paragraph is successful because it does the following:
• It progressively moves from the “general to particular” organization and slowly introduces the reader to the topic before exerting an opinionated thesis.
• The thesis is in the optimal location ??" the last sentence in the introduction par.
• The compare/contrast thesis clearly states what two poems are being compared, which poem the student thinks is the better poem, and forecasts how the argument will be proven though 3 main points of development (speaker, fathers and imagery).