Poetry Analysis
English 1302, Composition II
Poetry Analysis
Assignment: Choose ONE of the prompts below; then write a 3-4 page poetry analysis in which you analyze the use of literary elements in one of the assigned poems listed: “America” (Claude McKay); “We Wear the Mask” (Paul Laurence Dunbar); “Harlem (A Dream Deferred)” (Langston Hughes); “Mirror” (Sylvia Plath); “The Bean Eaters” (Gwendolyn Brooks); “To The Mercy Killers” (Dudley Randall); “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” (Dylan Thomas).
Your purpose is to explicate (interpret) and analyze (examine) one poem, defending your interpretive claim (a clear, concise, debatable, and assertive thesis statement that explains what the poems mean and how literary elements (i.e. speaker, figurative language (metaphor, simile, synechdoche, metonymy, personification, hyperbole, oxymoron, paradox), imagery, sound patterns, format, theme, persona, tone, symbolism, connotation, or denotation) are employed to convey the poem’s message. Your primary support must come from the poem itself; however, you will be required to incorporate at least two secondary sources into your work.
You must use literary present verb tense in reference to the poem and sources; however, you may not use first-person (I, me, we, our, us), second-person (you) references, or contractions (isn’t( is not). Neither off topic nor late essays will be accepted; also, plagiarized essays automatically receive a zero, and they may not be made up.
In this paper you will adhere to the following: • Make and support a claim regarding some issue in an assigned poem. • Have a clearly-stated thesis that includes literary elements and gives the basic overview of your argument. • Use quotes from the poem to support your major points. Also, use literary criticism from relevant and reliable sources to support your major points. • Make interpretive arguments about the language, tone, imagery, and figures of speech in the poetry, all toward
Poetry Analysis
Assignment: Choose ONE of the prompts below; then write a 3-4 page poetry analysis in which you analyze the use of literary elements in one of the assigned poems listed: “America” (Claude McKay); “We Wear the Mask” (Paul Laurence Dunbar); “Harlem (A Dream Deferred)” (Langston Hughes); “Mirror” (Sylvia Plath); “The Bean Eaters” (Gwendolyn Brooks); “To The Mercy Killers” (Dudley Randall); “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” (Dylan Thomas).
Your purpose is to explicate (interpret) and analyze (examine) one poem, defending your interpretive claim (a clear, concise, debatable, and assertive thesis statement that explains what the poems mean and how literary elements (i.e. speaker, figurative language (metaphor, simile, synechdoche, metonymy, personification, hyperbole, oxymoron, paradox), imagery, sound patterns, format, theme, persona, tone, symbolism, connotation, or denotation) are employed to convey the poem’s message. Your primary support must come from the poem itself; however, you will be required to incorporate at least two secondary sources into your work.
You must use literary present verb tense in reference to the poem and sources; however, you may not use first-person (I, me, we, our, us), second-person (you) references, or contractions (isn’t( is not). Neither off topic nor late essays will be accepted; also, plagiarized essays automatically receive a zero, and they may not be made up.
In this paper you will adhere to the following: • Make and support a claim regarding some issue in an assigned poem. • Have a clearly-stated thesis that includes literary elements and gives the basic overview of your argument. • Use quotes from the poem to support your major points. Also, use literary criticism from relevant and reliable sources to support your major points. • Make interpretive arguments about the language, tone, imagery, and figures of speech in the poetry, all toward
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