Poetry Essay
Assignment: Write an essay of 1000 words from a consistent third-person point of view in which you analyze one of the poems assigned (or another in our text BY AN AUTHOR literary analysis in the Chart at the end of
Chapter 12, and target your chosen topic to one that can be adequately covered in the length assigned. - Your essay must have a defined thesis statement and well-organized supporting paragraphs. Supporting paragraphs must be topical, i.e. not just a chronological reading of the poem, but organize your paper tightly around specific topics that support your thesis statement. - You must defend your thesis using your own interpretation of your chosen poem, backed up by the text (i.e. quotes, paraphrasing, analysis of literary devices and story elements, etc). You can describe events (“The image of Death riding in a carriage….”) or use direct quotes, but make sure you refer to specific evidence within the poem, rather than being too general.
See pages 477 – 479 in your text for information and examples about quoting poetry in a paper. - Use MLA format for the essay and for your Works Cited (include your poem in the
Works Cited; in the text of your essay, it is sufficient to give only the line numbers).
- Do not simply do a summary or line-by-line explanation of the literal meaning. While some interpretation of literal meaning will be necessary to your explanation/support of your thesis, a more in-depth analysis of the author’s intended meaning is required.
- Target your thesis statement towards something SPECIFIC. Don’t just give me a laundry list of examples of the poet’s use of literary devices. Use your knowledge of literary devices to support your opinion of what the poem means, or show HOW the poet uses literary devices/word choice/etc. to created an overall image or theme. Alternately, compare/contrast two different poems with similar themes or similar imagery, showing how each poem approaches the similar