Order 1309231: poetry

Poetry Essay

Choose one poem from the textbook (not necessarily one that we’ve discussed in class; it can be any poem found In the text book) or the handouts, which you did not discuss in one of your Reading Responses, and describe your experience of reading the poem, discussing how the poet has used two or more of the poetic devices discussed in the text or in my notes on poetry. How has the poet’s use of these devices affected the meaning or feeling of the poem? For example, if the poet has used metaphors or similes, how have they contributed to your appreciation and/or understanding of the poem? Or, how important is rhythm in the poem to convey meaning or feeling? Or diction? Or imagery? Or line breaks? I suggest that you do not waste time and space discussing some device that the poet has NOT used. For example, don’t say that poem doesn’t have meter or that it doesn’t rhyme. Discuss, instead, what features it does have, and what poetic devices it DOES make use of. The minimum length of this paper is 800 words. In choosing a poem, find one that you like and can say enough about to compose a paper of at least that length. Do not use outside sources. This paper is about your own ideas!

Make sure that your paper has an introduction in which you make general comments about poetry which lead up to your discussion of the poem. Also, be sure that you include the title of the poem and the poet’s name in your essay. Read the section entitled “Writing About a Poem” beginning on page 1816 so you’ll know how to quote. Since you will be writing from your own ideas and observations, you do not need to include a Works Cited page or Bibliography. And, I repeat, do not use outside sources. Also, although you may mention your feelings about the poem, or your connections from your own life, the paper should be primarily analytical.

The paper will be graded on your correct usage of terminology and the ways in which you cite parts of the poem, as well as on the amount of detailed analysis you present. Also taken into consideration will be grammar and mechanics. Save all drafts of your work. If I suspect that you are using someone else’s ideas or have plagiarized in any way, you will have to provide proof that you have composed the paper from beginning to end. For example, you might make a copy of the poem and mark it up before you begin to write, and write out your first draft by hand. And save that draft! As well as any further drafts. If you can’t provide those drafts and your paper sounds plagiarized, it will receive an F. If you are having any trouble with this assignment, send me an email.

This essay is due by midnight, November 26th .