Interpretive argument using evidence from the theories and poem

Poetic Theories & Course Readings: Sir Philp Sidney's "An Apology for Poetry" William Wordsworth's "Preface to Lyrical Ballads" Percy Bysshe Shelley's "A Defence of Poetry"

Renaissance and Romantic Poems: William Shakespeare’s “Let me not to the marriage of true minds,” “My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun,” & “Poor soul, the center of my sinful earth” John Milton’s “On Shakespeare” & “When I consider how my light is spent” John Donne’s “The Good-Morrow,” “A Valediction Forbidding Mourning,” & “Death Be Not Proud” William Wordsworth’s “She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways,” “London 1802,” & “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison” & “Kubla Khan” Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “Mutability,” “Ozymandias,” & “To a Skylark”

Assignment: Select one of the above poems. Use the theorists’ words and concepts to respond to the poem.

In an essay that offers an interpretation of the poem, use quotations from the three poetic theories of Sidney, Wordsworth and Shelley and quotations of the poem. Write a formal academic essay in which you apply the poetic theories in a critical analysis of a poem. The essay should present an overall interpretive argument.

Structure & Writing Requirements: Write an essay with a thesis and organized body paragraphs to apply the theories and present an interpretive argument.

For this formal academic essay, use a thesis (complex, specific, and arguable) that states your interpretive argument and organized paragraphs, with topics, that support your thesis and structure your interpretation. Use textual evidence from the theories and poem throughout your essay to support your interpretive points, exemplify ideas, and demonstrate critical analysis.

Introduction: The paragraph needs to announce the poem and critically connect the poem to the theories. Thesis: Use a specific, critical thesis as the central claim that announces your interpretation of the poem. Body paragraphs: Use strong topic sentences to present your argument and structure the essay. Show critical analysis and apply the theorist’s work in an interpretation of the poem. Be sure to use quotations from the theories and poem. Quotations: Fully integrate quotations of the texts into your writing. Conclusion: The final paragraph should complete your overall interpretive argument.

Use MLA format. Page length requirement: 4-6 MLA pages

See additional guideline and Theories in following pages

Grading Rubric Criteria Description and Letter Grade Correspondence

Criteria Letter Grade

An insightful essay with original ideas. Shows critical analysis in interpretive argument required by assignment. Thesis is specific, complex, & arguable; thesis is pursued in analytical paragraphs. Paragraphs are organized & focused; paragraphs use reasoning to explain & demonstrate ideas; paragraphs construct & present the argument. Logical transitions are effectively used. Quotations fully integrated: expertly introduced, explained, & analyzed. Language is sophisticated with complex & varied sentences. Format and grammar are correct. Sentence-level writing is basically error-free.

"A"

Outstanding achievement; significantly exceeds standards.

Essay responds to the assignment with original ideas and work. Offers an interpretive argument that shows a good understanding of the text with cogent analysis. Thesis is clear, argumentative, & pertinent to essay, though may need clarification. Thesis is consistently pursued throughout essay & clearly developed in each paragraph. Shows critical analysis. May have minor conceptual inconsistency. Quotations are fully integrated & textual evidence & support are appropriately utilized. Use of quotations is clear, but may need to be developed in critical analysis. Logical transitions are provided. Sentence-level writing may have mechanical difficulties or stylistic problems, or occasional word choice errors, awkward syntax, punctuation errors, etc.

"B"

Commendable achievement; exceeds standards.

Essay offers a response to the assignment that shows an understanding of the basic ideas; may have some factual, interpretive, or conceptual errors. General central thesis; may not define some central terms. Thesis or argument may be unoriginal. Only partially develops argument or partially shows critical analysis; some ideas are generalizations or abstractions, are underdeveloped or are unsupported. Makes limited use of textual evidence. An effort to present quotations effectively; quotations may not be fully integrated throughout. Some awkward transitions; some paragraphs that are weak or underdeveloped. Sentence-level writing may have unclear or awkward sentences; imprecise use of words or over-reliance on informal language, first-person, or the passive voice; one or two major grammatical errors (pronoun agreement, subject/verb agreement, comma splice, etc.)

"C"

Acceptable achievement; meets standards

Essay shows inadequate command of course materials or has significant factual and conceptual errors; does not respond directly to demands of assignment; confuses some significant facts. Thesis is vague or not central to argument; does not present interpretive argument; central terms not defined. Frequently only narrates; fails to introduce, explain or analyze quotes; needs to developing or explain ideas or terms; makes awkward use of textual evidence; tends to narrate or summarize; illogical arrangement of ideas; paragraphs undeveloped, unfocused, or without topic statements. Sentence-level writing has major sentence-level problems with grammatical or syntactical errors that interfere with expression of ideas.

"D"

Marginal achievement; below standards

Incomplete or non-passing essay. Writer has not written on assigned text or has not answered the assignment or fulfilled the assignment requirements. Thesis missing or not evident. Interpretive argument not presented or developed; may report or list facts or provide misinformation. Uses no quotations or fails to cite sources; plagiarizes material. Without organization, structure, or logic; incoherent paragraphing. Sentence-level writing shows numerous grammatical mistakes and stylistic problems. Writing needs development.

"F"

Failing

Essay Rubric

ENGLISH ESSAY GRADING RUBRIC

Academic Integrity & Plagiarism Students are required to cite the use of materials written by others in all written communications for courses. Inadequately or improperly cited work receives no credit. Plagiarism is the presentation of someone else's ideas or work as one's own. This includes using ideas, words, or phrases without proper attribution.

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Use quotation each from Sir Philp Sidney's "An Apology for Poetry" (Critical Tradition, 132- 159), William Wordsworth's "Preface to Lyrical Ballads" (Critical Tradition, 304-318) and Percy Bysshe Shelley's "A Defence of Poetry" (Critical Tradition, 344-363).