essay review draft

SAMPLE E#3--

EXPLICATION is the orderly, line-by-line, stanza-by-stanza analysis of a poem, including quoting the majority of the lines of the poem, followed by commentary. 

“Introduction to Poetry” Explication

            Billy Collins contrasts how teachers and students traditionally view poetry in his poem “Introduction to Poetry.” Is poetry a thought-provoking question waiting to be explored or rather a stubborn nutshell that must be cracked to reach the answer we seek? This poem employs several vivid metaphors along with other poetic techniques to advocate that reading poetry should be a pleasant experience and not merely a scorned obstacle.

            The poem begins by portraying an excited professor explaining how wonderful poetry can be. Before observing the opening lines, the title “Introduction to Poetry” helps set the poem in motion as it evokes the idea of a college course. Additionally many students begrudgingly take introductory courses because they are required so this also sets up that the students may not share the professor’s passion for poetry. The poem opens with “I ask them to take a poem / and hold it up to the light / like a color slide.” Based on the title, we can assume the speaker is a teacher and the “them” is a class of students. The teacher next uses a simile to compare reading poetry to holding a color slide to light. Color slides are often murky images that when held against projected light become clear. Similarly, poems can seem to hold rather obscure meanings until one reaches an epiphany and it becomes clear. The teacher highlights that poetry does take a bit of work to understand but compares analyzing a poem to something colorful and positive; the teacher will use many positive comparisons throughout this poem creating a tone very favorable to poetry.

            The next line continues painting poetry in a positive light with a metaphor as it says, “or press an ear against its hive,” which compares a poem to a beehive. First, this metaphor compliments the previous simile in that it appeals to our auditory senses after the color slide provided visual imagery. This line uses consonance in its repeating s sounds in “press,” “against,” and “its” which subtly helps create a buzzing sound. The use of a beehive also reinforces the idea there is some work to be done to discover a poem’s meaning. Hives are protected by bees which sting. Analyzing a poem often requires one to be vulnerable and open to feeling clueless for awhile which is a metaphorical sting to students. However once you get to the heart of the poem you’ll find its meaning much like a well-deserved treat of tasty honey.

            The speaker similarly exalts poetry in the next two stanzas. The teacher continues, “I say drop a mouse into a poem / and watch him probe his way out.” This metaphor compares analyzing poetry to the psychological experiments of running mice through mazes. This carries the idea of something that requires some work with a reward at the end. Mice often run into dead ends in these mazes much like students hit mental roadblocks interpreting a certain line or stanza. But with a little effort mice eventually find the cheese much as students will find an appropriate interpretation. The speaker continues with yet another metaphor in the next stanza with “or walk inside the poem’s room / and feel the walls for a light switch.” Entering a dark room can be frightening as at first you are completely blind to whatever the room holds. However after a bit of effort in finding the light switch, you’re rewarded with seeing the room for what it is. Similarly, many people will be confused by a poem on the first read through much like a dark room. But after a few times with the poem, the reader will reach an epiphany much like finding the light switch and become—for lack of a better word—enlightened.

            The next stanza provides another metaphor that portrays poetry as enjoyable and friendly. The speakers says, “I want them to waterski / across the surface of the poem / waving at the author’s name on the shore.” The imagery evokes thoughts of enjoying waterskiing at the beach waving to your friends on the shore. The speaker uses the comparison by extension to show poems should be viewed in a friendly, positive light. This stanza is the last where the speaker paints poetry in a favorable light. The next stanza involves the student’s view on poetry which strongly contrasts the warm summer experience of this stanza.

            The speaker moves on to explain the student’s averse relationship with poetry in the penultimate stanza. He says, “But all they want to do / is tie the poem to a chair with rope / and torture a confession out of it.” The students obviously do not share the teacher’s love for poetry as they are portrayed as using Gestapo torture methods on the poetry. This stanza comes with a clear shift in tone as well. Previously the speaker used a positive and inquisitive tone when referring to poetry, a view the students do not share. When referring to the students, the speaker takes a very ironic tone. In other words, the speaker does not actually think his students are wicked tormentors but rather uses ironic overstatement to highlight the difference between his view and the students’ view. The speaker has shown nothing but love for the journey to analyze poetry whereas his students only want to get the meaning the shortest route possible, which completely removes the joy from reading it. The final stanza sums this up as the speaker says, “They begin beating it with a hose / to find out what it really means.” These final lines reinforce the idea that students want the answer without completing the perplexing but often rewarding and enjoyable work that is necessary to decipher poetry.

            This poem’s form subtly supports the teacher’s view as well. The students hold a rather rigid mindset that poems hold one interpretation that must be decoded, whereas the teacher offers several metaphors that interpretation involves a personal element and interaction between the reader and the poem. The content of the poem thus challenges the student’s preconceived notions about poetry. The form of the poem acts similarly. Most people commonly believe poetry must rhyme and be divided into neat, even stanzas. Collins uses free verse with this poem and breaks the lines up in an almost erratic way. By using this very irregular format, people visually see poetry can manifest in ways that may surprise them. This very basic awareness of the depth poetry can have outside of one simple theme or format is rather appropriate for an “introduction” class.

            Billy Collins’ “Introduction to Poetry” truly deconstructs the relation many students have with poetry. He uses an number of metaphors to paint poetry as enjoyable before poking fun at students for wanting to skip the entire process that is analyzing poetry. The speaker which may be Professor Collins himself uses a very favorable tone in regards to poetry. Explicating a poem in an academic setting that at its core is about analyzing poetry in academic settings, makes one very cognizant of one’s personal interaction with that poem itself, which may be exactly what Collins wants.