Poetry Essay

1. Ruth Forman, “Sister on the Corner”

2. Lawrence Ferhinghetti, “I’m Still Waiting”

3. Edgarton Sylvester, “Bite the Apple”

4. Lois Ann Yamanaka, "Boss of the Food"

Be sure to proofread your essay carefully. When you quote the poem, put the line numbers in the citations, which follow. If your quote runs more than one line, use a virgule to indicate line breaks. If your quote is set off from the rest of the essay, no quotation marks are needed. Remember, poems can sustain a number of interpretations. There is no absolute right or wrong in the interpretation of poetry, but there are definitely good arguments and weak arguments. Good arguments are the ones which make effective and logical use of the text of the poem.

Here are the specifications for the essay.

1.      One page

2.      Use line numbers after quotes from the poem (citations)

3.      The person or voice that delivers the poem is called the speaker

4.      The usual apparatus of a thesis and internal structure is needed

Choose one of the poems presented in the last two learning modules and use it as the basis for a good one page essay. Develop any aspect of the poem you feel comfortable with, but please be careful to avoid summarizing the narrative of the poem or repeating the obvious. This essay will have a logical thesis and you will support it with quotations from the text of the poem, using citations. The citations will be to line numbers.