3 Page English

English 1020

Poetry Essay

Write

a coherent essay of approximately 750

-

850 words in which you d

iscuss ho

w the

author of one of the poem

s we’ve read this semester

conveys one or more of the poem’s

themes through the use of one or more of the literary elements we have discussed.

Form

and documentation must follow the

MLA Style Sheet

. Primary source in

-

text citations

are required. Make certain that the essay is writt

en in consistent third person.

*You may also choose

any poem from the textbook, any of the poems found in the

blackboard poetry folder, or any poem from the Favorite Poem project Video)

For more guidance, please see “Poetry Explication Outline and Tips”

in the Poetry

folder.

Feel free to use

the following thesis statement (only if you want to):

In

[

author’s name]’s

poem,

[“poem title”

] [

he/she]

conveys the theme[s] of

[…]

through the use of

[list one, two, or three elements that help to convey that/tho

se

theme(s)].

*

*

*

Example

:

In Yusef Komunyakaa’s poem, “Facing It,” he conveys the theme of

survivor’s guilt

through the use of imagery, figurative language, and the archetypes of

darkness and light.

Use the poem,

“

the planned child

”

by

Sharon

olds

I

ncorpo

rate

thoughts from my discussion:

The theme of “The Planned Child” is about a mothers love for her child. The c

hild struggles with

feeling like he was conceived with an instruction manual when he wanted it to be natural and

from the heat of the moment.

All though, in reality the mother probably tried to have a baby

that way with no luck, but wanted a child so badly

that she would do anything to have one. Sure,

the child was planned, but even more so, the child was wanted. Imagery was used at the scene

when the child was drinking wine with a friend. The friend was the one who first brought it to

the child’s attention

that he was wanted more than anything. The speaker was referring to the

child when it said, “I took the wine against my lips as if my mouth was moving along that valve

wall in my mother’s body.” You can almost see the child’s eyes widen as his perspective

completely changes and realizes that his mother’s world wasn’t good enough without him in it.

Earlier in the poem the child describes

the fact that he was planned is just like taking the

cardboard out of a shirt and using it as his backbone. The cardboard

is symbolic of him feeling

very plain and lifeless when he wanted his soul to come from something of passion and love and

the heat of the moment. He feels almost as if he is some puppet that was designed with no love

or heart, but despite how he came into

this world, it doesn’t change the heart of a mother and

her love for her child.

English 1020

Poetry Essay

Write a coherent essay of approximately 750-850 words in which you discuss how the

author of one of the poems we’ve read this semester conveys one or more of the poem’s

themes through the use of one or more of the literary elements we have discussed. Form

and documentation must follow the MLA Style Sheet. Primary source in-text citations

are required. Make certain that the essay is written in consistent third person.

*You may also choose any poem from the textbook, any of the poems found in the

blackboard poetry folder, or any poem from the Favorite Poem project Video)

For more guidance, please see “Poetry Explication Outline and Tips” in the Poetry

folder.

Feel free to use the following thesis statement (only if you want to):

In [author’s name]’s poem, [“poem title”] [he/she] conveys the theme[s] of […]

through the use of [list one, two, or three elements that help to convey that/those

theme(s)].

* * *

Example: In Yusef Komunyakaa’s poem, “Facing It,” he conveys the theme of

survivor’s guilt through the use of imagery, figurative language, and the archetypes of

darkness and light.

Use the poem, “the planned child” by Sharon olds

Incorporate thoughts from my discussion:

The theme of “The Planned Child” is about a mothers love for her child. The child struggles with

feeling like he was conceived with an instruction manual when he wanted it to be natural and

from the heat of the moment. All though, in reality the mother probably tried to have a baby

that way with no luck, but wanted a child so badly that she would do anything to have one. Sure,

the child was planned, but even more so, the child was wanted. Imagery was used at the scene

when the child was drinking wine with a friend. The friend was the one who first brought it to

the child’s attention that he was wanted more than anything. The speaker was referring to the

child when it said, “I took the wine against my lips as if my mouth was moving along that valve

wall in my mother’s body.” You can almost see the child’s eyes widen as his perspective

completely changes and realizes that his mother’s world wasn’t good enough without him in it.

Earlier in the poem the child describes the fact that he was planned is just like taking the

cardboard out of a shirt and using it as his backbone. The cardboard is symbolic of him feeling

very plain and lifeless when he wanted his soul to come from something of passion and love and

the heat of the moment. He feels almost as if he is some puppet that was designed with no love

or heart, but despite how he came into this world, it doesn’t change the heart of a mother and

her love for her child.