Poetry Paper

• Purpose of the Assignment:

Demonstrate your ability to understand a poem using the techniques used and

discussed in class, including explaining how a theme is advanced in a poem by the

poet’s use of poetic technique(s), researching historical context, and reading

professional articles on the poem and incorporating those ideas into your own

argument about the poem(s) you are analyzing.

• Task:

You are to write a 5-6 page essay on one of the poems that we have studied in class

or that can be found on the class site. (Any other poem will have to be approved by

me). You will discuss how the poet uses a specific technique to develop meaning in

the poem. You must identify a technique, and then you must give textual examples

and clear and compelling explanations of those examples. You must also use

research material, an article from a academic journal, or (for this first essay only) a

site from the Internet). You must correctly site your source with both MLA in‐text

citations and a works cited page.

• Use a standard 12-point serif font and MLA formatting.
• Suggestions for Task: Pay close attention to class discussions and research and read critical essays about the poem you are analyzing. You may read and agree or refute their argument, citing your own examples.
• Also, you may compare and contrast two different poems that we have studied in class.
• Evaluation Criteria
• I am looking for compelling insight and originality. If you are developing an idea that we discussed in class or read about in a critical essay about a poem, your example(s) should be original, though other examples of the technique may have been previously discussed.
• Grammar and mechanics are always considered in your grade.