Poetry Analysis Assignment | Poetry Analysis
Poetry Analysis
Student Learning Outcome Justification:
Upon successful completion of this class, each student should be able to:
- Identify the structural elements of poetry, drama, the novel, and the short story.
- Examine the ideas and values in various literary works in historical and philosophical context.
Writing about Literature:
- Write well-organized essays based on literary readings.
- Document resources.
Assignment: For this assignment, you will need to select a poem from Chapter 18 Four Major American Poets: Emily Dickenson, Robert Frost, Langston Hughes, and Sylvia Plath (which starts on page 801 of your textbook) or Chapter 19 Collection of Poems for Additional Enjoyment and Study (which starts on page 880 of your textbook). In other words, you CAN NOT use a poem we have analyzed in class—as you can only select from these two chapters.
Once you have selected your poem, you must write a 750-word analysis of the work in which you discuss not just what you feel the poem is about, but also which poetic devices the poet used and to what end. Make sure to go into as much detail as possible about what types of devices are used and how. An analysis is not a summary or restatement of what is going on in a piece of work—it is a thoughtful breakdown of the work which results in insights that go below the surface of a one-time reading and far beyond just “who, what, where” types of statements.
Remember: Even though this is a short analysis, you must still make sure to follow the fundamentals rules of composition. For example, your paper must include an introduction (with engaging pull in and focused thesis statement), a body (with textual support), and a conclusion (with the signal that you are concluding and something to think about).
MLA Citations for Poetry: When citing a poem, the in-text citation should have the line number, not the page number. (Refer to one of the sample essays in your textbook if you are unsure about how to quote or cite lines from a poem.) Your Work Cited page should also be in MLA format, just like the ones for your Fiction Essay and Research paper.
Final Draft is Due July 5
