SELECT A LITERARY WORK TO ANALYZE!
Select a poem from our course readings or another with approval. It should be a piece that draws you to delve deeper into your analysis and uncover new layers. In other words, select something meaningful to you!
BEFORE YOU START!
Review the readings on literature, as well as the ITI’s for the literary arts modules. Recall which elements are unique to poetry.
READ THE LIST OF TIPS INCLUDED BELOW!
Let these help guide your analysis.
ANNOTATE THE TEXT!
As you work through your analysis of the text, you should annotate a copy of it – write margin notes directly on the page, underline and highlight important lines or stanzas, label the elements! You will be submitting a copy of your annotations with your paper.
WRITE!
Follow the writing prompt below.
Format: 2-3 pages, typed, MLA format (preferred), 11-12 pt. font, double-spaced, essay (3rd person), proofread!
INCLUDE AN ANNOTATED COPY OF YOUR TEXT!
Scan or take a picture of your and include it at the back of your paper (does not count toward page requirement).
SUBMIT!
Using the submission link under Assignments, turn in your close analysis paper: 2-3 page essay + annotated text. Review your originality report and allow time to revise, if needed!

DUE DATE: Saturday, October 16th

WRITING PROMPT FOR PAPER:

Use the RESULTS of your analysis to develop a thesis and providing a 2-3 page discussion – with detailed analysis in support of your thesis, using the relevant elements (3-4 recommended). Be sure to support your points with your observations, examples, and specific quotes from the text. Your THESIS = What the poem does and how it does it.

For this assignment, rely PRIMARILY on the text itself and your own analysis. If you research about the writer or listen to recordings of her performances, be sure to site them in your paper. Do NOT use outside sources for your interpretation. There is no wrong answer! Use this project as a way to uncover the voice of the poem and do so in your own voice.

Attach your paper, along with your annotated copy of the text, to this completed worksheet (as one file – .doc or .pdf), then submit under Assignments.

TIPS for Completing a Poetry Analysis

(These are just to help you gather your thoughts and push you through any stalls or rough spots; this is NOT a checklist for your paper!)

Live with your poem for a while – let it live with you, let it BE, engaging all of your senses to experience it. Then, using the poetic elements and the tools you’ve acquired so far, critically analyze the poem. (Try not to tie it up and “beat a confession out of it…,” but use your essay to speak for the poem.) Ask questions and let the poem speak! Experience the language, imagery, rhetorical strategies, emotional impact, thematic thread, form, voice (speaker), and the sensual qualities communicated. How does the poem leave you feeling or thinking? Why? What kinds of rhyme or patterns of language does your poet employ, if any? What impact does the poet’s diction/choice of language have on you as the reader? To whom is the poem speaking? What is the rhythm? The flow? What and why and how does this poem operate? From what context does this poem arise? What is your main point and how will you prove it? What does this poem do with the themes we have discussed?

Tips for Analyzing a Poem

 Read the poem thoroughly, carefully, several times, out loud, up-side-down, to a friend, in the dark, at the lake, on the train, piece by piece… Live with your poem!
 Make a copy that you can write all over – make several.
 Write all over them – what’s going on? What do you think? What images are here? What language? What strengths? What confusion?
 Make connections from one piece of the poem to another.
 Check out the beat – try scansion if it helps.
 Write in your journal.
 Make a list of BIG things about the poem.
 Find out what you can about the poet.
 Take apart each line, each stanza, each phrase.
 Is there a rhyme scheme?
 Color code, take apart, put together, make a list, check it thrice, read the poem again.
 Paraphrase it – make your own poem that says a similar thing. What’s different about it?
 Write a letter to the poet.
 Imagine you were in the poem.
 Pinpoint your associations – then find out why the poem makes them come to mind.

Tips for Writing about a Poem

 Plan ahead – draw a picture – make a chart – what are the most important, exciting, interesting things you discovered about your poem?
 Figure out who you’re speaking to.
 Figure out what your main point is – and why it should be said – and who might argue with you.
 Gather a list of quotes from the poem – lines that really stand out – and have an idea of where you want to use them – how they help you demonstrate your points about the poem.
 Write a draft. In fact – keep writing until you have more than you need (it’s easier to cut that it is to add…) If you get stuck – write a bad one and fix it later.
 Go back and work on your intro and conclusion – do they catch the reader’s attention? Set up what’s to come? Tie all your threads together? Come to an interesting ending point? Leave the reader with something to chew on for a while?
 Re-read for language variety, grammar, main points, transitions, clarity of language, structure, depth, etc.
 Revise again.
 Let it sit for a day or two.
 Read it again – strengthen the parts that are strong, strengthen the parts that are week.
 Proofread, proofread, proofread (please!)
 Have a friend proofread.
 Turn in a paper that’s perfected to the best of your ability and a product of your careful and critical exploration… take pride.
 Try the Writing Center at ANY stage in your writing! Rm 203A at HWC (check your home campus)

Remember that poetry is subjective, rich, and many-layered. Feel confident in your analysis and develop it thoroughly and convincingly.

As always, maintain your integrity.