Below are the criteria for your essay on poetry. In addition to adhering to the criteria, you must also write clear, intelligent, and grammatically correct prose, consistent with college-level standards. These standards are explained on my website, under evaluation. Please remember that intelligent thoughts require accurate expression. 1. Choose one poem from our Robert Frost text, and write a critical analysis of it. Unless you take a completely different approach to a poem that we have discussed in class--and have my approval to write on it--you should avoid poems that we talked about. You may, of course, mention other poems in your essay, but focus on one poem for this assignment. 2. Choose a single theme that you believe emerges from the poem. The theme, which will be your thesis statement for the essay, should reflect your opinion regarding what the author is saying about the topic you have chosen. Please don't use a cliche to state this theme, like "Love conquers all," or some such stale expression, and don't dwell on the obvious. The theme is, after all, the most important sentence of the essay because it provides unity and focus for your discussion. If you need help with what a thesis is, visit my link on thesis statement. 3. Now select a character (it may be the narrator), incidents, and imagery from the poem that support this theme. The purpose of this part of your essay is not for you to summarize or paraphrase the poem line-by-line or stanza-by-stanza; that would be boring. Rather, your purpose is to argue that your opinion is a valid reading of the poem. You do this by analyzing the specific details of the poem to fit into your thesis. 4. A substantial section of your essay should discuss the writer's style. In class, we will discuss diction, tone, figurative language (metaphor, simile, synecdoche, personification), alliteration, assonance, consonance, end rhyme, and rhythm. A good poet will often reflect the theme through language, so that the form the poem takes (style) usually mirrors its content (subject matter). Be careful here. I don't want a shopping list of the poetic devices the writer uses. I want to know how the style complements and emphasizes the theme. 5. Now step back and provide an evaluation of this writer's handling of the theme, content, and style. Is this is good poem or a bad poem? And why? Is the language appropriate, rich? Are the images sensuous, the theme handled maturely? 6. Do NOT waste time in your essay discussing the poet's biography, even if you think that Frost's life influenced this poem. Stick to the poem; forget the biography. 7. Document according to the MLA form of in-text documentation and a Works Cited page. We will discuss documentation in class, and I have samples on my website, under documentation. 8. The essay should be between five hundred and seven hundred words--about two to three pages. In no way am I implying that the length of an essay reflects its quality. But length does reflect the development and thoroughness appropriate for the assignment. If you are writing three hundred words, don't ask "How can I find more words to meet the requirement?" Rather, you should ask, "How can I study the poem more thoroughly to develop my ideas?" 9. No more than 15% of the essay should appear in direct quotations. 10. Type the paper and double space everything in it. Please use a 12 point font. Use a paper clip to bind the pages. I will not accept handwritten essays. 11. Proofread your essay. Show me a rough draft, and work on the essay in a way that the writing helps you to understand and enjoy the poem more thoroughly. GOOD LUCK! |