2023/5/29 01:00 Essay 1: Poetry Analysis (Final Draft)
https://canvas.pasadena.edu/courses/1134351/assignments/9618349 1/3
Essay 1: Poetry Analysis (Final Draft)
截止 星期二 由 23:59 编辑 得分 100 提交 外部工具
Once you have revised, edited, and carefully proofread your paper, you should submit it before the deadline.
Make sure you have included your last name in your document title (e.g. PoetryEssay1_Walter). Instructors find it helpful to seedocuments by name.
Also, check to make sure you have included
1. your poem
2. a Work Cited section.
Double check for MLA formatting of the entire document. Essays are automatically scanned through Turnitin.com. If you have any issues,contact me via Inbox.
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How Do I Submit a File as an Assignment on Canvas? (https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-10663-421254353)
MLA Format–Poetry (https://columbiacollege-ca.libguides.com/mla/poetry)
Here is the rubric I will use to evaluate this assignment. You can use it to check your work.
IntroductionThe introduction briefly summarizes the work, sets up the terms of your argument, and narrows the focus of your interpretation. Oneway to narrow your focus and establish a sense of argument is to acknowledge that the work can be read in another way, but assertthat your reading is stronger. A good introduction also begins with a “hook” to get your audience’s attention. Writers often use the titleto begin establishing the position of the paper. Create a title that reflects your argument or leads into your “hook”.
10 pts
ThesisThe intro ends with the argumentative thesis statement. A strong argumentative thesis is specific, narrow, and debatable. It does notsound like a factual statement about the poem or a summary of the poem’s central meaning. Instead, a thesis will make a claim for ameaning that is not obvious, perhaps even surprising. So, not only will you assert what the poem actually means or does, but you willhint at why and/or how it achieves this meaning. So, make sure you include your claim for why the poem means what you think itmeans. NOTE: Your thesis is always the last sentence of the introduction paragraph.
10 pts
Paragraph StructureEach body paragraph aims to demonstrate and argue in a unique way for your thesis using concrete evidence and analysis. Bodyparagraphs develop the thesis in greater detail and complicate or deepen our understanding of the work. Each body paragraphbegins with a topic sentence that connects its topic to the thesis. The sentences that develop this topic should include interpretationand support. Use a few concrete details and short quotations to back up your argument. Don’t overdo the quotation, however. Theemphasis in each paragraph should fall on your interpretation of the details, not the details themselves. Each body paragraph shouldconclude with a conclusion sentence that reinforces the thesis. Conclusions are drawn from evidence. Therefore, each conclusionsentence should draw from the evidence presented in the paragraph.
30 pts
Poetic Terms and Close ReadingYour argument for meaning is based on close reading of particular words, lines, and poetic elements or devices. You should use theappropriate terms for the elements of the poems, and your body paragraphs should develop your interpretation in detail. Strongarguments are thoroughly supported with detail, examples, and select quotation.
20 pts
ConclusionThe last paragraph is the MOST IMPORTANT statement of your argument about the poem. Think of the last paragraph not as arepetition of your points but the opportunity to draw the most significant conclusion for your audience. Based on the ideas explored inthe body paragraphs, what must your audience conclude? You might use the last paragraph to answer the question: why is thispoem meaningful to us? Return to your “hook” in some way to round out and provide closure. Do not use the worn out phrase “Inconclusion.”
10 pts
Clarity and FormA polished essay should have no significant grammar or sentence structure errors. Diction (word choice, vocabulary) should beprecise and appropriate to the subject. Good prose is succinct rather than wordy, clear rather than foggy, direct rather than vague.Cite your poems in-text by line numbers. All references to sources must be acknowledged and cited using MLA format—always.
20 pts
2023/5/29 01:00 Essay 1: Poetry Analysis (Final Draft)
https://canvas.pasadena.edu/courses/1134351/assignments/9618349 2/3
If you have come to this page to see the assignment details again, here they are:
The goals for this assignment are to:
demonstrate your understanding of the elements of the thesis-driven academic essayanalyze a contemporary (and not well known) poem of your own choosing, using several of the appropriate terms and devices forpoetrycreate an original argument for meaning
Directions: Using the techniques and tools we have discussed—but selecting which ever are appropriate and useful to your poem—interpret the work to expose what you think to be its central idea or argument. Formulate your thesis in response to this prompt:
What is the essential message or argument of this work?
More Guidance:
Let us review what we have learned so far.
The path to understanding a poem comes through close reading, the line by line or stanza by stanza analysis. Your purpose as a writer isto show your reader what you understand. Your analysis aims to illuminate the poem's particular or subtle meanings–what is not perfectlyobvious–in order to propose an argument for its essential or deeper meaning. Your argument is your interpretation, yet it is based on orsupported by what you discover in the work itself.
Remember, in a poem, the essential message is rarely obvious on the first reading, and it lies beneath the surface of a summary of itslines. The reader and writer must look at all of the elements of a poem, attempt to understand how they work together, and draw ameaningful conclusion from this investigation. Another reader might discover a different message. Your argument for meaning will be validso long as you support it with strong, well analyzed and explained evidence in the work.
To support an interpretation, aim to show how and why the poem expresses its message. If you get a bit stuck, return to the questions: How does the poem express the message? Why does the poem or poet express this idea? What might be the purpose or intention of thepoem? Even if you feel a bit tentative, as if you are “guessing,” it's OK. Interpretations are thoughtful guesses that become more certainas we find “proof” for our theories.
In your essay, you should:
explain the significance of literary figures (image, metaphor, simile, symbol, etc.) if they occur.analyze the poem's logical structure (i.e., how the ideas develop and conclude, or how the images relate to one another).evaluate the poem’s diction (look up any key words that resonate with connotation).
Length: Your essay should be between 750 and 1000 words.
Organization: Create a strong, well-focused introduction and conclusion, as well as a specific, original title. Briefly summarize orparaphrase the poem in the introduction, then set up and assert your thesis statement. Remember: the thesis is always the last sentenceof the introduction. After the introductory paragraph, you need not summarize, but instead should analyze the particulars of thework. These three elements—title, introductory paragraph, thesis statement, and conclusion paragraph–work together to create structureand closure in an essay by narrowing its focus and purpose.
Body paragraphs should be well built, also. The body paragraphs help you prove, demonstrate, and develop your thesis. This is thesubstance of your argument. These paragraphs move you along a compelling trajectory from your introduction to your conclusion.
What goes into a strong body paragraph?
Every paragraph must have a topic sentence, usually the first sentence. The topic sentence states the main idea of the body paragraph.All of the sentences in the paragraph connect to it. Keep in mind that main ideas are:
like signposts. They appear in the first sentence of the paragraph and tell your reader what’s inside the paragraph.arguable. They’re not statements of fact; they’re debatable points that you prove with evidence. They are clearly reflections of yourthesis statement. They are in a sense sub thesis statements or facets of the thesis.focused. Each paragraph has a unique main idea to demonstrate and prove. If you make a list of the main ideas of each bodyparagraph in a paper, you would clearly see that they are related to yet different from one another, and that they all reflect your thesisstatement
Audience: Who are your readers? Direct your interpretations to your classmates. They have not read this poem. Your goal is to enlightenthese readers, to reveal what they do not yet see or understand. This means that you should fully develop your arguments and base themon direct references to significant words and lines in the poem. Teach your readers how to analyze and understand this poem.
MLA Format: Use MLA format for your document and in-text citation (with poetry we cite by line rather than page number). In the WorkCited section of your essay, cite the web site or book in which you found your poem.
Important Note: Include the poem at the end of your document.
2023/5/29 01:00 Essay 1: Poetry Analysis (Final Draft)
https://canvas.pasadena.edu/courses/1134351/assignments/9618349 3/3
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