Assignment

The essay assignment for this week is to compose a paper of at least 750 words in which you offer your interpretation of a literary element poem (such as theme, imagery, symbolism, or characterization) in one of the assigned poems.

You must choose one poem from below:

• Bradstreet, "To My Dear and Loving Husband"
• Brooks, "We Real Cool"
• Browning, "How Do I Love Thee"
• Burns, "Oh, My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose"
• Cullen, "For a Lady I Know"
• Cummings, "In Just-"
• Cummings, "Somewhere I Have Never Travelled"
• Dickinson, "Because I Could Not Stop for Death"
• Dickinson, "This is My Letter to the World"
• Donne, "Death Be Not Proud"
• Dunbar, "We Wear the Mask"
• Frost, "Desert Places"
• Frost, "Mending Wall"
• Heaney, "Digging"
• Herrick, "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time"
• Hopkins, "Spring and Fall"
• Hughes, "Theme for English B"
• Jarrell, "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner"
• Komunyakaa, "Facing It"
• MacLeish, "Ars Poetica"
• Neruda, "Muchos Somos"
• Owen, "Futility"
• Plath, "Daddy"
• Pound, "The River Merchant's Wife: A Letter"
• Roethke, "My Papa's Waltz"
• Shakespeare, "My Mistress' Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun"
• Smith, "Not Waving but Drowning"
• Stevens, "Anecdote of the Jar"
• Williams, "This is Just to Say"
• Wordsworth, "The World is too much with us"
• Yeats, "The Second Coming"
• Yeats, "When You are Old"

1. Open your introduction with an engaging opener, such as a question, quote from the poem, or interesting idea. Then, connect to the poem and mention the title and the author. End your introduction with a thesis statement that interprets one literary element of the poem (such as theme, imagery, symbolism, or characterization).

2. The body paragraphs should support your thesis. Present specific aspects of the poem that help to illustrate your points. Make sure to quote from the poem and analyze specific lines that support your argument.

3. Include a strong concluding paragraph that summarizes your main points and explains the significance of the thesis.

APA Reminder

Use APA style for formatting the essay and for source citations. Begin with a title page. Include a running header, and use proper font and spacing. End with a separate references page. Refer to the Week 1 lecture on avoiding plagiarism for an APA essay template and additional resources.

Important Note: Do not do any outside research for this essay. This analysis should be your own insights regarding the poem.