Poetry Essay Instructions

In preparation for the Poetry Essay and by completing your textbook readings, you will be equipped to objectively respond by compiling information from a variety of sources to compose a paper that allows you to write a persuasive analysis of a literary work; follow standard usage in English grammar and sentence structure; identify the theme and structure of each literary selection as well as the significant characteristics or elements of each genre studied; and evaluate the literary merit of a work (Syllabus MLOs: A, B, C, D, F, G and Module/Week 5 LOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7).

In Module/Week 5, you will write a 750-word (3-4 pages) essay that analyzes 1 poem from the Poetry Unit. Before you begin writing the essay, carefully read the guidelines for developing your paper topic that are given below.

Review the Poetry Essay Grading Rubric to see how your submission will be graded. Gather all of your information, plan the direction of your essay, and organize your ideas by developing a 1-page thesis statement and outline for your essay as you did for your Fiction Essay. Format the thesis statement and the outline in a single Microsoft Word document using current MLA, APA, or Turabian style (whichever corresponds to your degree program).

Guidelines for Developing Your Paper Topic

Chapter 41 of the Kennedy and Gioia textbook (Chapter 43, pp. 1132-1142 in the eText) provides some helpful pointers for reading poems, taking notes, brainstorming, developing a clearly-defined thesis statement, preparing an outline, writing a cogent literary analysis of a poem, and citing your sources. This chapter specifically addresses Robert Frost's "Design," which is studied in this course, so be sure to read it before doing any further work for this assignment.

Also, take notice of the example of a poetry thesis and outline on pp. 1344-1345 (pp. 1135-1136 in the eText).

Choose 1 of the poems from the list below to address in your essay:

· The Lamb" or "The Tiger" or "The Chimney Sweeper" by William Blake;

· "Batter my heart, three-personed God" or "Death Be Not Proud" by John Donne (watch the video lecture on John Donne's "Batter my heart, three-personed God" for more ideas to help you write your essay on this poem);

· "Journey of the Magi" by T. S. Eliot;

· "God's Grandeur" or "Pied Beauty" or "Spring" by Gerard Manley Hopkins;

· "Ode on a Grecian Urn" or "Ode to a Nightingale" by John Keats;

· "Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley;

· "My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning (watch the video lecture on Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess" for more ideas to help you write your essay on this poem);

· "Sailing to Byzantium" by William Butler Yeats;