Poetry Short Essay: There are two options for this assignment. Follow the directions below:

Option 1:

1. Read the Shakespeare sonnet, "Not Marble, Nor Gilded Monuments" p. 647

2. Briefly summarize each quatrain in your own words (a sentence or two). Attempt to explain the dominant idea of each quatrain and how the imagery helps to develop that dominant idea.

3. Explain how the ending couplet expresses a theme and how the quatrains help develop that theme.

4. Discuss how this poem deals with the idea of "transcendence."

Option 2:

1. Do an internet search for Romanticism (wikipedia would be ok for this) so you have some understanding of the meaning of Romanticism and how it has influenced literature.

2. Read "The World is Too Much With Us" and "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening.

3. Consider how each poem fits with Romanticism and how each uses imagery to express a romantic ideal.

4. Disuss how each poem shares a similiar theme about humans' relationship with nature.