The assigned rhetorical strategy for this paper is compare and contrast. Choose two poems; they may be from any source, not limited to our text. However, if you do choose poems outside our text, you must - immediately - submit to me hard copies of the them.

Guidelines:

a) 1,200 word minimum - MANDATORY - include the word count in the upper left corner under your name (first), the class (second), the date (third), then the word count.

b) Include in the first part of your centered title Compare and Contrast: the names of your two poems correctly capitalized and punctuated. If you want to add your own title to your paper you may; simply type a colon just outside the second set of closing quotation marks, space, then your own title.

c) Read both of your poems at least three times, and at least one of those times must be out loud, even to a mirror or your pet.

d) Read a third - or fourth or fifth - time while you carefully annotote.

e) Compare and contrast your two poems in terms of three of the elements of poetry - sound, symbolism, internal structure, figures of speech and imagery.

f) Begin your pre-write: make notes that are poem by poem with each of three elements OR consider each of the three elements separately but also with each poem. Columns work well for organizing your notes.

g) Once your analyses are complete, begin your draft. VERY IMPORTANT: a huge time-saving tip is to focus on the body of your essay FIRST. Develop the body of your paper to a good degree, meaning you're pretty happy with it, but it still needs some editing, THEN you can think about your introduction and conclusion.

h) Reminder, make your intro appealing, a genuinely tempting invitation into your paper. Begin with something interesting, or funny, or otherwise compelling. Conclusion? Short and sweet, clever, final.