Write a three pages analysis of Poem Something Like a Sonnet for Phillis Wheatley.
To do your explication, focus on how language operates on several 3 levels. Here's a list of the kinds of questions you might answer for each as you analyze the poem:
1. Sound: What kind of rhymes are prevalent? What rhythms emerge in a specific line, or the poem as a whole? What is emphasized by these uses of sound? How does sound contribute to tone? What musical terms best describe the sound of the poem? Is the sound consistent, or does it shift, and why - what is the effect?
2. Meanings: On a literal level, what is the poem's "situation" or the situation of the speaker in the poem - what are they thinking about? What have they experienced that they are sharing in the poem (notice that these can be two different thing: you can think about something you haven't experienced)? Where does the poet use connotatively-rich or suggestive literal and figurative language (simile, metaphor, etc.)? What imagery (visual, aural, tactile) is present? How does the language effect a tone in the poem? What do you notice about diction (word choice) in the poem; what "kind" of language is used, and to what effect? Often the language of the poem conspires to say "something more" (and often unparaphrasable) about what the poem is "about" but be careful here: the point is not to "decode" a "hidden" meaning in the poem - if you do this, you're bound come up with an outlandish interpretation. So, focus: in addition to the literal "situation," what other, less literal, information do we encounter in the poem? The goal is to analyze how the language of the poem evokes meanings "around" what it is on the surface "about." It will be helpful to read about the poet, the times he or she lived in, the sort of things he or she is known to write about; but don't assume that the speaker/I of the poem is autobiographical.
3. Form: What is the structure of the poem? Does it follow a fixed verse form, or is it written in free-verse? How long are the lines and stanzas? Where does enjambment create an effect? How does the form of the poem affect our experience of reading it? If it's one long stanza, why is that, for example? How does the form relate to the meanings in or tone of the poem?
Your explication paper must address all of levels; how you structure your essay is up to you. You may draw on other examples of poems we read in class for contrast and to make a point about your chosen poem. Your introduction must introduce the poem (For example: " ‘We Real Cool' by Gwendolyn Brooks conveys the coolness of pool players in her neighborhood. It was published in her 1960 collection The Bean Eaters"). You must provide a quote from the textbook to help you define poetry, but your definition must be in your own words. Taking your definition into consideration, your thesis must make a statement about HOW TO READ A POEM - in particular, the poem you are explicating (for example: "Poetry uses suggestive language and often heightens rhythms to help convey a meaning. When you read a poem like ‘We Real Cool' you must consider the connotations of certain words and pay attention in subtle changes in wording and rhyme from line to line." Your paper must provide evidence (properly quoting the poem by showing where line breaks are - see example essay in textbook) and analysis in each body paragraph (PEE is still relevant to structuring a solid paper).