A Caged Bird’s Sympathy

Write an analysis on the poets use of imagery, figurative language, and/or symbolism,

allusion, etc. You must choose a set of poems by the same poet. (Paul Laurence Dunbar – We Wear the Mask pp. 958-959 and Sympathy pp. 1024-1025)

Avoid unnecessary summary. Simply summarizing the poetry will not earn you a

good grade on this assignment. The summary in your essay should be limited to

only to what is necessary to establish your point. Everyone in the class is able to

read (or may have read) the poetry that you will be analyzing. If not, it can be

located within the textbook. Consider your audience. Summary of the poetry is

neither necessary nor desired.

Provide evidence to support your thesis using what you have learned in class

about the literary elements of imagery, figurative language, and/or symbolism

and allusion. Your essay should demonstrate your use of your critical thinking

skills in your analysis of the poems.

Your paper will be judged by your instructor and your peers on the content,

presentation, format, grammar, and spelling.

Must include a minimum of two (2) outside or secondary/ outside sources

and have a works cited page listing the secondary sources and the poetry itself

(from the textbook) as sources. You need use the textbook as one of your

secondary sources as you will need to define certain terminology for the essay.

The two poems should be listed separately on the works cited page. This makes

a minimum total of four (4) sources.

The secondary sources must be credible, used in the body of the essay, and

correctly cited. Do Not use Wikipedia, personal websites, or blogs or any other

encyclopedia, or other general references, (the exception is the Alabama Virtual

Library). Do Not use study guide sites like Course Hero, Sparknotes, Cliffsnotes,

Pink Monkey, Shmoop, Study Mate, Enotes, LitCharts, Cummings Study Guides

etc. DO NOT use essays from students that have been uploaded to websites or

essays that cannot be vetted as credible. They are not scholarly and have not

been vetted as expert sources. Please search the resources available in the

Library Services portal in Canvas. Again, do not use study guides like those

previously listed as sources.

Must include a minimum of two (2) outside or secondary/ outside sources

and have a works cited page listing the secondary sources and the poetry itself

(from the textbook) as sources. You need use the textbook as one of your

secondary sources as you will need to define certain terminology for the essay.

The two poems should be listed separately on the works cited page. This makes

a minimum total of four (4) sources.

The secondary sources must be credible, used in the body of the essay, and

correctly cited. Do Not use Wikipedia, personal websites, or blogs or any other

encyclopedia, or other general references, (the exception is the Alabama Virtual

Library). Do Not use study guide sites like Course Hero, Sparknotes, Cliffsnotes,

Pink Monkey, Shmoop, Study Mate, Enotes, LitCharts, Cummings Study Guides

etc. DO NOT use essays from students that have been uploaded to websites or

essays that cannot be vetted as credible. They are not scholarly and have not

been vetted as expert sources. Please search the resources available in the

Library Services portal in Canvas. Again, do not use study guides like those

previously listed as sources.

GRADING / CRITERIA GUIDELINES:

Your paper must show analytical skills in your reading of the poetry, focusing

primarily on imagery, figurative language and/or symbolism and allusion.

Consistent Focus Focus should be on your topic, focusing on the criteria for the

assignment.

Content Do not use fluff, such as unnecessary summary, or unnecessary author

biographical information, to add length to your work. Give an analysis that

exhausts your perspective on the poetry concerning poetic elements. There is

much to be said! When you use sources, they must be listed on the Works Cited

page. Also, if sources are listed on the Works Cited page, they must be used in the

essay and there must be in-text citations. Failure to do this is a form of

plagiarism.

Organization There must be logical progression from one topic to the next with

transitions and paragraphs that smoothly move your analysis along.

Style – appropriately formal with variety of syntax (sentence structure) and

diction (word choice – no slang, vulgar language, etc.) Also, this essay must be

written in third person. Do not use first person pronouns (I, me, my, we, us, our)

or second person pronouns (you, your). Spell out contractions. Remember to use

the appropriate tense for the essay (present tense for discussing literature). You

must double space and use Times New Roman 12-point font. Your essay must

have MLA pagination, an MLA heading, and a creative title.

Mechanics – English language conventions should be adhered to from correct

mechanics (capitalization, spelling, etc.) and usage (subject/verb agreement,

pronouns, etc.), to correct format (MLA).

Primary source is Perrines Literature Structure, Sound, and Sense. Must have in-text citations within the essay documenting the primary and secondary sources that you have listed on the

works cited page. Please Review and read all attachments.

“We wear the Mask” Sources

Dunbar, Paul Laurence. We Wear the Mask. Perrines Literature Structure, Sound, and Sense,

edited by Greg Johnson and Thomas R. Arp, 13th ed., Cengage Learning, 2018, pp. 958-

959.

Keeling, John. Paul Dunbar and the Mask of Dialect. Southern Literary Journal,

vol. 25, no. 2, Mar. 1993, p. 24. EBSCOhost,

research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=4966dabe-df4c-319c-bf08-4e7a4e3bc144.

Thomas L. Morgan. We Wear the Mask: Paul Laurence Dunbar and the Politics of

Representative Reality (Review). African American Review, vol. 44, Dec. 2011,

pp. 72527. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1353/afa.2011.0059.

Gabbin, Joanne. Intimate Intercessions in the Poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar.

African American Review, vol. 41, no. 2, June 2007, pp. 22731. EBSCOhost,

research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=413b6b11-e28e-3244-874b-4c4f2f9c9468.

“Sympathy” Sources

Dunbar, Paul Laurence. Sympathy. Perrines Literature Structure, Sound, and Sense, edited by

Greg Johnson and Thomas R. Arp, 13th ed., Cengage Learning, 2018, pp. 1024-1025.

Gabbin, Joanne. Intimate Intercessions in the Poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar.

African American Review, vol. 41, no. 2, June 2007, pp. 22731. EBSCOhost,

research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=413b6b11-e28e-3244-874b-4c4f2f9c9468.

Huff, Randall. Dunbar, Paul Laurence. Encyclopedia of American Poetry, 2-Volume Set, Second Edition, Facts On File, 2013. Blooms Literature, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=4549&itemid=WE54&articleId=24714.