Poetry

Write a 3-5 page, double spaced, MLA formatted essay on 3-4 poems we’ve read for class. Your essay should have a thesis statement that makes some kind of argumentative claim about your chosen poems. I’m not looking for just what you think a poem “means”. Rather, I’m looking for an analysis of observable choices made in the crafting of the poems. These include: Structures/forms, meter/rhythms, rhyme schemes, subjects, speakers, figurative language/poetic devices, themes, tone/mood, and/or syntax. Describe and explain what choices you observe in your body paragraphs. What effects are brought about? How does one choice (for example, a choice to have a poem rhyme vs not) interact with another (for example, the subject of the poem)? Or, what figurative language is used to help establish a certain tone or mood? These are examples of the kinds of questions you can make arguable claims about in your thesis statement, which you will support/defend in the rest of your essay.