ENGL 1102 Poetry Analysis (ESSAY #2)

Assignment: You will be writing an essay that demonstrates a “close reading” of one of the poems in Native Guard. You should follow a multi-step process of reading, drafting, and writing.

This assignment asks that you compose the parts of your essay separately and then piece them together in order. For many of you this may be non-intuitive; a writer starts at the beginning, right?

The out-of-class essay writing process, however, is not linear and is not done in one step. In order to discover what you need to write about, you must read the poem closely, examining each part. The below writing process will guide you through the writing process leading you through a "close reading" of a poem and a more in-depth and refined final essay.

Step One: Select poem and read it aloud.

Step Two: Read the poem a second time, annotate, and make notes on The 7 & Areas of Poetry

· Make margin notes (annotations) next to the poem on this page.

· Answer on your own paper the below questions. Include specific lines & or phrases from the poem.

Questions for the 7 & Areas of Poetry

1. What does the title tell you?

2. Who is the speaker? (Identify personality, age, background, change in the poem)

3. What is the setting of the poem?

4. What is the situation of the poem?

5. Identify the audience (What type of reader?) and other characters in the poem;

6. What are unusual words in meaning, use, repetition? Poetic devices? Symbols?

7. What is the theme of the poem? (What about x?)

Step Three: Write a draft of the body of your essay following the structure of the poem (stanza-by-stanza or grouping stanzas together in the case of very short stanzas or long poems.)

Step Four: Write your conclusion, focusing on the theme.

Step Five: Create your introduction based on the information and focus/theme of the poem.

· Be sure to include a “hook” to open your essay—a quotation or related incident from your life or what you observe in the world;

· Include your working thesis.

Step Six:

· Put essay parts (intro, body, conclusion) together in order;

· Revise/refine your thesis;

· Proofread & revise essay (Eliminate repetition; Take out points that do not advance your thesis; take out repetitive phrases, combine sentences; Revise for style.

Guidelines & Reminders:

Format & citation rules: MLA (See rules for quoting & citing poetry in Writing, Part 4 & handbook)

Length: 500 words minimum (“C” length) to 1,000

Include all steps with your final draft in your folder.

Submit final copy to turnitin.com & a hard copy in folder.

Due: March 10 by 5:00 PM @ my office.