Poetry Analysis
Any Poem by Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allen Poe, Walt Whitman, or Robert Browning.
For this essay, you will analyze an idea, theme, speaker, and other elements found in one or more poems. You may choose to examine an interesting idea in one specific poem, combine ideas from similar poems into a common theme, or use ideas/themes in one poem to develop the understanding of another piece by the same poet.
In summary, this paper must attempt to understand the overall theme or idea of the poem and prove this through a close reading and explanation of specific elements in the poem
Introduction: This is where you introduce the concept you have pulled out of the poem as your thesis and briefly introduce/identify the poem(s) you are analyzing.
You must present a thesis statement that makes a specific claim/argument about the poem you are analyzing and explain three elements of poetry that support/ prove this thesis. Make sure that you compose an analysis and do not summarize the poem other than in this paragraph.
Elements of poetry:Voice: Speaker and tone
Diction, Imagery, Figures of Speech, Symbolism, and Allegory, Syntax, Sound, Rhyme, Rhythm, and Meter
Body paragraphs: For each paragraph, try to find just 1-2 different quotes from the poem that demonstrate your ideas and develop your argument. There should be at least three separate paragraphs that develop individual aspects of your thesis.
When you include quotes, you will write them as a sentence, with backslashes to separate lines.
For example, “Once upon a midnight dreary / While I pondered weak and weary” (Poe, lines 1-2)
Citation guide: Link (Links to an external site.)
Conclusion: This where you explore the social impact/value/result of your ideas on society. Why is this poem important for your reader to understand? Include a specific current event or a social issue that connects to your poem’s theme. This is required to earn points for your conclusion.
Suggested writing prompts if needed:
Compare similarities in metaphor and symbols in the poem(s) have chosen, and make an argument about the effectiveness of these literary devices in conveying the poems’ theme(s).
Explore the idea of “Finality” in any poems that deal with death. How do these works view the world? Value of life? Spirituality? Afterlife?
Discuss the gender of the speaker in a poem. Does the tone of the poem change with the author’s gender? Why or why not? What are the gender dynamics in the poem?
Look at poems about spirituality. How would you categorize ideas about God? Does the poem promote a “traditional/ Western” form of religion? Explain.
Discuss the value of love and emotion in any of the poems we have read. How does time play a role in the poem’s message? Can human experience compete with the permanence of nature?
Discuss the role of nature in your poem(s); how is it portrayed, and what is the relationship between humans and their environment?