ENGL 220
Poetry Writing I
Poetry Response
Due: 2/24
100 points
For your poetry response you will choose one of the poems below and explicate the poem’s
meaning. To explicate a poem, you must analyze how the poem utilizes various poetic craft
features to convey meaning to the reader, such as: image, language, persona & voice, line &
form, rhythm & rhyme.
Remember that an analysis revolves around answering the questions “how” & “why.” How is the
author constructing her poem and why is she choosing this language, this form, these images,
and so on. Your analysis should be in-depth and remember you should cite specific lines in the
poem. If you’re going to analyze an image, you should probably cite the image in the poem. This
paper should be structured as a traditional thesis-driven academic essay. Your paper should be
between 3-5 pages, typed and double-spaced.
You MUST choose a poem from this list to analyze:
Night Waitress by Lynda Hull
Ceremony by Louise Glück
I Watch Her Eat the Apple by Natalie Diaz
At Dusk by Natasha Trethewey
These poems can be found in the poetry packet that was passed out during the beginning of the
semester.
Grading Criteria:
Does the paper have a thesis? Does the thesis accurately reflect the essay and the assignment?
Are paragraphs structured around main claims that in turn support the thesis?
Does the paper use in-text citations of the poem itself to support various claims the author makes
about the poem?
Does the paper reflect a solid understanding of the meaning of the poem?
Does the paper reflect a solid understanding of how various elements of poetic craft work to
convey the meaning of the poem?
Does the paper strive for clarity, concision? Is the paper free of grammatical errors?
MLA in-text citation example:
In Emily Dickinson’s “I died for Beauty – but was scarce,” Dickinson ends the poem with an
ominous sense of erasure, she writes that “Moss had reached our lips – / And covered up – our
names – ” (lines 11-12).
For more help with writing, please refer to the Owl Purdue website at:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/ or the College of Charleston Writing Lab at:
http://csl.cofc.edu/labs/writing-lab/