English 4 / 004
Zappa/ Fall, „11
First essay: Poetry
For this assignment, you will be writing a 3-4 page paper analyzing poetry. Please choose two
poems from our text or from the oral presentations which we have not discussed as a class.
(The poems from the handouts at the beginning of the semester are off limits.)
You must establish a thematic connection between the poems (in other words, show us the
relationship between them) and compare and contrast them in detail. Be sure that you have
connected the poems by theme, NOT SUBJECT; perhaps the poets treat it differently, or perhaps
similarly. The poems do not have to “match;” in other words, you are looking for one theme
they share, though you may discuss others as well. Your paper must also include an analysis of
poetic devices, i.e. style/technique (the “how”). Plan to analyze two or three specific techniques
used by the poets which affect the overall poems, especially their themes.
You will then analyze, without summarizing, the poems, using a clear thesis (see handout on
thesis statements.) BE SURE THAT YOU FOCUS ON THE WHAT/ HOW CONNECTION.
You should use some of the terms in the back of our text PBMB, to help with poetic devices.
You may not use outside sources.
Draft (3-page minimum, TYPED) due Thurs. Sept. 8: 25 points
Final essay (3-page minimum, draft attached) due Tues. Sept. 13: 75 points