Eng. 102
Poetry Paper
Instructor: G. Ladinsky
An Explication
Select your favorite poem from the following list and write an explication of 5-7 pages:
“The Terroist, He Watches” by Wislawa Szymborska
“Icarus” by John Updike
“The Man He Killed” by Thomas Hardy
“Barbie Doll” by Margie Piercy
“A Smile for Her Smile” by Richard Wilbur
An explication requires you to quote the entire poem within you paper. You may follow the order in which the poem is written or you may jump around if you wish to select certain lines to make a particular point. However, in the end, the entire poem must be present in your paper. You do not need to discuss every line, but you do need to include every line.
There are two ways to quote a poem. You can indent as follows:
Cervantes uses three lines in particular that create an image of the loss of language:
Mama raised me without language.
I’m orphaned from my Spanish name.
The words are foreign, stumbling.
(5-7)
Or you can keep your regular margins and use quotations and slashes as follows:
Cervantes uses three lines in particular that create an image of the loss of language: “Mama raised me without language/ I’m orphaned from my Spanish name/The words are foreign, stumbling”
(5-7).
Good Luck!
100 Points