AMERICAN MULTICULTURAL POETRY ESSAY PROMPT
DIRECTIONS: Choose one poem from the list below, and write a well-organized essay of 2-3
pages analyzing what the poem means and how the author creates the meaning, especially
focusing on how the poem reflects American attitudes toward culture and ethnicity. If you wish,
compare/contrast the author’s time with the present with specific analysis. Consider
speaker/point of view, content, tone, organizational pattern, rhyme scheme, imagery, sound
devices, and poetic devices. (You do not need to include all aspects—choose those which will
best contribute to the main ideas you want to express.) Give your essay an original title. Type
paper in MLA format.
“The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus
“The Unguarded Gate” by Thomas Bailey Aldrich
“Let America Be America Again” by Langston Hughes
“The Other Alamo” by Martin Espada
“To live in the Borderlands means you” by Gloria Anzaldua
“I Am Joaquin” (“Yo Soy Joaquin”) by Rudolfo Gonzalez
“Poem by a Yellow Woman” by Sook Lyol Ryu
“We Would Like You to Know” by Ana Castillo
“Ending Poem” by Rosario Morales and Aurora Levins Morales
Key organizational concepts:
Introduction—Opening of your essay. Usually uses a strategy to gain readers’ interest (a
quotation, a definition, an anecdote, questions, startling statements), followed by the thesis. In a
literary essay like this one, if you can’t think of another way to start, begin either with a key
word or with the author’s name. Do include title and author in the intro.
Thesis statement—Gives your opinion about the topic, what you are going to prove in
your essay. Usually found at the end of your introduction.
Body—The middle part of your essay, where you support and develop your thesis.
Topic sentence—Gives the main idea of a paragraph in the body of your essay.
Concrete details—Quotations, facts, reasons, examples in support of your thesis. Each
body paragraph should contain two or more. (Do not “hang” quotations.)
Commentary—Analysis of your concrete details, explaining what the details mean and
why they matter.
Conclusion—Sums up your essay in an interesting way. Does not introduce new
information. May restate main ideas or thesis statement. May link specifics of the essay to the
“wider world.”
Key style concepts:
Vary your sentence lengths and beginnings. Avoid beginning with And, But, So.
Keep pronoun usage consistent. In an analytical essay it is most appropriate to use thirdperson pronouns (objective tone). Avoid you.
Keep verb tense consistent, either all present or all past tense.
Avoid contractions and informal language. Spell out small numbers.
Express similar actions and ideas together using parallel structure.
Due Dates: Rough draft due on Friday, March 6th. Final draft due on Friday, March 13th.