Unit 7
Major Writing Assignment
Analysis of a Poem
Watch an online video for further explanation of writing a poetry analysis essay (8 mins) @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lVHsfk0vV8
Common Core Standards: W.2a-f Write informative/explanatory texts to examine complex ideas through the effective, selection, organization, and analysis of content. W.4
Produce clear and coherent writing. W.5 Strengthen writing as needed by revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant
for a specific purpose and audience W.9a (RL.1, 4) Cite textual evidence; analyze the impact of specific words choices on meaning and tone. L.1 Demonstrate command of the
conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing. L.2c Spell Correctly
Introduction: In this unit, students have focused on elements of poetry such as word choice, imagery, and figurative language. In this writing
assignment, you will write an analysis of a poem in which you examine one or two elements of the author’s style and its effect upon readers.
Write with a Purpose
Writing Task:
Select a poem and compose an analysis of the author’s style. Your
analysis should enable your audience to understand one or two
elements of the author’s style and its effect on readers.
Possible Ideas:
 Interpret figurative language in “I Ask My Mother to Sing”
 Interpret form in “Elegy for the Giant Tortoises” or “Ode to My
Socks”
 Interpret structure in “400 – Meter Freestyle”
The Basics:
Below are some of the common purposes, audiences, and formats for
literary analysis.
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Purposes
To better
understand a
poem and to
explain it to
others.
To understand
the effects of
writer’s choices
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Audiences
Teachers and
classmates
Poets
Poetry magazine
Blog readers
School
newspaper
readers
Web users
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Formats
Essay for class
Letter or e-mail
to a poet
Review for
student literary
magazine
Blog for fans of
the poet
School
newspaper
readers
Common Core Traits
1. Development of Ideas
-presents an engaging introduction
-develops a controlling idea that offers an analysis of one or two
elements of the author’s style
-supports main points of analysis with relevant details and quotations
from the text
-concludes with a summary of main points and insights
2. Organization of Ideas
-organizes ideas in a logical way
-uses varied transitions to create cohesion and connect ideas
3. Language Facility and Conventions
-establishes and maintains a formal style and objective tone
-includes precise language
-uses singular and plural possessives correctly
-employs correct grammar, mechanics, and spelling
Part 1: Planning and Prewriting
Common Core Standards: W.2a-f Write informative/explanatory texts to examine complex ideas through the effective, selection, organization, and analysis of content. W.5
Develop and strengthen writing by planning.
Select A Poem For Analysis
Select a poem for analysis that contains sufficient elements to analyze.
Then, use a graphic organizer to list elements of the work that catch
your attention. Also, not questions and observations.
Example
Interesting
Elements in “Spring
is like a perhaps
hand”
“perhaps hand”
Parentheticals
“window”
“people stare”
Questions and Observations
What does Cummings mean by a
perhaps hand?”
Why use parentheses? Maybe the
poem is an afterthought
What is the window, and why are people
staring at it?
Think About Audience and Purpose
Your audience includes people who have read the poem or who are
interested in the poet’s work. Your purpose is to share your ideas about
the effects of the stylistic elements
Questions to Ask Yourself
Find Vital Stylistic Elements
Find the elements of the author’s style, such as figurative language,
repetition, and odd word choice, which make the poem so fascinating.
What is the cumulative effect of these elements on the poem? Do the
word choices make the poem funny or sad? Does the figurative
language create a vivid image? Use a graphic organizer to list style
elements and evidence from the poem. Then choose the elements that
most influenced you.
Example
Develop a Controlling Idea
Your thesis, or controlling idea, should identify the main points of your
analysis. Continue modifying this statement as you write.
Example
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What will my members of my audience who haven’t read the
poem need to know?
How can I support my ideas to appeal to readers who have
different views about the poet’s style?
Style Elements
Evidence
Figurative Language
Simile: “Spring is like a perhaps
hand”
“perhaps hand”
Spring, Nowhere, Hand, Old,
New
Three parentheticals, two
commas, one period
Odd Word Choice
Capitalization and Punctuation
In “Spring is like a perhaps hand,” E.E. Cummings uses language and
punctuation to suggest that the arrival of spring creates a shift in
the way that people view the world that is both familiar and fresh.
Organize Your Ideas
Consider how you can present your ideas to make the purpose of your
analysis clear to the audience. You will want to organize your ideas in a
logical and cohesive way. An effective option for this type of writing is to
arrange your ideas in order of importance, beginning with the least
important element and building toward what you consider the most
important one.
Example
Provide Evidence from the Text
Every point you make about the author’s style must be supported with
well-chosen evidence, including concrete details and quotations from
the text. Your evidence should be relevant to your controlling idea and
sufficient enough to help your audience understand your analysis.
Example
Order of Importance
1. Figurative Language
-simile
-unusual word choice
2. Capitalization
- used sparingly
-five words only
3. Punctuation
-limited
-three parentheticals
Parentheticals
Evidence: The bulk of the poem is enclosed in three sets of
parentheses
Effect: The parentheses frame the window of spring at which the
people stare.
Peer Review: Explain to a classmate the purpose and audience of your analysis. Then, ask: What are the main points of my analysis? Which
statements need to be supported with more evidence?
Time to write!
It’s time to develop your writing plan. Start by creating graphic organizers, charts, and outlines to help list and organize the stylistic elements that
stand out to you most or that you find the most interesting. As you are doing so, think about the following:
 How does the poet’s choice of words create a cumulative effect in the poem? What is that effect?
 Does the poet use figurative language, such as metaphor or similes, to make comparisons?
 What sound devices, such as rhythm, rhyme, or repetition, does the poet use? What are the effects?
Part 2: The Drafting Process
Common Core Standards: W.4 Produce clear and coherent writing. W.9a (RL.1, 4) Cite textual evidence; analyze the impact of specific words choices on meaning and tone. L.1
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing.
The chart below presents a structure or format for organizing a clear and coherent literary analysis.
Organizing Your Literary Analysis
 Begin with an engaging question or comment about the poem as your topic sentence.
 Pinpoint the poet and the literary work that you are writing about.
 Provide a thesis (controlling idea) that explains the effect of the stylistic element being analyzed.
Body Paragraphs
 Introduce relevant evidence, such as quotations and concrete details to support the controlling idea.
 Organize your main points in order of importance and use varied transitions to create cohesion and connect related ideas.
 Use precise language to explain the effect of each example cited. If necessary, define any domain-specific vocabulary, such as literary
terms.
 Include a variety of sentence structures into your response.
 Maintain a formal style and objective tone by avoiding slang and by supporting your analysis with evidence from the text.
Concluding Section
 Summarize the main points of your analysis.
 Provide a general insight about the author’s style and its effects.
Grammar in Context: Singular and Plural Possessives
Part of analytical writing includes the ability to attribute a poem correctly to the writer. Treat the name of the poet as a singular noun.
Guidelines
Examples
To form the possessive of a singular noun, add an apostrophe and an s Margaret Atwood’s poem
– even when the singular noun ends in s.
E.E. Cummings poem
To form the possessive case of a plural noun ending in s, add only the
The poets’ interest in nature
apostrophe. To form the possessive case of a plural noun that does not The people’s intent to stare
end in s, add an apostrophe and an s.
Time to write!
Now it is time to create your first draft of your analysis essay. Follow the strucutre provided in the Organizing Your Literary Analysis chart above.
As you write, focus attention on how you form possessives. To choose the correct possesive, decide whether the noun is singular or plural.
Step 3: Revising
Common Core Standards: W.5 Strengthen writing as needed by revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a
specific purpose and audience L.2c Spell Correctly
Literary Analysis
Ask Yourself
1. Does the introduction include a question or
comment that will spark reader’s
attention?
2. Does the thesis/ controlling idea
introduce readers to the stylistic
element /elements to be examined?
3. Are the points presented in order of
importance with clear and various
transitions between related ideas?
4. Is each point supported with relevant
and appropriate textual evidence?
5. Do I sustain a formal style throughout
my analytical paper?
6. Does the concluding paragraph
summarize the writer’s ideas and offer
insight into the effect of the author’s
style?
Tips
Underline the opening question or comment.
Revision Strategies
Insert a question or comment about the
subject of the poem to engage the audience.
Underline the title and author. Put a check
mark above the element and its overall effect.
Elaborate on your controlling idea by
describing a stylistic element and explaining its
effect.
Label each paragraph with a plus, check, or
Reorder body paragraphs as needed to present
minus, to rate the importance of its point.
points in order of importance. Add varied
Circle the transitions that link the points.
transitions to connect ideas as necessary.
Place a star next to each quotation or detail
Provide quotations or details as needed. Make
from the poem.
sure you have at least one piece of supporting
evidence for each idea.
Bracket slang and informal language.
Rephrase text to avoid slang and replace
informal language with precise, formal words.
Place a check mark above the restatement of
Include a summary of main points or a
the thesis / controlling statement and circle the statement that makes the connection between
concluding insight.
the author’s stylistic elements and their effect.
Time to Write!
Swap your essay with a classmate, or read your essay aloud to your classmate. As you read and comment, make sure to focus on textual evidence
and quotations. Talk about whether writer successfully supports his/her thesis. Provide concrete feedback for improvement or reworking, using the
revision strategies in the chart above. If necessary, recommend that the writer try a new approach.
Analyze a Student Draft
Read the draft below and pay attention to the comments on both its strengths and suggestions for improvement.
Winter Becomes Spring
Andrea Hernandez, Lakeland High School
(1) E.E. Cumming’s poem “Spring is like a perhaps hand” captures a moment in time that is subtle and delicate – the
shift from winter to spring. Cummings uses unusual and unexpected language to suggest that the arrival of spring
creates a shift in the way that people view the world that is both familiar and fresh.
(2)Using a simile, Cummings compares the coming of spring to a hand arranging items in a window: “Spring is like a
perhaps hand / … arranging / a window.” The hand arranges, changes, and places items in a window at which “people
stare.” Some of the items are “strange” and some of the items are “known.” The act of “arranging and changing
placing” creates a shift in perspective – or point of view. For instance, the people may recognize a “known” tree that
has stood in the same spot for years. Yet, suddenly, as if from nowhere, “strange” green leaf buds appear that were
not here yesterday, or were they? They speaker uses his flare for language to describe the subtlety of spring as well.
Spring is not a hand but a “perhaps hand.” The shift from winter to spring is so delicate that the hand moves a
“fraction of flower” or places “an inch of air.”
Close Read
The introduction identifies
the poet and the literary
work. The controlling idea
presents the stylistic to be
analyzed.
Andrea supports a main
point about the author’s
style with a quotation. She
elaborates on this textual
evidence to explain the
effect of the text on a
reader
The analysis includes
precise language such as
“speaker” rather than poet
or writer. However, the
writer makes a mistake
involving commonly
confused words.
New Skill: Distinguish Between Commonly Confused Words
Some words have similar pronunciations, yet different spellings and meanings. Other words share common meanings, although they are
pronounced and spelled differently. Use the following chart or dictionary to choose between commonly confused words.
Accept (agree)
Except (excluding)
Affect (to influence)
Effect (to cause)
Imminent (looming)
Eminent (superior)
Flair (talent)
Flare (emergency signal)
Than (contrast)
Then (next in time)
Andrea’s Revision to Paragraph 2
The speaker uses his flare flair for language to describe the subtlety of spring as well.
Essay Continued (Paragraphs 3-5)
(3)To reinforce this delicate seasonal shift, Cummings uses capitalization sparingly and deliberately to draw
attention to five words: “Spring,” “Nowhere,” “Hand,” “Old,” and “New.” These five words convey the bulk of
Cummings’s message. For instance, in the midst of winder as if “Nowhere,” people may being to see the purple buds
of spring’s first flower. These buds are a familiar sign of spring. However, they appear suddenly in places where no
one remembers seeing them “moving New and / Old things.” Here again, spring creates a subtle shift in perspective.
(4) Cummings also uses punctuations sparingly. In addition to two commas and one period, the poem contains
three parenthetical expressions. Generally, a writer uses parentheses to add extra, nonessential information to a
sentence. In the first case, Cummings uses parentheses in this traditional way: “(which comes carefully / out of
Nowhere).” However, Cummings goes on to enclose most of the remainder of the poem in parentheses. Shifting the
purpose of the parentheses, Cummings uses them to frame the window he describes: “(while / people stare /
arranging and changing placing / carefully there a strange / thing and a known thing here).” The phrase “people
stare” appears in both the second and third parenthetical expressions, emphasizing that the parentheses frame the
picture window at which people stare.
(5) The change in season and perspective that Cummings describes is so slight that the world shifts from winder to
spring as people stare, nearly unable to perceive the moment during which the shift occurs. Fortunately, Cummings
has captured this moment for them.
Here Andrea changes the
inappropriate use of flare
to the appropriate use of
flair.
Andrea supports her points
with quotations from the
text. However, her analysis
will be more effective if
she incorporates evidence
from the text into her own
sentence structures.
The writer organizes her
analysis by discussing
elements in order of
importance – from least
important to most
important.
In the concluding section,
Andrea restates her
controlling idea and makes
an insightful connection
between style and effect.
New Skill: Embed Quotations
Every quotation you use should advance and support your analysis. To make it clear how a quotation supports your ideas, embed it within your
own sentence.
Andrea’s Revision to Paragraph 3
….they appear suddenly in places where no one remembers seeing them: “moving New and / Old things.” , creating something both “Old” and
“New.”
Time to Write!
Use the feedback from your peers and teacher, as well as the two “New Skill” sections to revise and improve your essay. Assess how well you have
analyzed the effects of the author’s style and addressed the audience.
Section 4: Editing Your Work
Common Core Standards: W.5 Strengthen writing by revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach. L.2 Demonstrate a command of the conventions of standard English
capitalization and punctuated when writing. L.2c Spell correctly.
In the editing stage of writing, you check your analysis to ensure that is void of grammar, usage, and punctuation errors. Carefully read for any
spelling errors, even after doing a word-processing spell-check. These kinds of mistakes distract your audience from focusing on the content of your
analytical paper.
Grammar in Context: Dashes
Sometimes words, phrases, and sentences are used parenthetically; that is, they break into the main thought of a sentence. Most parenthetical
elements are set off by commas or parentheses.
Example #1: Yet, suddenly, as if from nowhere, “strange” green leaf buds appear.
Example #2: The act of “arranging and changing placing” creates a shift in perspective (or point of view).
Other times, parenthetical elements are such an interruption that a stronger mark is needed. In such cases, a dash is used.
Example #1: E.E. Cumming’s poem “Spring is like a perhaps hand” captures a moment in time that is subtle and delicate – the shift from winter to
spring.
Section 5: Publishing Your Work
Common Core Standards: W.5 Strengthen writing by revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach. L.2 Demonstrate a command of the conventions of standard English
capitalization and punctuated when writing. L.2c Spell correctly.
An analysis becomes complete when you share it with others. Think about publishing your work in one of the following ways:
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Present your analysis of the poem in a formal speech in front of your peers or class.
Submit your essay as part of application to an academic program.
Send your analysis to a magazine or newspaper that publishes literary reviews.
Submit it your school newspaper for publication
Write a blog to share with fans of the poet
Publish on your personal website or social media site
Time to Write!
Once you are satisfied with the essay content and format, proofread your analysis and correct any errors you come across. Experiment with using
dashes in place of parenthesis or commas. Consider the effect of these subtle changes in punctuation. Which choice best supports and enhances
your intended meaning? Then, publish your essay!
Scoring Rubric
Use this rubric to assess your literary analysis from the Writing Workshop or your response to the on-demand timed writing task you will compose
later.
Literary Analysis Rubric
Score
Common Core Traits
6
-Development: Has an engaging introduction; includes a thesis/ controlling idea with an insightful analysis of the author’s style; supports
main points with relevant evidence, ends powerfully
-Organization: Arranges ideas in an effective, logical order; uses varied transition to create cohesion and link ideas
-Language: Consistently maintains a formal style; uses precise language, shows a strong command of conventions
5
-Development: Has an effective introduction; provides a thesis / controlling idea that offers an original analysis of the author'; supports
main points with evidence, ends with a strong conclusion paragraph
-Organization: Arranges ideas logically; uses transition to link ideas
-Language: Maintains a formal style; uses precise language, has a few errors in conventions
4
-Development: Has an introduction that could be more engaging; includes a controlling idea that states an analysis of the author’s style;
could use some more evidence; has an adequate concluding section
-Organization: Arranges ideas logically; could vary transitions more
-Language: Mostly maintains a formal style; needs more precise language at times; has a few distracting errors in conventions
3
-Development: Has an adequate, though not memorable, introduction; has a controlling idea that makes an obvious statement about the
author’s style; lacks sufficient support; has a routine concluding section
-Organization: Reflects some flaws in organization; needs more transitions to link ideas
-Language: Frequently lapses into an informal style; uses some vague word choices; has come significant errors in conventions
2
-Development: Has a weak introduction and a thesis /controlling idea that does not relate to writing task; lacks specific evidence; has a
weak concluding section
-Organization: Has organization flaws; lacks transitions throughout
-Language: Uses an informal style and vague language; has many distracting errors in conventions
1
-Development: Has no introduction or controlling idea; offers unrelated points as evidence; ends abruptly
-Organization: Includes a strong of disconnected with no overall organization
-Language: Uses an inappropriate style and vague, tired language; has major problems with grammar, mechanics, and spelling