Weekly Poem
The front must show evidence of close reading—for example, underlined words, comments, questions,
connections, suspected patterns. Your written response (on the back or on a separate sheet of paper)
should be no less than 250 words with a clear assertion, supporting details, and examples or
quotations from the poem. These quotations must be embedded, not left to stand alone.
Your analysis should include the following:
I.
Introduction
a. (Include such items as what is the poem title and who is the author? What is the subject
of the poem? Give a brief paraphrase of the poem. Thesis statement—example: Robert
Herrick’s poem, “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time,” focuses on the idea of carpe
diem. )
Paraphrases of lines/stanzas
a. (Give examples from the poem to support your assertion that the poem focuses on the
idea of carpe diem.)
Traits and examples/explanations
a. (This is where you discuss those literary terms from the poetry template.)
Theme
a. (Propose what the theme is and support/defend your interpretation. The object is to
show that you have reached a reasonable conclusion.)
Conclusion
II.
III.
IV.
V.
A couple of side notes:
I. Please watch your run-on sentences. Here are a few helpful reminders:
There are FOUR easy ways to fix a run-on sentence:
1.
Separate the ideas into two sentences with a period.
a. It made her look really pale. She wore it anyway.
2. Separate the ideas with a semicolon.
a. It made her look really pale; she wore it anyway.
3. Create a compound sentence: separate the two ideas with a comma and add a coordinating
conjunction.
a. (coordinating conjunctions: and, but, so, yet, for, or, nor)
b. It made her look really pale, but she wore it anyway.
4. Create a complex sentence: add a subordinating conjunction to one of the ideas to turn it into
a dependent clause.
a. (subordinating conjunctions: because, although, if, when, after, while, until, before,
since, as, unless, whereas)
b. Although it made her look really pale, she wore it anyway.
II. Remove “I think” from your paper. Of course you “think” it, or you wouldn’t write it.
Taken from The English Teacher’s Companion written by Jim Burke
"Dulce et Decorum Est "
Wilfred Owen (1893-1918)
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.
Gas! GAS! Quick, boys! -- An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . .
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under I green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, -My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
Taken from The English Teacher’s Companion written by Jim Burke