Critical analysis

Handout

This paper will demonstrate your ability to critically think and analyze the literature that we are reading in class. No outside research needed, you should be able to complete this analysis with just your Literature book. This paper will need to be typed, 12-point font, 1 inch margins, double spaced, and 3-4 pages (not including the works cited page). The basic set up of this paper will contain a title, introduction with a thesis statement, body containing your argument, and conclusion. You will also need to include quotes from the poems you are discussing to support the points of your argument. You will need both in-text citations and a works cited page.

You will be arguing and comparing/contrasting how 2 poems utilize a poetic element differently. You will need to choose 1 element to focus on and analyze.

Choose 1 element from the list below:
Words Tone
Imagery Theme
Metaphorical Language Form
Symbolism

You will need to begin your essay with a clear definition of your element and introduce both poems right away so readers know your paper’s focus. You then will begin to analyze how the 2 poems you have chosen use the poetic element in differing formats.

For example, if I were looking at imagery, I could compare and contrast the poems “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson and “Night Sounds” by Carolyn Kizer. Both of these poems use imagery in differing ways where Dickinson allows the reader to picture things visually by describing the carriage, her dress, and grave site, tactilely through her clothing, and kinesthetic energy of the children and kinetic energy of the sun setting. Kizer uses imagery to connect more to visual by the light of the moon and auditory from the sounds of a lover, voices at night, and a child weeping. Both poems are strong in imagery but they focus on different aspects of imagery to make the meaning of the poems successful. Then I would conclude with how important it is to understand all types of imagery to understand and relate to poetry.

For your conclusion, you will need to conclude why understanding the different uses of these elements are important to understanding literature.

Choose 2 poems from your Poetry Reading List hand out. Use only the poems from that list. You can mix and match any of the poems you want you do not have to stick to the poems used in corresponding chapters.