Here is your Final Reflective Essay Assignment--Due June 5! Absolutely no Exceptions :)

English 102.0858

Writing Through Literature

Spring 2013

Dr. Van Slyck

Final Reflective Essay

PLEASE REVIEW “HOW TO READ A POEM”: COURSEPAK PP. 102-103

For this essay you will choose two poems from our course-pak (or two poems of your choice with my approval) that share a theme.  You will write a comparison contrast essay examining the form of the poem, the speaker’s tone or attitude toward the subject, use of imagery, symbolism and other devices and the subject or argument of the poem.  Begin by explaining what the poems have in common; then  explain how they differ in approaching theme.  In some cases you may wish to consider differences in the times or cultures in which the poems were written.

Suggested comparisons:

1.     Poems of seduction: Andrew Marvell, “To His Coy Mistress”; John Donne, “The Flea”

2.     Poems of love: William Butler Yeats, “When You Are Old”; Li Po, “The River Merchant’s Wife: A Letter”

3.     Poems about civilization: Matthew Arnold, “Dover Beach”; William Butler Yeats, “The Second Coming”; William Blake, “The Tyger,” Sandburg, “Chicago”

4.     Poems about mortality: Gerard Manley Hopkins, “Margaret, Are Your grieving”; Dylan Thomas, “Fern Hill” of “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night”

5.     Poems about race, culture, identity: Jean Toomer, “Portrait in Georgia” or “Face”; Jimmy Santiago Baca, “Portate Bien”; Maya Angelou, “Still I Rise”; Langston Hughes, “Theme for English B” or “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”; Julia Alvarez, “Bilingual Sestina.”

Your essay should be 600 to 800 words.  It should be typed, double-spaced, using 12pt font, Times New Roman.  It should have a title of your own that reflects your argument.  You should quote from each poem 2-3 times.  Be sure to integrate the quotations carefully, comment fully on each and use line numbers in parentheses.  Do not use overly long quotations.  Use an ellipsis (. . .) if you are leaving out some of the words and be sure to mark line breaks and capitals for the beginnings of each line: “You may write me down in history/With your bitter, twisted lies. . .”

The voice in the poem is the “speaker”; be sure to use stanza and line numbers when quoting.  Use slashes between lines; each new line begins with capital.

Please remember to put a heading in the upper left corner of your essay with the course, section number and your name as well as mine!  This is the only essay you may not revise and it must be returned to me.  Due Date: June 5.   You may review this essay at our final class meeting and celebration on Tuesday, June 11.