Paper 2: Poetry Explication Paper
Overview
On this assignment, write a formal essay that performs an explication of one of the short poems
we read and discussed in class between weeks 6 and 7. Length: 2 to 3 pages. NOTE: The set of poems you can write about for Paper 2 does not include two longer poems: Coleridge’s “Rime” and Wordsworth’s “Tintern Abbey.” You can write about either (or both) of these longer poems on Paper 3, to be completed after the midterm.
Assignment
Your completed essay in Microsoft Word format must be submitted to Blackboard by or before 9:00 a.m. on Friday, October 14, the morning of the midterm exam.
What’s an Explication?
Also known as a “close reading,” an explication explains and interprets details and meanings in a work of literature. Reread Gardner’s explanation of this type of writing assignment on pages 26-27 in our course poetry packet. A passage from her explanation to note here: “The job of an explication is twofold: to point out particular, salient elements of style and to explain the purpose and effect of these elements within the text” (26).
Example Essays
See the example student explication essays in our poetry packet, pages 28-29 and 53-56.
Needed Sections of This Essay
Three main sections. NOTE: Do not label the sections or use subheadings in your essay text.
The section names below are only for explanatory purposes on this assignment sheet.
Section A. Interpretive Introduction
• Write an opening interpretive statement on the significance of the poem in your own words.
• Write a brief paraphrase of the poem in prose (in conventional sentences, not lines of verse).
NOTE: Paraphrase main passages of the poem, not every single part of every line.
• Your paraphrase needs to clarify the occasion of the poem, the poem’s speaker(s), and the statement the poem makes about its occasion.
Section B. Analysis
• Discuss two wording features and two sound features that, in your view, reinforce the poem’s message.
Example analytical look at wording features (imagery, metaphor, simile, word choice, or syntax)
. . . in line 1, Herrick inverts “my Julia goes” with “in silks” to emphasize the importance of . . .
Example analytical look at sound features (rhyme, alliteration, assonance, or consonance)
. . . the rhymes at the ends of the lines in stanza 2—see, free, me—reinforce the idea that . . .
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Section C. Summary
• Review why points you made in the above essay sections help readers appreciate the poem.
• Make a conclusive statement on the lasting value of the poem.
Format for Works Cited Listing
Author. “Title of the Poem.” Year [of publication]. Introduction to Literature: Tips, Poems, and Glossary, Bedford / St. Martin’s, 2021, p. __ / pp. __.
NOTE: Complete listings for four of the poems you can choose to write about are given below. If you need the listing for any of the other poems you can write about for this assignment, combine author, title, and year of publication (see below) with the publication information and appropriate page number(s).
Works Cited
Catullus. “Come, Lesbia, let us live and love.” c. 68-54 B.C. Translated by Horace Gregory, Introduction to Literature: Tips, Poems, and Glossary, Bedford / St. Martin’s, 2021, p. 60.
de la Cruz, Juana Inés. “Love, at First, Is Fashioned of Agitation.” c. 1675. Translated by S. G. Morley, Introduction to Literature: Tips, Poems, and Glossary, Bedford / St. Martin’s, 2021, p. 64.
Rumi, Jalaloddin. “Lovers in their brief delight.” c. 1244-1273. Translated by Coleman Barks from A. J. Arberry, Introduction to Literature: Tips, Poems, and Glossary, Bedford / St. Martin’s, 2021, p. 60.
Sappho. “He is more than a hero.” c. 600 B.C. Translated by Mary Barnard, Introduction to
Literature: Tips, Poems, and Glossary, Bedford / St. Martin’s, 2021, p 58.
Other poems you can choose to write about for this assignment:
Browning, Elizabeth Barrett. “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” 1850.
Browning, Robert. “Meeting at Night.” 1845.
Donne, John. “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning.” 1633.
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Hopkins, Gerard Manley. “God’s Grandeur.” 1877.
Keats, John. “Ode on a Grecian Urn.” 1820.
Marlowe, Christopher. “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love.” 1599.
Marvell, Andrew. “To His Coy Mistress.” 1681.
Milton, John. “How Soon Hath Time.” 1645.
Shakespeare, William. Sonnet 130: “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun.” 1609.
Shelley, Percy Bysshe. “Ozymandias.”
