English Composition 2
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Essay Assignment 2
Due Dates
Tuesday, July 5: Draft of at least 600 words due for peer
critique
Monday, July 11: Revised draft of at least 900 words due
Unless indicated otherwise, drafts are due at the beginning of class periods.
The Assignment
Essay Assignment 2 is an essay of at least 900 that analyzes and explains one of the following poems:
- Adrienne Rich's "The Roofwalker" (Web page)
- Karl Shapiro's "Auto Wreck" (524-25)
- Richard Wilbur's "Love Calls Us to the Things of This World" (529-30)
- James Dickey's "The Leap" (530-531)
You can assume that your audience has read the poem you are analyzing but has not studied it. Do not simply summarize or paraphrase the poem. Instead, give your audience an interpretation, an insightful explanation of the poem that will help your audience understand and appreciate its meaning and significance.
Important! Because a poem is your subject for Essay 2, as part of your analysis, you need to explain the "poetic elements" that contribute to the meaning of the poem, such as metaphors, similes, images, symbols, personification, and connotative meanings. For more information, see Chapter 12: Writing about Poetic Language (416-25).
You should not use any secondary sources for this essay. Your interpretation of the poem should be based entirely on our discussion of it in class and on your own ideas.
When you quote from the poem, you should put the line number or numbers in parentheses at the end of the sentence in which the quotation appears or at the first pause in the sentence that occurs after the quotation. For more information, see "Quoting Poetry in Essays" on pages 411-412.
You should include a "Work Cited" page (note the singular); only the poem that is your subject should be listed on that page. The minimum required length for this assignment includes the "Works Cited" page.
A few things to keep in mind
- Perhaps most importantly, look carefully at the comments you received on Essay 1. Increasing your awareness of the strengths of your writing, as well as the areas of your writing that could be even stronger, should help you develop your writing skills. If any aspects of Essay 1 were weak, you should be especially aware of those aspects of your writing as you are working on Essay 2.
- Before you begin writing your paper, decide on three or four related points you might discuss in your essay. Each point can then be developed in a separate body paragraph, and all of the main points should work together to form your thesis.
- Remember that you are writing an interpretation, which is a form of persuasive writing, so you need to argue your different claims. Support any claims you make with evidence from the poem and with explanation of the significance of the evidence.
- Your thesis should be stated in the introduction as only one complete sentence that (1) identifies the topic of the paper, (2) identifies the main points of the paper, and (3) clarifies how the main points are logically related.
- Stay focused on developing your thesis throughout your paper.
- Make sure your essay has a title and a total of at least five paragraphs.
- Include a separate "Work Cited" page that lists the poem that is your subject.
- Proofread carefully to eliminate mechanical and typographical errors: such errors lower grades quickly.
Of course, just ask if you need additional help!