Assignment
In a well developed essay that includes a short introduction and conclusion, analyze the poem below for its use of imagery and tone, and how they help create the theme. You will be graded in the following areas: 1] clear main ideas (clear thesis, strong examples from the poem to support your analysis.) 2] well-developed sentences 3] grammar and word choice 4] organization (transitions, sequence of ideas, how the body helps prove the thesis). Use quotes from the poem to support your interpretation. Even though you should not use any sources other than the poem, the essay still should follow MLA formatting guidelines.
Natural Bridge/Rogue River Canyon By Paul Halupa.
Life surges incessantly towards impediment.
Passages narrow and the resultant
End is hard stone.
On the upper Rogue River, the wall is lava, ancient spills
Left by Mazama against the high hills.
I am alone
And my reflection is dominated by water
Coming to impasse, the teeter-totter
Of decision.
The wall of lava and its field might produce a lake
Or bow the river wide around and make
A revision
In its course, delay its certain bubbling intention
To go forward. But it is invention
That is the mark:
The river hits the wall as if to drive it asunder
And finding a chute beneath, dives under
Into the dark.
And in review it would seem, for us, little different.
Difficulties mount, pressures build, a rent
Is in the wall,
And plunging in we find a serene cavernous strength,
And pressed to run its darkness at full length,
We find our all.