Assignment: Writing Proficiency Evaluation Practice Essay
• "Questions for Reading Set A: Poetry and War," to be used in conjunction with the reading materials available on Blackboard.
• This is an actual prompt, with exact instructions, for the timed essay option. Follow all instructions as they're given.
Choose one of the questions listed below. Answer the question in an essay of at least 8-12 paragraphs. It is essential that your essay includes specific references to the articles in the reading set, and that you attribute any material that you summarize, quote or paraphrase to its source using the page numbers in the reading set. Base your essay on the information contained in this set of readings, not on your experience, on outside readings, or on courses that you have taken. Be sure to summarize and define any appropriate key terms related to your position. You may use only a dictionary (hard copy, no electronic devices can be used) and your reading set.
Question 1: Jay Parini states, ". . . poets cannot simply choose to separate themselves from the life of their times. . . . [I]t has always been part of their job description to point to things wrong and right about the human condition in its present manifestation" (pp. 18-19). In what ways do the poems about World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War in this reading set reflect the responsibilities and "job description" that Parini assigns to poets? Your essay should make specific reference to at least 4 of the readings (poetry or prose) in this set.
Question 2: Paul Fussell, in his "Introductions" to The Norton Book of Modern War, suggests that each war generates its own particular poetry. Drawing on Fussell's commentary about the poetry of World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War, explain how the poems in this reading set reflect each particular war. Your essay should make specific reference to at least 4 of the readings (prose or poetry) in this set.