Topic: Poetry Analysis Essay
Description:
These are the choices for Essay.
This essay is based upon the assigned poetry and requires additional reading: You need at least 2 citations. You are expected to do your own analysis. This means that you cannot use published analysis.
All of these essays ask you to analyze figures of speech. Be sure to correctly identify each figure of speech and be sure to discuss what things are being compared. Remember that metaphors are generally an extension from the concrete to the abstract.
Choose only one:
1. In “alice’s rabbit hole,” there are several metaphors and references to geographical places. Identify these metaphors and the locations they represent. (Suggested reading = Wizard of Oz, Lakota Ceremonies, and geography of NM). Also, you can interview the author. Or read 2 additional poems by George Ann Gregory and analyze/compare the uses of metaphors.
2. Analyze “Fog” by Carl Sandburg. What two things are being compared? Find the metaphors that illustrate the comparison and explain each. Read two more poems by Sandburg and analyze how he uses metaphors. See “Grass,” p. 423, in Backpack Literature.
“Wilderness,”
3. Real life analysis: Metaphors (figures of speech) are an extension of an idea from the concrete to the abstract. People speak in metaphors all the time. Consider “that class was really hard” or the battle of the sexes. Collect several real life metaphors on the same topic–such as time, battles, baseball, horses, weather, or any topic–analyze each, and come up with a claim/thesis that reflects your analysis. Your additional readings will include additional information about the origins of the ideas in the metaphors. A good source is the book Metaphors we live by . This link takes you to excerpts from this book.
4. Whitman’s poem describes war through metaphors. Read two more poems by Whitman that describe war and its effects. Compare the metaphors. “Calvary Crossing a Ford,” p. 539, and “O, Captain! O, Captain!,” p. 645, in Backpack Literature.
• Choose one of the above to develop into an essay.
• Each poem or reading will need its own entry in Works Cited.
• You will need in-text citation.
Your final essay should be 900 words (not including title, works cited, or heading), use MLA formatting, have multiple paragraphs, and an introduction with a clear thesis statement.