Prompt: What is your response to Theodore Roethke's "My Papa's Waltz"? How does voice contribute to the poem's overall effect on the reader (for a little help getting started, read the student paper at the end of the chapter)?
OR
Create and prove your own assertion to a poem.
*Make sure to include textual evidence (and you'll need MLA in-text citations) to support your Thesis response
Thesis Instructions
One thing I love about studying poetry (and literature in general) is that it allows you to see and consider multiple points of view. By nature, academic writers (that's us!) are curious, observant, and open to thinking outside of the box! However, once we discover something to say, we are analytical, focused and persuasive. Persuasion-convincing peers (in our case, fellow students of poetry) to understand and agree with your particular point of view-is the heart of academic writing. Therefore, we must practice making and proving assertions throughout this class.
You may notice that a large portion of your grade comes from regular Thesis assignments. The Thesis assignments are short response papers. I call them Thesis assignments because you need to make one clear assertion in every paper. This assertion can relate to any poem or any theme that you notice; however, you must:
- State your idea
- Support your idea with evidence from the poem (or textbook)
I have created possible topics for each Thesis paper that is assigned; however, if you feel compelled to write about something else, then please do! The key is to state a point of view (related to a poem) and then explain where/how/why you have that point of view.
What is evidence? In order to be convincing, you must include direct quotes or paraphrases from the poem you're studying. These direct pieces from the poem serve as proof for the idea you're trying to assert. Here are a few resources:
- Work in the proof using the "sandwich" method: https://www.csun.edu/~hflrc006/quote.html.
- If you need help with including direct quotes, review Chapters 23: Writing about a Poem (beginning on p. 502) in your textbook. I particularly like the sample essays and quote examples in Chapter 23.
Guidelines for Thesis papers: Each paper should be about ¾ page (single spaced) or 500 words long; this is about 3-4 substantial paragraphs.
- These papers are fairly informal. This means that you can leave off the flowery introductions. Instead, get straight to the content: what do you think and why?
- Although they are informal, you still need to state your thesis/idea, document all source material with in-text citations (Chapter 24 outlines basic MLA format), and use standard grammar. Informal does not mean sloppy or unclear.
- Stay focused on your main point! Because these are short papers, there's no time to wander into unrelated topics. Stick to your idea, and explain your evidence.