Poetry Explication Paper
Using the guidelines and the online resources listed above, write a brief explication of ONE of the following:
• cummings, "in Just-";
• Frost, "The Silken Tent";
• Hughes, "Harlem";
• Roethke, "Root Cellar;
• Sexton, "Her Kind";
• Whitman, "Beat! Beat! Drums."
The Assignment Guidelines:
The purpose of this assignment is to demonstrate your ability to closely read and respond to a single poem. This examination of a single poem allows you to consider in-depth how the author uses imagery, personification, rhyme, meter, alliteration, and other literary elements. You must not only think carefully and independently to develop your own unique interpretation of the poem, but also clearly convey this interpretation in your paper.
Write a 700- to 1,050-word explication of the poem. Note: An explication is a thorough analysis of the poem's meaning or theme supported by specific evidence from within the poem's text. Make sure you:
• Develop a thesis in paragraph one that clearly states your interpretation of the poem and the literary devices that help you understand it.
• In the middle paragraphs of the paper, explain line by line (or sentence by sentence) how your poem communicates its meaning through literary devices and techniques.
• In your concluding paragraph, restate how these details establish the poem's theme or meaning, and give your opinion about the poem's value for you as a reader.