Research Paper Poem Analysis
Your task is to analyze a poem of your own choosing using not only your own ideas, but also quotes from three (3) outside sources.
Your essay should:
1. Make and support a claim regarding some issue in one of the poems we read for class.
2. Develop a clearly stated thesis that explains the overview of your argument
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Use quotes from the primary source (the poem itself)
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Use quotes from the secondary sources (researched articles)
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Provide correct parenthetical (in-text) citations in MLA format
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Provide a works cited page in MLA format
Your thesis
A thesis is the main point of your essay. It must also be an arguable statement. For example, saying that Sylvia Plath was an American poet is NOT a thesis because it is a fact-not an arguable statement. You can say that Sylvia Plath's poem "Daddy" utilizes Nazi imagery to convey anger with male figures in her life. Essentially, your thesis should work to prove a discovery or observation you made about the poem. Or it can simply relay: What is the poem saying? Or What is the message of the poem? Your body paragraphs should analyze how the author gets that message across.
Outside Sources
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You must use three (3) outside sources in your paper in the form of quotes and/or paraphrase (each quote or paraphrase must be accompanied by correct MLA parenthetical citation). These sources will support your own arguments and offer insight into the poem.
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At least one source (but no more than two) must be a biographical source: something that you find on our library database or the web about the author's life. Frequently, this will
aid your analysis of the poem.
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At least one source (ideally two) must be a scholarly article that
you find on the library database.
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You must cite ideas from the sources in correct MLA format both
in the body of the essay as well as on a Works Cited page. Length: 3 pages