CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING PROMPTS:
A) Theme: Select one of the themes you did not present on and, using the poems listed for each theme, discuss the different ways in which a single theme can be analysed through poetry. Notice how poets deal with common themes trying to say something new, to generate a new emotion, to point to a different feeling that had not been previously investigated. Remember to produce a short paraphrase of any poem you are analysing.
B) Form: Select one or more poems from the anthology (or elsewhere) and write 1000 words of formal analysis. Note that you may not choose the poem you presented on. This exercise is what is called a close reading, and should be formatted in the following way.
- Reproduce the text of the poem(s)
- Paraphrase the content (not line per line: in a short paragraph)
- Analyze the formal elements (speaker, setting, theme, tone, style, imagery, symbols, meter, rhyme)
- (optional) if you prefer, you can compare the use of one formal elements in two different poems, but you must still provide the formal analysis of one poem.
Aspects of the poem to cover in your close reading:
a. What does the poem look like on the page (is it long, short, does it have a title, is it broken up into stanzas, are the lines all the same length,what is the function of capital letters, etc.)?
b. How does the poem sound when you read it aloud (does it have an obvious rhythmic pattern, does it have a clear rhyming scheme, etc.)?
c. What kind of language does it use (ordinary, everyday
Sample Solution
