ENG 102 Poetry Analysis Essay

The Assignment: Write an essay of approximately 1000 words in which you analyze the use of the various elements of poetry in the development of a theme in a poems. Your essay will analyze one of the poems from the following list.

 Death be not Proud by John Donne (p. 982 in the course text)  Musée des Beaux Arts by W.H. Auden (p. 808 in the course text)  My Father’s Garden by David Wagoner (p. 706 in the course text)  Persimmons by Li-Young Lee (p. 631 in the course text)

Suggested Essay Development: Your essay should describe how the author used some of the elements of poetry discussed in this course (form & structure, rhyme, rhythm, language patterns, imagery, & symbolism), to build the theme of their poem. Your discussion of each element should point clearly back to the poem’s theme. A basic outline for this essay would look like this:

I. Introduction a. Short synopsis of the poem b. A brief discussion of the primary theme of the poem c. A thesis statement (i.e. The author built the theme of church corruption in Napoleonic France through the use of startling imagery , concrete language patterns, and unusual rhyme patterns. II. Imagery a. How the imagery helped build the theme of the story III. Language Patterns a. How language patterns helped build the theme of the story IV. Rhyme Patterns a. How the rhyme patterns helped build the theme of the story V. Conclusion

Time Frame 3/2/2009 – Assignment Received 4/6/2009 – Rough Draft Due 4/13/2009 – Final Draft Due

Grade This assignment is worth a total of 100 points or 10% of your grade for the entire course. This assignment will be graded as follows:

Rough Draft (reviewable draft turned in on-time 10 Concept/Analysis 40 Structure 25 Mechanics 25 Final Draft Total 100