Poem Assignment | Top Essay Writing

You may select any one of these poems for your paper.

1) “The New Noah” by Adonis: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/49323/the-new-noah

2) “The Immigrant’s Song” by Tishani Doshi: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/56734/the-immigrants-song

3) “A Song for Soweto” by June Jordan: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49176/a-song-for-soweto

4) “Choice” by Sudeep Sen: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57550/choice-56d23b2d70063

5) “Home, a transitive” by Tsering Wangmo Dhompa: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/142882/home-a-transitive

6) “Mother, Kitchen” by Ouyang Jianghe: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/54763/mother-kitchen

Required Word count: This assignment requires a minimum of 750 words, excluding any quoted material. An accurate word count must be included in the heading. Please note, to successfully complete this assignment, you will need direct evidence from the poem you’re writing on; this means you’ll need direct quotations from the poems, so you’re total word count (including your words and your evidence) will exceed 750 words.

Materials: You will choose one of the poems from the required online explorations and complete some basic background research to learn about the poets and their time periods to successfully complete this assignment. Be sure you review what kinds of sources are appropriate for this course.

Read: before beginning read the poems from the list here, and then choose ONE poem to analyze. While reading the poem, if the poet uses vocabulary you do not understand, look it up. It’s also useful to read the poem out loud to get a sense of its meter and rhythm and to print it out to annotate it as you go along. You can check out these poetry analysis resources and on how to annotate here.

Research: To complete your research ask yourself questions such as:

Where is the poet from?
Is the poet responding to a specific event?
Is the poem translated from another language?
What other poems have they written?
Are they influenced by other poets or styles?
Are there any words you’re unfamiliar with that you should look up?
Who is the poet’s audience?
Analysis: To begin formulating your analysis ask yourself questions such as:

What type of poem is it?
What do you think the author is trying to achieve with their writing?
Is the work mainly “Apollonian” or “Dionysian?”
What is the value of the work? Does it have a message?
Would you recommend the poem to others?
Note: most poems are NOT autobiographical. When writing, you should refer to the “speaker” or the “narrator” of the poem and not directly to the author. If you assert that a poem is autobiographical in your analysis, you must include secondary source evidence from your research to support your claims.

To complete this paper, create a document in which you write the following:

a. Intro paragraph: Clearly indicate the poem you selected by identifying its title, the author, the year the poem was published, and what publication it was published in. Introduce the poem’s general topic/focus (about in 1-2 sentences) and offer a very brief biographical sketch of the author (1-2 sentences). Additional research on the poet and the poem is necessary here.

b. Paragraph #2: Place the poem within its cultural and historical context. When and where was it written? What elements of the author’s culture and time period does it express? Additional research will be required to complete this section. Cite examples and evidence to support your assertions, which should be informed by your research.

c. Paragraph #3: Offer an analysis of the poem’s meaning by starting the paragraph with the following: “Poem Title” is about _____. To formulate your analysis, reflect on what observation(s) the poet is making about the human experience. For example, is the poet commenting on the human experience of time, or is the poet highlighting human foibles or follies, is the poet reflecting on what home is or what it means to be free, etc.? Some questions to think about to help develop your ideas: what is the tone of the poem: happy, cynical, excited, etc; what attitude does the poet take toward the world or other people; for what purpose did the poet write the poem; what did you learn about yourself or the world by reading it? You must cite specific evidence (quotes from the poem) to support your claims. This should be the longest and most thorough part of the analysis.

d. Paragraph #4: Identify whether your immediate response to the poem is mainly “Apollonian” or “Dionysian” in nature. Discuss your reasoning citing examples from the poem (i.e. integrate direct quotations). Be sure you use and explain the terms correctly in your discussion.

e. Concluding paragraph: Explain why you chose this poem and explain whether or not you would recommend reading it to others. Explain your reasoning thoughtfully.

f. Write and properly format your works cited page.

g. Proofread and submit your work to this dropbox using the correct file type (docx or rtf).

Remember to follow the writing guidelines and style guide from the syllabus. Proofread your work carefully. Tips on how to proofread effectively can be found here.

Submit your completed document to this dropbox as a docx or rtf file.

Any outside sources used should be scholarly in nature and included at the bottom of the document in a properly formatted MLA style “Works Cited” page; this includes at least a citation for the poem and your textbook. Any material you integrate into your paper word-for-word must be placed in quotation marks and have an in-text parenthetical citation and a works cited entry. Any material you paraphrase or summarize must be cited with an in-text parenthetical citation and a works cited entry.