“In this essay, you'll be expected to select a poem from the anthology; articulate a significant question arising from your reading; and explore that question in depth. This isn't supposed to be a book review, a plot summary, or a purely emotional appreciation, but rather a carefully argued exposition that deals with themes, symbolism, or formal structural issues.”

Sound intimidating? It doesn’t have to be. Basically, what I want you to do in your papers is a more formal, structured version of what we’ve been doing in class and what you’ve been doing in your prep papers: take a poem, interpret it, and demonstrate to your readers why your interpretation is reasonable, based on specific images, language choices, structural elements, etc. of the text. In other words, for this paper, your “question” can be simply “what does this poem mean?” You may also, of course, choose to write about another question that interests you. For example, “How do ‘Paper Matches’ and ‘What's That Smell in the Kitchen’ utilize fire imagery to make a similar point about gender roles in American culture?” In other words, if you have enough to say, you can talk about just one element of a poem rather than the whole thing.

• Essays should be 1500 words, +/- 10%, or about 4 double-spaced pages.
• You may write on any poem in the book except those poems we've actually discussed in class. You may write on Goblin Market, but should be sure that your paper continues well beyond class discussion.
• You may write on a poem you already did a prep paper on, using the prep paper as a base for further exploration; you must, however, significantly revise your earlier material—no fair just tacking more on, or making minor cosmetic changes.
• You may write on either one or two poems; BUT, if you write on two, you need to make sure you have a compelling reason for doing so, and can say something intelligent about why you’re linking the two poems together, and what the joint analysis shows a reader that s/he wouldn’t have gotten out of reading the poems separately.
  

For further details about my expectations, please see my overall paper-writing instructions. This document includes mandatory instructions; ignoring it could adversely affect your grade!

Just to give you an idea of how you might set out to tackle the problem, here’s a sample first paragraph from a student’s paper from last year:

Persimmons, a fruit of Chinese origin, are characteristically bitter and astringent when not ripe, and lusciously sweet when ripe. The poem “Persimmons,” by Li-Young Lee, utilizes this unique fruit, its relationship to Chinese culture, and its distinctive contrast in flavor to link together specific experiences and express his loss of ancestry. Through contrasting diction and repetitive words, specific details, and organization of the poem—all linked and related to persimmon, a recurring image throughout the work—the poet expresses his loss of and search for his ancestry in American society.

Here are some things I expect you to do in your paper: