ENGL1102 - Brickman
Summer 2006

Essay #1

Poetry Analysis

This paper asks you, simply, to perform your own 3-page "close reading" or explication of Hughes's "Let America Be America Again" or "Birmingham Sunday." When declaring himself as a "social poet," Hughes describes social forces as always pulling back and forth, causing social poems to "get caught in the pulling and hauling," which can only lead the social poet to feel a good bit of push and pull too (43). Citing from only one of the two poems above, analyze either (1) its purpose as social poetry and how that purpose is achieved or (2) its presentation of the social voice (or social poet), how that is achieved, and its effect on the reader. Once you have come up with your main interpretation of the social purpose or social voice in the poem, your main task is the take the poem apart (as we have been doing in class) and put it back together to prove your claim. This is the basic task of explication -- to present, through your interpretation and evidence, what the poem is doing or what the poet is trying to achieve in the poem.

Goals: You should elucidate one of the concerns, thoughts, or ideas communicated by the speaker of the poem. You might refer to features such as rhyme, metaphor, alliteration, irony, etc., which we discussed in class, and you should cite as much as possible from the lines of poetry themselves. The poem acts as your primary source of evidence for your interpretation, so you should use it to illustrate your points as often and as clearly as you can. The assignment addresses your ability work solely within the literary text.  You are showing that you know how to examine and possibly undo the structures and features of literary language on their own terms and that you can put them back together again in service of your own thesis. Obviously, this assignment also challenges you to produce a clear, concise analysis written within the conventions of a persuasive, well-structured, well-supported, and grammatically sound academic essay.

Pitfalls: The major pitfalls for this paper are hinted at above. You only have 3 pages to perform this close reading or interpretation of Hughes's quite complicated poems, so do not think that you have to take it all on. Focus in on a major social concern of the poem or poetic voice and show how it is being expressed, worked through, and alluded to throughout the text. You should also be careful about spending so much time with a profound interpretation that your evidence suffers. Always go back to the poem and search for words, recurrent structures, rhyme schemes, rhythm, metaphors, images, phrases, etc. that will help support your reading.

Length: 3 pages

Draft Due:  June 16

Final Draft Due: June 21

Presentation and Documentation: All your drafts must be typed and ready for presentation to me and your peer at the beginning of the class period on the day on which they are due. You are not required to use any outside sources for this paper, but you should always document citations from the text according to MLA guidelines found in the MLA Handbook [WR Tab 6]. You should use a 12-point Times-like  font, double space everything, and remain within 1" to 1.25" margins. Work that fails to follow MLA format will receive a 5 point deduction.

When you turn your final draft in on the due date, you are expected to turn in the entire writing process for the paper including the following: (1) final draft, (2) rough draft, (3) peer evaluation, (4) prewriting, and (5) works cited page. 5 points will be deducted for each part of the assignment that is missing or incomplete. You may turn your work in a folder or stapled together. Finally, please do not forget the penalties for late papers (both rough and final drafts) outlined in the course policies on the syllabus. If you do not turn in a rough draft, you will not receive a grade for the assignment, and, after 7 days late, the paper will no longer be accepted.