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1. Pick a poem. You can choose any poem we have read for class or any poem a classmate has shared in the discussion board. You can also choose any poem that the Hostos President has shared in the weekly newsletters that go out on Fridays.
2. Pick 2-4 lines from that poem. As you prepare to work on the essay, make sure you identify every image, every connotation, and know every word. What is the purpose of this poem, and how do these lines contribute to that purpose? What is the argument that the poem is trying to make about love, death, writing, poets, family, etc.? How do those particular words, images, rhythms help to produce this meaning? For inspiration, read through the beginning of the Prosody Handbook.
3. Write a draft. Don’t worry about the introduction or conclusion. Just start describing the words and then try to make a statement about what the words mean. Look at Professor Milsom’s “Writing Tips” in the Handbook if you are saying “I don’t know how to begin.” She talks about what to do in that situation.
4. Revise your draft.
5. TITLE: Make sure it is interesting – not just “Essay 2” or the title of the poem you’re analyzing
6. THESIS: Make sure there is a “thesis statement” somewhere in the first paragraph. It doesn’t have to be a big deal:
7. just write a sentence that explains the main point you are making in the essay. Usually, students put the thesis as the last sentence of the intro paragraph, though that isn’t totally necessary. Underline the thesis so I know that you have one.
8. GIVE A QUICK OVERVIEW OF THE POEM: You do not need to give a biography of the poet. You do not need to spend a lot of time summarizing every line of the poem. In your introduction, just say the author’s full name and a one-sentence summary of the poem before telling us your thesis.
9. USE THE AUTHOR’S LAST NAME: After you state the author’s whole name the first time, you only need to refer to him or her by the last name.
10. QUOTE AND CITE ACCURATELY: Please pay attention to the rules about quoting poetry and indicating line breaks. See the Handbook and the video about quoting poetry properly for more information.
11. CHECK YOUR FORMATTING: Go through the “Essay Standards for College Writing” chart and make sure you’ve done all the things it lists.
12. WORKS CITED: Your Works Cited list will include only one text –the poem you chose. To keep things simple in the Works Cited list, you need only include the author’s name, the title of the poem, and the year it was published.
13. Double-check your final version of the essay. Remember, good students plan on spending AT LEAST 5 hours writing and revising their papers. If you need help, please make an appointment at the Writing Center. (Click here for more information.)