Poetry Project

Select an English language poet from the list (or check with me about a poet not on the list). Choose six major poems of the poet (or five if one of the poems is especially long—several pages), reproducing the entire text of the poems. For each of the poems, you will:

1. Explicate thoroughly, paying attention to both denotation and connotation.

2. Identify the meter and rhyme scheme, if applicable. Are meanings and senses of the poem end-stopped or enjambed?

3. How does the poet make use of sounds? Notice repetition, alliteration, assonance, consonance, and onomatopoeia.

4. What are the key symbols and images in the poem? Has the poet made use of simile, metaphor, personification, allusion, synecdoche, and metonymy? Make sure any of these devices are detailed and explained fully.

5. Does the poet write in a recognizable form? Does she/he write sonnets, ballads, or odes? Are the poems epic (heroic stories of a people) or narrative in form?

6. What is the relationship of the content of 2-5 to the meaning, theme, and tone of the poem?

7. Do the poems resemble one another in form and/or theme? Speculate on the principal ideas and approach of the poet based on your study of the poems.

The paper should be thoughtful and based totally on your individual reading. Do not consult critics or study guides. The papers should be technically perfect and proofread; use The No-No List as a guide. All papers must be typed in standard format.