This poetry analysis essay must be focused on one or two of the seven poems from the poetry exercises. As in your previous essay, in essay 2 you will want to combine an analysis of the work you choose to discuss, along with an argument that your ideas about the work are valid. You must write about a theme or meaning you find in one or two of the poems we have discussed in this section. Many of these topics ask you to com- pare and contrast two or more of the poems or voices. Please remember that examining the differences and similarities between two works is not an end onto itself. Comparing and contrasting is a tool to reach a deeper understanding of a work, allowing your reader to reach the same insights as you do. Also note that one of your first tasks is to narrow these topics down to a manageable main idea or thesis. You do not have to answer all the questions the topic poses. Use them to narrow your focus.
Requirements
The double-spaced essay should be a minimum of 800 words and written in MLA style and submitted to its Eagle folder.
Topics
1. Expand, into a full, coherent essay, your answer to question six on the “Voice and Identity” exercise sheet. Examine the similarities in feeling and meaning of your own experience with finding identity or voice and one or two of the works we have studied in this section. You may briefly summarize your own experiences in the essay but the focus should be on the similarities, or perhaps even universality, of the feeling or meaning found in your own experience and the one or two poems. The majority of the essay must be analysis of the poetry. If you are only analyzing one poem, it should not be “Road Not Taken.”
2. Choose two “Voice and Identity” poems that you believe have opposite tones or expressed emotions. For example, you might pick one poem where the voice appears to be in conflict or struggling and one that ap- pears to have found some peace. In your opinion which work is more effective at conveying its meaning and/ or creating an empathetic experience between the voice of the poem and the reader? Is there a reason why one voice might take a certain tone and another take an opposite one?
3. How do we define who we are? Pick two or three poems that seem to be defining identity in different ways and compose an essay that examines the different ways we can use to define ourselves. Try to come to an insight about which ways best help us define who we are. For example, you might pick a poem where the voice defines itself by heritage or homeland and one who defines itself by actions. How does that difference in definition lead to different perspectives of self?
4. Analyze how time influences how we view ourselves and identity. Choose a poetic voice who is looking back at a younger self and a poetic voice that appears to be viewing its present time or is looking towards the future. How does viewing oneself from different places in time help us know to who we are? The other option for this topic would be to focus on a voice who is talking to a younger person, who is perhaps similar to the way the voice used to be. What conflict arises between people who are similar but separated by time and experience?
5. Find a similar image or symbol in two of the poems and examine how that image is used within the poems. Does it have a similar significance? Does it help to create a similar theme? Why might two poets use this same image?
6. Look back at your notes from our class discussion of this section and the route your group took to get through the poems. Find a particular similarity between two or three poems that your group thought was significant and expand those ideas into essay length.
