Introduction, Thesis and Outline for a Poetry Analysis
Task:
Choose one of the Poetry Selections from this Unit – you can certainly choose a poem you have already posted about in one of the Unit 2 forums, but you don’t have to. Be sure to consider what you learned from Unit 2.1 Discussion – Poem Hypertexts and Semiotics when making this decision.
You will closely read (and reread) your chosen poem, considering its structural elements, patterns of figurative language, and other literary elements. Bear in mind that, much as we discovered about ads in the advertisement analysis forum, poems are carefully and purposefully crafted–consider that every choice in terms of structure, rhyme (or lack thereof), wording, and tone are deliberate and work to leave an intentional impression on the reader.
Use the page Starting Your Poetry Analysis to help guide your consideration of how and why the elements of a poem come together to create effect and meaning. Carefully read the example pages that use Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken” as an example for explication (Close Reading, Sample Analysis and Key Elements).
Use this page as a framework for creating an analytical outline. Your finished outline should look something like this. Include the following elements:
First, an introductory paragraph that offers focused, key background information on the poem and what you are focusing on about it.
At the end of the Introduction section, compose a well-crafted thesis statement: one or two sentences that explain what you want to say overall about the poem. Ideally, this thesis should focus on the “how” and “why” of the effect of some of these choices. Consult this page about thesis statements.
Next, include topic sentences that could be used for body paragraphs that focus on specific ideas and elements from the poem that provide evidence and support for your overall idea about the poem (thesis).
Under these topic sentences, include relevant, brief quotations from the poem, indicating the line numbers in parentheses.
Finally, include a brief conclusion that sums up what these ideas all add up to.
Grading Criteria:
Your thesis statement is logical, well-supported, original, and is not merely a description or summary but “makes a claim that others might dispute” (See The UNC Writing Center: Thesis Statements – http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/thesis-statements/ )
Your outline represents a logical roadmap for a potential analytical paper, including well-chosen support for your thesis
Your use of language: your writing should be clear, well-organized, and free from spelling and grammar errors.
Purpose: Practice close-reading and annotating a poem using multimedia.
Tasks:
Part 1. Choose one of the Poetry Selections for this Unit.
Part 2. Copy and paste the text of the poem. Now, go through the poem carefully, word by word, and consider the following:
Which words or phrases stand out to you?
Which images or ideas are most meaningful or important to the poem?
Which words or concepts are confusing to you?
Which ideas or words would you like to learn more about?
Part 3. Now you get to begin your internal “treasure hunt!” Highlight the words or phrases that meet the criteria listed above in the poem and create clickable hyperlinks (right-click to “insert hyperlink” if you are composing in a Word or Google document; use the “links” key picture like this if you are composing in the textbox in our discussion forum). Please use links to open-web materials only–avoid links that involve a paywall, subscription, or login.
Part 4. Underneath your created hypertext poem, write a reflection of at least 100 words on how and why you chose what to link to and what kinds of links to include. Discuss what you learned as you made this project.
