Write an explication (of about 500 to 800 words) of a single poem by any of the poets we have discussed: Poe, Dickinson, Whitman, Frost, Sandburg or Cummings.
Before you write your essay, choose a poem you enjoyed. It should not be too short, because then you may not have enough to write about. Nor should it be too long, lest it take too much time and makes your essay too long. Read the poem you chose a couple of times and then use the “Understanding and Evaluating Poetry” (Sound & Sense, p. 11) questions as an aid to understand the poem better. Considering the answers you were able to give; you will be able to see what features of the poem you have much to say about, and what you have little to say about. Choose the points you can say the most about to use for your explication. You should have at least three main points (three body paragraphs). Find some way to link these points, for instance a theme, idea, function, etc.
An explication is a detailed description of a poem, often line by line. For your essay you need to write at least five paragraphs, of which the first is the introduction and the last paragraph is the conclusion. Therefore, you need three or more body paragraphs. Each body paragraph should focus on an important feature of the poem; for instance, the poem’s structure, the use of imagery, rhythm and rhyme, or some other poetic devices.
For an explication, your introductory paragraph should give some background information about the poet and the poem, as well as a summary of the poem – including the major themes in the poem. As an introductory paragraph, it should also include a thesis statement, which introduces the topic of the essay, as well as a preview/scope of what you will discuss in the paragraphs to follow.
The concluding paragraph should give a review of what you discussed and some final thoughts.
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