Research topic essay on poetry for English British Literature 1English 2323 Research Essay on Poetry Assignment: Write a research essay of no less than 1500 words (about 5 pages) in which you fully analyze a poem by an English, Irish, Scottish or Welsh poet from the Twentieth Century or after. -The poem must come from a credible source. -Consider poems by Thomas Hardy, Dylan Thomas, Wilfred Owen, T.S. Eliot, D.H. Lawrence, Mary Borden, Doris Lessing, Siegfried Sassoon, William Butler Yeats, A.E. Housman, and W.H. Auden, among others. -Your essay must be typed, double spaced, written in third person point of view (no “I,” “me,” “my,” “we,” “us,” “our,” “you,” “your,” etc.). -Your essay and documented according to current MLA format (parenthetical citations, Works Cited page, heading, header, title, etc.). -You must use no fewer than five professional outside/secondary sources, not including your primary source. This means you will include six sources in all on your Works Cited page. -Include a typed copy of the poem with your final draft after the Works Cited page. -Type your word count at the end of your last sentence. To receive a passing score, you must have at least 1500 words, not including the Works Cited page or copy of the poem. -All of your research essay materials must sent via the Research Essay Assignment in KC Blackboard. -Your final draft must also be submitted to Blackboard SafeAssign. -Remember than any information you borrow must be cited both on the Works Cited page and within the sentence(s) which are borrowed, according to MLA format. -Your essay must include an MLA Works Cited page and at least one in-text/parenthetical citation within the essay for each source. Do not guess at how to do this correctly. -Ask me if you are not absolutely sure that you are using a professional source. -Most of the essay (70%-80%) should be your own original analysis and insights. Your outside sources (20%-30%) should be used throughout the essay (especially paragraph 3) to support your thoughts. (These are not SafeAssign percentages.) -Avoid first or second person point of view in this essay. Maintain a natural, professional/academic writing style at all times. Requirements for cited sources: -Use only professional sources; be especially careful with those online. -No anonymous sources (The author must be listed.) (Unless the source is a library database article.) -No “.com” websites -No websites containing advertisements -No “ask” websites -No study help/study guide websites -No paper mills (sites that sell essays or contain advertisements to that effect) -No student essays -No personal websites -No bulletin boards or discussion groups. -No online courses from other educational institutions -No wikis (e.g. Wikipedia) -No blogs or content from social networking sites -Any information found through the KC library is “safe.” Here is the KC library website URL: http://library.kilgore.edu/library/ -Avoid any hint of plagiarism (It will cause you to fail this course). Required paragraph format and organization: (Paragraphs may be divided if they get too lengthy-over 15 sentences long) Paragraph 1 (5-10 sentences): -Introduce the poem and explain its literal meaning. -What does the poem say, literally? What is the setting? Who are the characters? What is happening? Who is the speaker? What is the plot? etc. You are not analyzing underlying meaning yet. You are telling the reader what the words mean. -Take the reader through the poem a “chunk” at a time. -Do not discuss symbols, metaphors, underlying meaning, etc. in this paragraph. Focus on the literal meaning. -This paragraph should contain few or no research citations or quoted lines from the poem since you are putting them in your own words. -Close this paragraph with a thesis statement in which you speculate on the primary theme the poet may be trying to express in the poem. (The theme is message the poem conveys that applies to the readers, not just the characters that may appear in the poem, or the poet himself or herself.) Paragraph 2 (8-15 sentences): -Elaborate on the theme(s) and/or purposes mentioned in your thesis statement. -What passages/elements in the poem point to this theme, and how do they reveal it? -What parts of the poem lead you to understand this theme? -Quote lines, words and phrases from the poem as examples. -Explain examples fully as to how they relate to the theme you have stated. Paragraph 3 (8-15 sentences): -Discuss aspects of the poet’s life, the historical period/social context in which the poem was written, and/or the social/historical context of the events in the poem itself that relate to the poem and/or its themes. Ex. If the poem was written during the Civil War, how does the war relate to the poem? Ex. If the poet was an alcoholic, how might that fact relate to the poem? Ex. If the poem deals with the death of Charles I, how does his life/death affect the poem and its theme? -Discuss only those aspects of the poet’s life and/or the poem’s historical context that are directly related to the poem and your thesis. -Be sure to explain how each piece of biographical and historical information relates to elements in the poem. This paragraph is where the bulk of your borrowed information will be used. Paragraph 4 (8-15 sentences): -Discuss the poem’s physical structure: 1. how it is organized (division of stanzas) 2. the meter/rhythm/line length 3. the rhyme scheme/pattern. -Discuss separately how each of these three parts of the structure of the poem contributes to its overall effect. Ex. If the poem is a Sonnet, how does the poet use this format to his/her advantage? Ex. If the poem has a strong and steady rhythm and rhyme, it is said to be lyrical (song-like). Why do you think this is appropriate for such a poem? Ex. If any part of the poem’s structural pattern changes at any point in the poem, speculate upon possible reasons for this, and the effect of the change on the poem. Paragraph 5 (8-15 sentences): Introduce, show, and explain no fewer than five separate uses of poetic/literary devices in the poem. -Be sure to include a quote containing each device, and explain specifically how each device is used to enhance the poem’s theme, subject, purpose, effect, etc. -Do not define literary devices. Assume that your reader knows what they are. -Also, do not simply suggest that a device is used to make the poem “better” or “easier to read,” unless you also explain exactly how, in your opinion, the device does this. -Avoid discussing structural elements like rhyme, meter or organization in this paragraph since they are to be discussed in Paragraph 4. Paragraph 6 (5-10 sentences) Provide an evaluation of the poem. -Does it accomplish its purpose? -What makes it especially effective, touching, poignant, powerful, relevant, etc? -You may cite other critics’ statement and agree or disagree with them. -Do not use first person point of view in the paragraph (or anywhere else in the essay) -Ex. “In my opinion . . . .” Beyond possibly dividing lengthy paragraphs, do not, under any circumstances, divert from the above organization of this essay. Reminders: -Do not choose poems that are extremely long (several pages). Choose one that you can cover fully in a short essay (around 30-50 lines max.) -Every paragraph does not require researched information. The paragraph dealing with biography is the only one in which research will be required. Most of the rest of the essay will be your own interpretation or analysis. Be sure to search for information in several databases, the internet (on a limited basis), and in “the stacks” in libraries. Do not expect to find lots of outside analysis (research) on individual poems. You will be doing most of the poetic analysis on your own. Look for biography, history, poetic style and common poetic themes information as it relates to your poet and poem. Only one student in the class may write about any single poem (first come-first choice).
