After you have selected one of the poems read during the Poetry Unit, write an essay of approximately 500-550 words in which you discuss the poem that you personally connected with. Write a personal response that explains why the poem made you feel the way you did. Briefly describe the poem so that readers unfamiliar with it can understand your response. You may use the following questions as a guide for your response. This essay is to be written in first person. What experiences does the poem remind you of or make you think about? Does anything in the poem make you feel surprise? Irritation? Delight? Suspense? Sadness? Awe? (or any other emotion?) Explain how the poem makes you feel this way. What is this poem about? Is this something you have thought about before? In what way? What is the poems message or main idea? What does this poet want us to know about life? Is the message one youll remember or reject? Is this poet’s message important for others to know? In what way? Is the title of the poem important? Explain how. What images are evident in the poem and which senses do they evoke? How do the images make you feel or how do they connect you to the main idea of the poem?
