Assignment Objectives
The Poetry Response must do the following:
Declare and support a thesis that presents YOUR opinion concerning some aspect of one or both of the poems selected for this assignment: Malcolm’s Piano by Jeff Grieneisen.docx Download Malcolm’s Piano by Jeff Grieneisen.docx and/or Whale Fall by Jeff Grieneisen.docx.Download Whale Fall by Jeff Grieneisen.docx.
Offer YOUR interpretation of the poem’s overall meaning, or theme, and how it is developed in the poem.
Explain how the poem connects to YOU on a personal level, on a societal level, or to another poem.
Demonstrate your proficiency quoting primary source references (note: primary source is the poem you are writing about; see my examples from the DFs for quoting poem titles, multiple lines, and line numbers)
Your writing should respond to the poem, NOT summarize or paraphrase it unnecessarily.
Content Expectations
Identify the title of the poem(s) and author near the beginning of the paper: i.e., in the Introduction.
Use quotation marks around poem title(s).
Use author’s full name at first mention; thereafter, use last name only.
Quote from the primary source(s) sparingly and only as necessary.
Direct quotations (exact words, punctuation, and capitalization) should include line number(s) in parentheses.
Author’s name is not required in citations unless poems by other authors are also used in paper.
Multiple lines in a poem are indicated in text by a forward slash: e.g., “Automatic bullets bounce / Off stoop steps” (lines 5-6). If there is a stanza break, use double slash: e.g., “And I can’t tell what’s / Wrong from what’s right // On 123rd Street” (lines 33-35).
Don’t rely on secondary sources to do the analysis for you; however, if secondary sources are used, cite them both within the text and in Works Cited.
Use present tense verbs in MLA: e.g., the poet writes . . .; the speaker is . . . .
Although the response paper is academic (formal), because I’m asking for YOUR interpretation and how YOU connect to the poem, first person is acceptable.
Do not confuse the author and the speaker when writing about the poem(s).
Turn-It-In will give you an originality report. No paper should have >10 percent borrowed words.
Remember, I am most interested in YOUR ideas about the poem. Have faith in your own ideas and support them with your own reasoning and evidence from the primary source (the poem you are writing about).
Length and Format
3-4 pages; approximately 1,000 words
typed, double-spaced, 12 point Times New Roman font, 1 inch margins (use Page Format template)
MLA page format and style (citations for all quotes and paraphrases, identified by line number)
Works Cited page listing bibliographic citation of any secondary sources you may have used; because the primary sources are available to you only through Canvas, don’t worry about including them in a Works Cited page. (Remember, I’m most interested in YOUR interpretation.)
Things to Remember
You should make use of the Purdue OWL MLA Guidelines (Links to an external site.) and MLA Style (9th edition) information in our Canvas course.
Responses will be graded for focus, organization, development, and mechanics.
DO NOT merely summarize or paraphrase poem. Response papers that do not support interpretation, opinion, or analysis DO NOT meet the assignment objectives and will receive an appropriately low mark.
Interpret evidence: don’t just share lines of poetry or textual references as evidence. Explain them in relation to your thesis. Reveal the logic that connects your evidence to the point you’re trying to make; don’t ask your readers to make these connections on their own.
