For this assignment, I need 3 parts to this assignment. I need 1 rough draft, a Mid-process draft and a final draft.
Your ENG221 semester culminates in an individual poetry analysis research essay. Please read this entire page before deciding on a poet because there are five basic requirements.
Focus on one individual poet and a) at least one of their poems that we’ve studied in class plus b) at least one of their poems not assigned in class. Go back over the class schedule and think about which poets you feel most connected to; see #5 below.
Analysis must include your understanding of your selected poems using objective, expressive, mimetic, and pragmatic approaches. Again, this means you’ll analyze the poems themselves (objective theory) and their representation of the universe in which they were created (mimetic theory), the poet’s intent which is informed by their historical and cultural context and personal biography (expressive theory), and what each poem has to offer its audience in terms of some greater understanding of our lives, our world, themes like truth and beauty, etc. (pragmatic theory).
–> This does NOT mean you should have a separate section for each of these four approaches. E.g., don’t separate them out in sections labeled objective, expressive, mimetic, and pragmatic. Just make sure you touch on something, even briefly, regarding the poet’s biography, historical/cultural context, meaning aimed at audience (content), and your analysis of the poem itself (more in terms of its structure and form)—and you’ll have this requirement satisified.
Six quotations at a minimum must be included: at least two lines per poem in support of your thesis (i.e., four poetry quotes minimum) as well as at least two quotations, paraphrases, or summaries (QPSs) from at least two different external sources.
Length must be minimum of 1,500 words (which includes the Works Cited list).
Final draft must offer a balance of your poetry analysis, your external research, and your own personal experience.
Here’s what this means: In my intro to literature course, I use a textbook called Making Literature Matter because I like the way it underscores why we study any literature in the first place: It has something to teach us about what it means to be human and, in the course of figuring out what that is, we make connections to our own lived experiences. This is why poetry matters too—because it connects to our lived experiences in some way.
When you refer to this in your writing, it is called experiential evidence. Citing experiential evidence—when coupled with external research, data, evidence, and statistics—can be powerful in establishing your ethos as a writer. You’ll remember from ENG101 and COM101 that the three Aristotelian appeals are ethos, pathos, and logos.
Ethos refers to your believability, authority, and reliability as the writer.
Readers are more persuaded by your words when they have a solid sense that you are passionate and knowledgable about your topic. When readers see how and why you genuinely care about your chosen topic, we have a better sense of why we too should care about this topic.
Writers establish their ethos by sharing their experiential evidence or personal experience examples, often in the essay’s hook and frame. Ethos also comes from reading a well developed, well organized, and well researched essay. Even seeing strong signal phrases that make plain you’re citing top-notch, authoritative research adds to your ethos.
Pathos refers to appeals to your audience’s emotions. This can be in the form of seeking their empathy or sympathy with a particular topic/subtopic, scene, or moment in the essay or it can be appeals to broader emotions like justice, patriotism, freedom, and equality. How you accomplish this in your Unit 4 essay largely depends on your chosen poet, poems, and topic.
Logos refers to appeals to your audience’s sense of logic. This can be in the form of research, evidence, facts, data, or statistics. How you accomplish this in your Unit 4 essay might be by citing what well established literary critics have said about your chosen poet or poems.
Given the above, I ask that you pick a favorite poet we’ve studied this semester and do some reflection on why you connect with this poet. Sometimes students connect with a poet because the poet speaks to something about your race or ethnicity, socioeconomic status or class, gender identity, sexual orientation, or religious beliefs. Sometimes students connect with a poet because the poet expresses an experience similar to one you’ve lived through. Sometimes students connect with a poet because the poet’s style (e.g., their belief in imagism, or their belief in making poetry political, etc.) just feels right to you. This doesn’t have to be deeply personal or emotional, e.g., you may pick a poet that addresses war because you or someone you love has served in the military.
When you decided which poet you’ll focus on for this essay, make sure you feel ready to share some kind of experiential evidence examples with the class.
NOTE: Portions of the following are adapted from definitions offered by the University of Massachusetts Writing Program.
I require a process note (PN) with each essay draft. Why do I ask for process notes? Here are some benefits:
to provide your peer responders and me with a key to get “into” your essays to direct our feedback; to enable you to get answers to the questions that you want answered about your writing; to orient us to your expectations as a writer; to clarify to you as well as to us the thinking that goes into each essay
to provide personal, non-threatening, open communication amongst us.
Okay, now that you know why I require process notes, the next question is, what is a process note?
A process note is a simply a brief, informal note that accompanies each essay draft and that includes your responses to the two parts below. Before proceeding, though, you should know that your process notes will affect your finally grade according to how well they include these two parts.
1) Discussing Your Process
Begin your process note by writing a short paragraph in which you discuss how you went about writing this draft, what you experienced, what you felt at different stages of the process, etc. Offer some informal “talking” on paper about your piece of writing. Tell us anything you want us to know before we read your draft.
What kinds of things can you write about? Anything related to your process of writing the draft. Here are some kinds of things that writers tend to indicate in this part of their process notes:
It was hard to get started; I stared out the window for 20 minutes before writing a word. I struggled over the first sentence, trying to get it “just right” before going on. I wrote this entire draft quickly and then back went back to address the details. I created an outline first, to help me better organize my ideas. I spent more time on this draft than usual because the topic means something special to me.
I changed my mind halfway through and made a global revision because it wasn’t going in a useful direction.
I thought I was going to write about two poems that were assigned in class, but when I started researching my poet, I found another poem by her that I love so much I decided to include that one instead. That’s why the third paragraph doesn’t feel as well developed as the other paragraphs.
2) Directing Our Feedback
Then, in the second section of your process note, ask at least two questions for which you want your peer responders’ and my feedback. What are some concerns that you have about this particular essay/draft? What’s important for you to know, things that will help you revise for a more effective final draft? What are some things that you want to make certain that we respond to?
Here are some common kinds of feedback-directing questions (you do not have to ask these particular questions; they are offered as examples):
I struggled with developing an effective hook. Do you think this one works well?
Did you enjoy reading this? I was trying to tell an entertaining story because I’m writing about Billy Collins and he uses humor a lot.
Is my thesis clear? I’m arguing that poetry should never be political; it should always be about celebrating beauty.
I worked on paragraph structure. Is it okay in this draft?
How is my grammar improving? Can you tell that I looked up comma splices and run-on sentences?
I’m not sure about this MLA documentation stuff. Can you help me see where I need more signal phrases? Are any of my parenthetical references wrong? I forget what to put if there’s no author listed.
