In this assignment, you will build on your previous skills and experiences explicating and annotating a poem with an end goal of an effective outline including an introduction, thesis, and the first two components of a body paragraph with topic sentences and evidence. Your outline will identify specific literary devices and their connection to an overall theme for the poem. The theme you choose may be related to one of the themes from Unit 1 (dystopia, quest for identity/coming of age, redemption, or alienation/otherness), or you may choose a different theme if you have examples from the text to support your choice. This assignment is a continuation of the process you completed in this unit’s previous assignments and allows you to practice several aspects of the typical structure of a literary analysis essay.
Part 1
Choose one of the poems your instructor assigned for this unit. You can certainly choose a poem you have already posted about in one of the Unit 2 forums, but you don’t have to. Be sure to consider what you learned and your feedback from your Poetry Response Video Assignment and Discussion Board 2.1 when working on this assignment.
NOTE: Do not use any of the texts used in sample assignments or instructional videos in this course. If in doubt, check your selection with your professor before beginning this assignment.
Part 2
You will closely read (and reread) your chosen poem, considering its mode, patterns of figurative language, and other literary elements while annotating and explicating the text. This portion of the assignment serves as your notes or foundation to the written composition, so be mindful to genuinely engage with the text and investigate its contents.
Part 3
Next, you will use your annotations and notes to discern a connection between the devices identified and an overall theme of the poem. Refer back to the preliminary work with this type of skill with Discussion 2.1 and the Sample Literary Analysis to help guide your process. It is during this step that you will create your working thesis statement and related supporting details.
Part 4
Use this section as the framework for creating an analytical outline. Your finished outline should include the following elements:
First, an introductory paragraph that offers key background information on the poem and what you are focusing on about it. Consider using the format suggested in your Literary Criticism Assignment in Unit 1. As with any introduction, your thesis should be the final sentence. Compose a well-crafted thesis statement: One sentence that identifies the connection of literary device(s) to a theme within the text. Remember, your thesis should be specific and argumentative.
Next, compose topic sentences (Main Ideas) to begin your body paragraphs. These should focus on specific ideas and elements from the poem that provide evidence and support for your overall interpretation of the poem (thesis). Keep in mind that your topic sentences are also specific and argumentative; they are essentially the thesis for that body paragraph. (Be sure to have NO LESS THAN 3 topic sentences total.)
For each topic sentence, you will provide AT LEAST one textual example (Evidence) to support your claim. Be sure to provide the MLA citation for each example, as you must use these in an essay. You want to keep the number of examples per paragraph no more than two.
To follow each textual example, you will need to provide Analysis or explanation of how and why the examples you selected support NOT ONLY the topic sentence argument BUT ALSO the thesis for essay overall. The analysis portion of the paragraph is the longest, most in-depth portion of the body paragraph. For the outline, you will not need to fully develop your analysis; you will simply need to provide a sentence (or two) that shows the connection between your Main idea and Evidence.
The final step of the body paragraph is the Link or transition; this sentence is the signal that informs your reader that this paragraph is finished and builds a segue to the next topic. You can use transitional words and phrases (in addition to, in contrast, although, etc.). Keep in mind that your final body paragraph will not transition to a new topic paragraph but to the conclusion; it will read a little differently than the others.
To close your outline, you will want to provide a concluding paragraph. This paragraph should echo your earlier thesis statement but not simply restate it. Your conclusion should identify the larger significance of your essay: Why is your argument or information important for others to read and consider. What should your reader do after reading your argument? So what?
Once you have completed your final draft, submit it to the assignment folder.
