The poet that I would like to be used for this assinment is Anne Stevenson.
Read several of his/her poems first. Try to find some continuity between the poems on your own first before any research. You may find poems online or in books of poems. You might even write your body section before research.
Research your poet.
Use only 2 sources (not including our textbook or books of poems), one for biography content (intro) and one for literary criticism (conclusion).
Utilize MLA documentation by having clear and correct in-text citations that match a complete Works Cited (a page at the end of the essay).
No eNotes, Wikipedia (or any encyclopedia articles like Britannica), Shmoop, or SparkNotes as source choices.
I consider Poetry Foundation (website) and Poets.org (website) to be bio sources. You may choose one of these as your bio source but please do not use the other as a literary criticism source. I would like you each to search carefully for a quality resource for the literary criticism section of the report.
Write a one paragraph INTRO that summarizes key biographical information about your poet. This introduction may only be 1 paragraph long—I do not want an excessively long paragraph—this is a short section of the report. Also, use only ONE outside source for this part. End the borrowed summary introduction with an in-text citation that matches your Works Cited entry (following MLA Documentation). Avoid a signal phrase please; consider just launching into the interesting and summarized details of your poet’s life. No direct quotations inside the introduction.
This report will not require a thesis statement.
The BODY of the report: Once you find some continuity between some of the poems, share your own findings in your body paragraphs. Body Paragraph #1: Analyze some poems. Do not include outside sources. Do not include any poet bio. Do not offer any poet conjecture. Even with research you have already done, please do not put your poet inside your poem analysis. Keep separate. Use “speaker” or “persona” when analyzing the poems. Body Paragraph #2 (optional): you may share your own personal reactions to 1 or 2 poems you read. This personal reaction may use “I” and does not have to be analytical (again, this first person reaction is optional).
The CONCLUSION will end the report. I would like you to wrap up the overall assessment of the poet’s work and the poems (do more than praise your poet please). In this paragraph, you must also include some borrowed literary criticism about your poet’s work (your other source). The literary criticism must focus on the poems/poetry/work and NOT on the poet. The conclusion only needs to be 1 paragraph. Do not include biographical information in the conclusion. Do not offer poet conjecture (do not offer your ideas about this person whom you do not know personally). Online definition of literary criticism: “the art or practice of judging or commenting on the qualities and character of literary works”
*Be sure to use the poet’s last name when writing the report.
*Other than the optional personal reaction, please do not use “I” in this report, especially no “I think” or “I feel” or “I believe” (these are unnecessary phrases). Do not use “you” either.
The Report (3-4 paragraphs total)
Works Cited (own page at end of report)
A typed list of ALL the poems read (just the titles)
Copies of the poems explored in the essay–I call these “inside sources”
Because of this request, you only need to cite the poem line numbers in the essay when quoting the poems, and the poems do NOT belong on the Works Cited.
