For Response #2, choose a poem from the list under Week 2 Announcements or Week 2 folder (under Content) and write at least 150 words where you tell me what you think the poem is about/what the poet is trying to say/or analyze the poem from a literary standpoint such as focusing on theme, mood, moral, tone, character, or any other literary element. Feel free to combine these approaches as well.
You should think of using the poem you will use for Essay 1 due on Sunday so that you can use what you write in this response on your Essay 1, but put into essay format, of course.
Do NOT summarize the poem. Only use specifics from the poem when you are making points/arguments. Just telling me what the poem says or what happens is NOT explication or analysis. You need to have a reason for bringing up specifics. You should assume your audience knows the poem, so you do not have to state what happens in it unless you are going to analyze that portion. Summary without analysis will cause your essay to lose points. The same is true for responses, as these are to explore different methods of analysis, state what you liked/disliked/didn’t understand or had questions about. Do not just say what the poem is about. Response #2 is due by Friday night at Midnight. Post as a Word document, but do not worry about essay format for responses.
POEMS TO CHOOSE FROM:
Auden, W. H. “The Unknown Citizen
Bennett, Bruce “The True Story of Snow White”
Cisneros, Sandra “My Wicked Wicked Ways”
Clifton, Louise “There is a GIrl Inside
Crashaw, Richard “But Men Loved Darkness rather than Light”
Cruz, Victor “Problems with Hurricanes”
Cullen, Countee “Incident”
Dunbar, Paul Laurence “We Wear the Mask”
Hardy, Thomas “The Man he Killed”
Hayden, Robert “Those Winter Sundays”
Housman, A. E. “To an Athlete Dying Young”
Jordon, June “Memo:”
Larkin, Philip “This be the Verse”
Sexton, Anne “Cinderella”
Smith, Stevie “Not Waving but Drowning”
Stafford, William “Travelling through the Dark”
Young, Kevin “Negative”
