Writing Homework Help

Assignment: Poetry Analysis Essay

For this assignment, respond to one of the writing prompts below. Note: This assignment requires the use of at least one secondary source to support your interpretation of the literary work. Please do not discuss the literary work (or poem) you posted to the Discussion Board. Please refer to poems posted in Unit Two: Poetry only.

1.Is the speaker in Robert Hayden’s “Those Winter Sundays” clueless and unappreciative?

2.What is Claude McKay’s purpose for writing “If We Must Die”?

3.Summarize the mother’s advice to her son in Langston Hughes’ “Mother to Son”.

4.Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” revolves around a serious conflict. What is it?

5.Do you like the speaker in Andrew Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress”? Why or why not?

6.Discuss the father-daughter relationship in Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy”.

7.What is the father’s fear in Rhina Espaillat’s “Bilingual/Bilingue”? Explain your answer.

8.Describe the lecturer in Walt Whitman’s “When I heard the Learn’d Astronomer”.

9.Is the dance between the father and son in Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” happy, scary, something in between, or other? Explain your answer.

10. How does the speaker feel about giving up her life in Emily Dickinson “Because I could not stop for death”? What proof from the poem can you offer?

11. How would you characterize the speaker’s attitude towards war in Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est”?

12. Is the speaker in William Shakespeare’s “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun” rude or polite? Other? Explain your answer.

13. What can you infer about the conditions of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina in Patricia Smith’s “Ethel’s Sestina”? What can you infer about the speaker? What can you infer about the speaker’s son, Herbert?

14. What word would you use to describe the tone in Janice Mirikitani’s “Suicide Note”?

15. Is the overall message in Langston Hughes’ “Negro” optimistic or pessimistic?

16. Choose one poem from Unit Two: Poetry. Next, write a brief summary of the poem in your own words. Highlight or list some of the words that are important to understanding the poem.

This assignment requires each student to write a 700-word essay (800 words maximum) consisting of at least five paragraphs. The introduction should provide a brief summary of the literary work. The thesis statement should be arguable and should forecast the major point(s) in the essay. The body of the essay should provide appropriate textual evidences to support your thesis statement. Note: A minimum of two direct quotes required for each body paragraph. Each direct quotation should be parenthetically referenced and the literature should be documented on the Works Cited page. The conclusion should restate your thesis statement, topic sentences, supporting sentences, and bring the paper to a smooth close. 

Daddy by Sylvia Plath | Poetry Foundation