English 6058: Beyond the Anthology: Poetry and Its Contexts

Essay #1 Assignment Sheet

Description and Goals

The purpose of this essay is to employ the contexts we have discussed-- theory, nationality, period, poetics, and form-- to inform the analysis, interpretation, and or teaching of a poem or a small group of related or similar poems. In order to put the theory and research into practice, you have three options to fulfill this assignment:

1. Write an essay in which you analyze and interpret a poem (or small group of poems), informed by the contexts specified above. Your essay's thesis should be an interpretation of the poem(s) supported by analysis of its textual elements as informed by research into the contexts relevant to the poem and it should employ a clear theoretical perspective.
2. Write an essay about how to teach a poem (or small group of poems) employing the contexts specified above, and informed by a clear theoretical perspective. You must specify what population you wish to teach the poem(s) to as well as having clear educational goals. Based on this, your thesis should state the contexts you consider would be most relevant to achieve your educational objective with that target audience. Prepare a small unit of lesson plans (about 3) as an example of how you would teach the poem(s).
3. Write an essay about how the contexts specified above can lead to different interpretations of a poem (or small group of poems) and how the decision to take into account one, some, or all contexts can be theoretically motivated to produce specific interpretations and/or educational outcomes. Your essay's thesis should make a case for what you consider to be the most relevant context(s) for the the analysis, interpretation, and/or teaching of the poem(s).

Parameters

1. You may choose any poem or group of poems you wish. As a matter of fact, I would recommend for those who teach and wish to write about teaching a poem to select a poem from their textbooks (probably an anthology) and discuss the theory and contexts it employs to package the poetry for reading, appreciation, and/or teaching as well as what other contexts can (and perhaps should) supplement the book. Keep it relevant. On the other hand, feel free to write about a favorite poem of yours, and seek to enhance the pleasures of the text through its contexts.
2. The essay should not take a checklist approach to all the contexts. You should consider all of the contexts as part of your preparation for writing this essay, but must ultimately make decisions as to what you want to prove (your thesis statement), and really focus on the contexts relevant to it. As part of your discussion, you should have a brief section in your essay about the contexts you didn't find relevant to your approach.
   
3. Your essay should be informed by research and literary theory. The quality of the research will be a factor in the evaluation, so I encourage you to use peer-refereed journals in your research. As far as theory is concerned, you don't need to align yourself with a specific theoretical perspective-- you can mix and match, if you are so inclined-- but you should be up front as to what your theoretical inclinations are. I recommend you write a statement of your theoretical position before you write your essay to guide your research and thought about the poem(s), and incorporate a version of this into your theoretical discussion that should be part of the essay.
4. The essay should be approximately 1500-2000 words in length (6-8 pages), including lesson plans or supplementary materials. It should be formatted and documented in impeccable MLA Format (here's a good online resource, if you don't own a copy of the MLA Handbook: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/printable/557/).
5. Proposal: E-mail me a brief description of what you plan to do for this essay. Specify the option you chose, the poem(s) you chose (if you chose a small group of poems, explain the rationale for the selection and/or grouping), and provide a tentative thesis. This is due by Wednesday, September 5. It's okay to change your topic, poem(s) and/or thesis after that-- your proposal is not cast in stone-- but let me know of radical departures from the proposal.
   
6. The essay is due on September 12. Turn in a printed version at the beginning of class.

Evaluation

Your essay will be evaluated holistically, taking into consideration the following criteria:

• Fulfillment of the assignment
  
• Engagement with the poem(s)
• Use of relevant contexts
  
• Quality of the research
• Logical development of the argument
• Sentence structure, grammar, usage, and mechanics
  

Your essay will receive a letter grade, numerically interpretable on a 4-point scale. No revisions will be allowed, so please seek help before the essay is due, if needed.