Assignment task:
Poem: DIAGNOSES AND MISDIAGNOSES (alphabetical, incomplete) Poetry By Kaleigh O'Keefe
Please use this poem
Poetry Analysis Essay
(800-1,000 Words)
Why do we analyze poetry? As intimidating as poetry might seem to read and analyze, poems convey powerful underlying messages, much like other forms of art. By focusing on the smallest possible units of literary analysis-the "word," the "line," the "stanza," and various poetic techniques, we are learning how to perform analysis in pieces to form a cohesive analytic whole. In other words, once we can analyze poetry, we will arguably have an easier time pulling from the smallest details in other forms of art. We will perform this analysis using one primary lens from a list of optional choices to practice and prepare for future analysis.
In a thesis-driven essay, you will pick one poem to analyze from our class readings from one of the following weeks:
Diagnoses And Misdiagnoses
You will then choose one lens of analysis from the following to analyze the poem: race, queerness (sexuality or gender), disability, or feminism. Be sure to support your analysis by mentioning three poetic devices, pulling three to five direct quotes from your chosen poem, and citing one secondary source (two separate quotes) of your choice from the Secondary Source Readings in Canvas which must directly support the lens of analysis you have chosen.
Here is the essay rubric with an example paper.
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This essay must contain the following elements:
An argumentative thesis which analyzes the poem from the lens of race, queerness, disability, or feminism (pick only one).
An introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion.
A properly formatted "Works Cited" page.
Analysis of only one poem from our class readings (optional reading poems are also okay).
Three to five (no more or less) properly cited direct quotes from the poem to support your analysis.
Proper use of a minimum of three poetic devices to support your analysis.
Here are two example thesis statements:
In "We Real Cool," Gwendolyn Brooks uses the Golden Shovel as a metaphor for black men dying too young due to living impoverished lives because of racial oppression.
In "Sonnet 19: When I consider how my light is spent," John Milton's oncoming blindness is directly correlated with his religious belief in God, which ultimately results in the undermining of the serious nature of his disability.