Poem review

Poem review

Choose one of the following poems to interpret. Argue what you think the theme is—basically, what point the poem is making about life:

Robert Frost, “Mending Wall” (456-57)

Robert Hayden, “Those Winter Sundays” (462)

Langston Hughes, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” (467)

Adrienne Rich, “Living in Sin” (484)

Anne Sexton, “Cinderella” (487-90)

Some poems are more difficult than others, so be sure to read all of them before deciding. Your paper is essentially offering an interpretation of what the poem means and should be shaped accordingly. In other words, it will be a very poor choice to organize the paper according to the line-by-line progression of the poem. Instead, the thesis statement in your introduction should provide your basic interpretation—i.e., what the poem means—and the paper should then provide strong reasons to support the thesis. Use concrete evidence from the poem to back up this argument.[unique_solution]

When quoting, provide in parentheses the line number(s) of the quotation. For example:

In Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall,” the speaker explains that his “apple trees will never get across / And eat the [pine] cones” of his neighbor’s trees (25-26).

Use a slash to indicate whenever there’s a line break within a quotation and use square brackets if you have to add anything to or change anything inside a quotation.

The paper is a minimum of 800 words and a maximum of 1600, typed and double spaced. Due dates are according to the syllabus, and the final draft must also be submitted to turnitin.com beforehand.

Peer Review Sheet

Using a new sheet of notebook paper for each essay you read, number your responses to correspond to the questions below. Sign your name at the top of the page, and when finished, return it to the writer whose draft you’ve critiqued. Then trade their essay with another student. Keep the peer reviews done for you to hand in with the final draft.

1. Read the draft at normal reading speed from beginning to end. As you read, do the following:
2. Place a wavy line in the margin next to any passages that you find confusing, that contain something that doesn’t seem to fit, or that otherwise slow down your reading.
3. Place a “Good” in the margin next to any passages where you think the writing is particularly strong or interesting.
4. Read the draft again slowly. Describe for the writer what you currently see in this draft.  If you have            difficulty answering any of the following questions, explain briefly the source of your problem.
5. Check the introduction for the following required elements
6. author’s name
7. title of the piece
8. thesis statement
9. Write what YOU think the thesis statement is. Evaluate its effectiveness in revealing the main

point of the essay.

1. Main points
2. List the main points of the essay and judge how well they work together.
3. Judge the writer’s use of topic sentences that clearly relate to the thesis above.
4. Development
5. Explain how the ORDER of the writer’s points help or hurts the interpretation.
6. What details can you think of—as a careful reader of the piece—that the writer may

have left out?

3. What specific sections of the paper could use more/better transitions?
4. Documentation
5. Describe how well you think the primary text has been used as a source.
6. Are quotations incorporated so they don’t interrupt what the writer is saying?
7. Check every quotation from the piece to be sure it’s introduced in the writer’s own

words and linked with punctuation.  Your judgment?

1. Conclusion
2. Explain HOW the writer provides closure.
3. Explain HOW the writer answers the reader’s question of “So what?”