“La Belle Dame Sans Merci” by John Keats
For this paper, you will be writing on one of several poems. Choose one of the following:
“La Belle Dame Sans Merci” by John Keats
“Love Calls Us to the Things of This World” by Richard Wilbur
“To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell
Sonnet 116 by Shakespeare
Sonnet 130 by Shakespeare
If you wish, you may write on more than one if you enjoy comparing/contrasting.
Here is some information which may prove helpful:
Both Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116 and Andrew Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress” are marvelous works sharing the grand themes of love, death, time, etc. (opera stuff). Even though both poems are essentially about the same things, they are quite different in numerous ways. Both works, however, contain a wealth of figurative (or poetic) language: striking imagery, evocative metaphors, memorable similes, and powerful personification. You should note these instances and give them some thought. Some brainstorming questions you might want to ask yourself may be: Do the images seem to have something in common and revolve around the same concept? Or are they disparate and not linked by anything in particular?[unique_solution]
Think about the effectiveness of the figurative language employed: How exactly do the metaphors, etc. strengthen the ideas/themes of the work? How do they convey the ideas therein? Why are they effective? What effect do the images have on your understanding and appreciation of the work?
Again, you may write on only one of the works. You can write on more than one if you wish; indeed, some of the poems offer very interesting points of comparison. For example, if personification interests you, you could compare how this is employed in two of the works (particularly if the same elements are personified). There are numerous options here. It is up to you, after all, to come up with a focused thesis statement. Of course you do not have to write about ALL the metaphors, similes, etc., found in the works, for that would be beyond the scope of the assignment.
1) Reread the poem carefully, highlighting the specific lines/words that
strike you as most interesting and/or moving.
- On fresh sheets of paper, begin brainstorming with impunity! Jot down whatever comes to mind without censoring yourself. Try to fill up several pages (this will probably take more than one brainstorming session). You may simply “freewrite,” or you can sketch charts, diagrams, trees, branches, leaves, etc. Refer to the “Brainstorming questions” handout. Answering these questions will help you develop a thesis statement.
FOCUS ON:
- The lines of poetry themselves: the connotations, images, etc.
Plunge deep into the poem’s world. Do not fear “reading too much into it”; you’re probably not!
What do you think of these lines? From this, a thesis may emerge if you do not already have one.
Get it all down on paper. You may end up not using all the freewriting/brainstorming you come up with, and that’s okay. It’s better to have too much raw clay to work with than not enough! You might have to return to this incandescent, primeval state of creation throughout the process of writing this theme. Some of your homework assignments may very well comprise part of your brainstorming material.
PLEASE use first person and MLA format
Length: Minimum two pages, double-spaced, typed.