1st Paper Assignment:
Explication of a Poem of Your Choice
Required
Elements | What I am looking for in an "A" paper
| Format and Turning It In
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Length-- 2-3 pp (250-750 wds)
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Topic -- Explication of a short poem
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explication = line-by-line analysis
of entire poem
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Poem should be short so that it can be fully
covered (less than ten lines)
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Thesis should be about central meaning of poem,
usually expressed in terms of a tension between ideas.
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Required Elements:
* A title
* A thesis
* An intro paragraph
* paragraphs with examples
* at least three quotations
from the poem, correctly formatted and punctuated
* a sense of an ending
(not necessarily a concluding paragraph)
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Web
Page with Links to some good pages on Explications
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What I am looking for in an "A"
paper
STRUCTURAL
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Paper is strongly unified -- if it is about
two or more different topics/themes, a connection is clearly made linking
all of them so that the paper is more than just a list of unrelated observations.
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Paper is logically organized with paragraphs
of the paper corresponding to sections of the poem (line-by-line)
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Paper has an intro paragraph with a strong thesis
and some kind of a map of the whole paper
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Paragraphs are well unified: have strong topic
sentences and don't drift from one topic to another. This requires
that you think through and create a unified statement about each line or
stanza.
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There are thoughtful transitions between paragraphs
SURFACE
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Quotations are correctly introduced, punctuated,
and contextualized, including correct use of ellipses and brackets.
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Conventions for quoting poetry are used correctly.
See
this web page on quoting conventions
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no major grammar errors (FRAG, CS, GCMSP)
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Commas are mostly correct
Format and Turning
It In
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Turn in hard copy of paper to my office (613
Strode Tower) before 4:30 on Friday, Feb 6