Details

Requirements

To write an essay that analyzes the use of imagery in poems by one of the poets from the chapter “An Album of World Literature” from The Bedford Introduction to Literature (pgs. 1325-1338).

To do outside research to find 2 more poems that complement the poem by your chosen poet from “An Album of World Literature.”

Essay needs to consider the poem in the anthology + 2 other poems written by that same poet that you discover in your research (depending on length, it might be enough to write about 1 other poem in addition to the poem in our book… I leave this decision up to you; essay should be 6-8 pages.)

Your argument must be supported with significant textual evidence from the poem; in other words, your close reading notes and explications need to be used for support.

In the process of writing and researching this essay, you will have the opportunity to read a diverse collection of poets. You have twelve poets (& twelve countries) to choose from: Anna Akhmatova, Claribel Alegría, Yehuda Amichai, Fazil Hüsnü Daglarca, Kishwar Naheed, Marne L. Kilates, Taslima Nasrin, Pablo Neruda, Octavio Paz, Yousif al-Sa’igh, Shu Ting, Tomas Tranströmer.

Topics:

The essay should present a focused argument about the use of imagery (you should be analyzing the use of concrete images—things that you can see, hear, taste, smell, touch—examples: rocks, doors, the sun, red flowers, a goose, a python, a bed, water…[not liberty, love, justice—these are abstract images ] see pg. 841 for review). To begin, you will need to explore the poems available online. Read the poems multiple times, take notes on the images in the poems: why and how are they significant? How does the poet use them; do images recur? This is a broad topic, and it is important that you eventually focus your argument on something that you have discovered in your exploration of the poems: the essay needs to go beyond merely pointing out that certain images appear in the poems to consider how the images are used and to what effect. The poems should also complement each other in supporting your argument—don’t pick poems that you have difficulty pulling together in a focused argument about imagery.

You might find that it is insightful to know some of the biographical details about the poet’s life, and this might inform your argument about the imagery. However: at least 3/4 of the essay should consist of explication “close readings” of the poems and discussion of the imagery. You are not writing an encyclopedia entry of facts about the poet’s life. You are analyzing an aspect of the imagery.

Your argument needs to be focused: for instance, to argue that a poet has experienced war and writes about war is not enough of an argument. You could, however, focus on that writer’s use of a certain set of images (maybe they are used metaphorically), and discuss what that reveals about his or her experience. Perhaps the writer explores certain scenes and settings, or an emotional state, and these things are made vivid and meaningful with the writer’s use of specific images.

Research will involve: finding poems to discuss in addition to the poem in our anthology; reading biographical material and interviews if you can find them. You may need to read a number of poems before you find the right ones to help support your argument. If you do not find enough information to satisfy what you think you need for a strong argument, you may need to focus on a different poet—this is all part of the research process for this essay…

Length: 6-8 pages, double-spaced, saved in a Word docx format.