Category: Literature

Critical thinking assessment

I have attached my draft I had already picked the peom I want to do

Process Overview

1. Choose a poem we’ve read. [“We Are Seven” is off limits–it’s too dry.]
2. Take some idea from the Norton intro’s (The Romantic Period) discussion of Romantic Poetry or Wordsworth’s “Preface” or Shelly’s Defence.
3. Analyze several metaphors and try to describe the overall metaphorical structure of the poem.
4. Move toward a thesis that interprets the poem in terms of some key idea of Romanticism

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Due Date: tentatively 23 February.

This prompt is under construction.

You must analyze some poem we have read for class as a basis for your interpretation of that poem.

The Basic Approach: you must combine a metaphorical analysis with some interpretation using a key concept of Romanticism.

The Two Prongs:

1. What is the metaphorical structure of the poem? In the first body paragraph, describe what you take to be the metaphorical structure and support your description with evidence from the poem. What does “metaphorical structure” mean? Consider this checklist:

Checklist for Metaphorical Structure

1. To identify a metaphor, you must name the comparison.
2. Controlling metaphor
3. Controlling image
4. Piecemeal metaphor
5. Balance of concrete and abstract elements
6. Typology of small metaphors: similes, personifications, the copula, synecdoche, metonymy, etc.
7. Wet vs dry poems
8. Symbol

2. Second Prong: you must use a good summary-paraphrase of some key idea(s) of Romanticism, citing the Norton introduction (The Romantic Period) discussion of Romantic Poetry and/or Wordsworth’s Preface and/or Shelly’s Defence to shape your overall interpretation of the poem. Your interpretation needs to be yours, but you need to show that you have a good grasp of some key idea of Romanticism to contextualize or support you central interpretative claim.

Some Particular Guidelines

1. Take care of your audience: make sure you give them enough context to understand your claims. You cannot assume they already know much about the poem(s). You do not need to read the poem for them, or summarize the whole poem, but you must give enough context for someone who has not read the poem to understand your argument.
2. You must build your analysis on the language of the poem. You have to treat the poem like a concrete object: it has to be shown to your reader in very precise amounts. Any claim you make about the poem must be well supported by quotation from the poem.
3. You have to show you really understand the MLA mechanics for quoting verse.
4. Your basic mode for the body paragraphs is that you must sandwich quotation with ideas and explanation. I’m not interested in secondary sources for this paper–just primary sources and the Norton Introduction. Beware!: if you use secondary sources, you must cite!
5. If you develop some significant idea based on your poem(s), that probably should be presented as the thesis in the intro–your interpretation.
6. Optional: carry out more than one of the analytic moves from my list of 100 Ways (under Pages).
7. And here is the primary Don’t: Do not offer a bunch of abstract comment that is free-floating with no shown connection to the language of the poem. Talk about and cite the language of the poem.
8. And here’s another don’t: Don’t cite details from the poem that you then ignore–Your analysis needs to use up (do something substantial with) all the details in the quotation.
9. Length: 600-800 words.

Some More General Guidelines for this Essay

Introduction: This is a short essay, so you need to get right to the point.

1. introduce your topic to the reader
2. announce your main claim: a good main claim is going to involve some key aspects of the poem and how you are going to look at them to arrive at your interpretation.
3. optional–say something about how you have laid out your argument, i. e., what are the points of your paragraphs and how do they support the main claim

Body paragraphs

1) Each prgh should focus tightly on making a particular point–most likely about the way the poem works.

2) It should be clear how the prgh relates to the thesis (main claim).

3) This is a literary essay, so you are best served by focusing on bits of text from the literary pieces. In your text you must examine the language of the poem, by first showing it to your reader.

5) DON’Ts:

a) You don’t have space for a long, detailed summary of any text; summaries need to be really short and accurate, like a phrase or a sentence; they need to be just long enough to give the needed context for a particular point you are making.

b) Don’t make good claims that are important to your argument w/out supporting them.

c) Don’t over-quote: any details of a quote that you leave unaddressed will cause a good reader to wonder why you quoted material you didn’t analyze.

Conclusion: you need to pull the body prghs together, reminding your reader what you have shown them about various pieces or aspects of the poem, and how your organization supports the main claim (this is thesis structure).

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General requirements:

MLA format–you will be graded on your citation mechanics, both in-text and Works Cited mechanics. Make sure you show that you understand the use of the slash to show line breaks, indention when you have 3 or more lines to quote, and giving line numbers rather that page numbers in in-text parentheticals.

Your final draft needs to be in the 600-900 word range.

Submit your paper in a Word document that is well named:

(Last-name First-name ENG2240 Poetry essay).

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Think about Jamil Jan Kochais and Jamaica Kincaids respective stories, and think about your own experiences in the kinds of situations and relationships presented in the stories.

Choose either authors story as your focus text for this assignment.

Return to your notes on your focus text and develop your notes further: examine the storys plot, narration and point of view, and characters.

Then think and write in your notes still about how at least one situation or relationship presented in the focus text reflects a situation or relationship in your own life. The situation or relationship in your life should be somewhat similar to the one you have chosen from the story, but it does not have to be the same or nearly the same. You want to choose something that another person would be likely to recognize as similar.

Identify and think about the similarities and differences between what your focus text presents and what you have experienced.

For the final part use my initial post for the discussion and then the student’s reply to my discussion to help finalize the final part of the 3 part assignment. (attached is my initial discussion and the reply in one word document.

Choose a topic from the instructions provided for the Realism, Naturalism, & Modernism Idea Development Assignment Instructions and develop an idea about your chosen topic.

instructions is also attached.

REPLIES 250 WORDS EACH

As you read and comment on your classmates threads, please explain why you liked or disliked the initial thread by adding additional thoughts or ideas if you agreed with the author, or by providing alternative ideas or thoughts when you disagree. Your explanation should be cogent yet concise. And as you compose your final submission, which is due Sunday by midnight, consider ideas suggested by your classmates. Revise and edit carefully to avoid glaring errors, and remember to cite correctly any primary and secondary sources you use. Review the Discussion Rubric as well to be sure your submission meets all requirements.

RUBRIC BELOW and instructions provided on the attached document.

Please be aware that the answers you provide for the virtual lecture quizzes in this course must come from what I’ve said specifically in those virtual lectures. If you provide AI-generated information that does not coincide with my lecture or overly general information pulled from the internet or another source, you will not receive credit for that answer.

Likewise, please remember that the ideas, analysis, and written content you submit for the discussion boards (or any other written assignment) must be your own, not generated or heavily assisted by any AI platforms or programs. Using AI-generated text, ideas, summaries, or analysis in place of your own is a violation of our academic integrity guidelines.

Your written work must reflect your own thinking, voice, and engagement with the material in that learning unit; therefore, you must review all course content and read the assigned text(s) yourself, using the course materials as your primary (and in most cases, only) sources. This means pulling quotes directly from the text(s) yourself and relying on your own understanding of the material to complete assignments.

Please know that, as I grade, Im not looking for perfection when it comes to your writing. Instead, I’m looking for content that is specific, original, and indicative or your viewpoint and voice–writing that lets me know you’re doing the work!

Shorter Essay Assignments

Fiction Essay:

Form/Length:

250 words (about one page), 12-point font and standard one-inch margins; cite your text in MLA style (which means parenthetical in-text citations and a works cited page for the textbook).

Topic:

Choose one of the short stories from the list within the topic of your choosing (on the overall essay instruction sheet). Explore what the story says or reveals about that topic. Create a thesis statement interpreting the story in relation to your chosen topic (it will need to be more specific than my description of the topic in the assignment, so there is lots of room for you to decide what you would like to say about the text in relation to the topic.

In the essay, include a few quotes from the story that relate to the topic and your thesis, analyzing each quote (and other details about the story) and explaining their effects in relation to the topic. You also can use the literary techniques we have been exploring as a way toexplain the effects of the story.

Approach and Structure:

The essay should include a clear central claim offering an interpretation of some aspect of the text (no plot summary, just analysis/interpretation).

The introduction should state this claim (your thesis), give an overview of subtopics that the essay will cover, and include a sense of why your thesis and topic are significant (to give your essay a sense of purpose).

The body paragraphs should each explain a subtopic and offer a quote or two (and in some cases, examples of details as well as quotes, but quotes are just fine) to illustrate each paragraph’s main idea. In other words, the paper will involve a “close reading” of specific moments in the text, which means closely analyzing the language and offering a sense of its effects and meanings.

You may build on my notes and the discussions, butshould also offer your own thoughts about the topic.

You need not do any secondary research; your evidence for your analysis is the primary text (the story itself). If you want to refer to secondary material (such as a historical reference or perhaps theory that explores class or gender, for instance) you are welcome to do so but just focusing on the story is plenty. But do include an MLA-style works cited page to cite the story itself.

A successful essay will be well-written, thoughtful, full of analysis and interpretation of the meanings and effects of aspect(s) of the story, and supported with examples (quotes) from the text. It will not be heavily reliant on AI (only using it as a tool if at all). Instead of sounding vague or generic, it should be clear that the writer has read and thought about the literary text.

Nonfiction Essay

Follow the same instructions as for the fiction essay. The only real difference is that because Coates book is a longer text, youll need to narrow your focus and just explore a small aspect of it rather than trying to cover the whole book. You can choose a short passage or two and analyze them closely, or a theme that relates to the topic. You still need to explain how your focus relates to the book as a whole, but dont have to cover the entire book in any sort of comprehensive way.

Poetry Essay

Follow the same instructions as for the fiction essay. Since our poems are short, you will probably be able to cover most of the poem.

Drama Essay

Follow the instructions for the previous essays, and especially if you choose Ibsen or Sophocles, feel free to focus in on just a part or aspect of the play rather than trying to cover it all since they are longer works.

A book review (1000-1500 words) should begin by clearly identifying the book, including its title, author, genre, and, if relevant, the year of publication. Open with a brief introduction that gives readers a sense of what the book is about without revealing major spoilers. This introduction should set the context and provide enough background so that someone unfamiliar with the book can understand your discussion.

After the introduction, provide a concise summary of the main plot or central argument. Focus only on the most important elements, such as the main character and conflict in a novel, or the primary thesis in a nonfiction work. The purpose of this section is not to retell the entire story but to give readers the foundation they need to understand your evaluation.

The main part of the review should analyze key aspects of the book. Discuss the themes it explores and explain whether they are meaningful or effectively developed. Consider the characters and evaluate whether they are realistic, complex, or relatable. Comment on the authors writing style, noting whether it is clear, engaging, descriptive, or persuasive. You may also reflect on the structure and pacing of the book, explaining whether the organization strengthens or weakens the overall impact. Support your opinions with specific examples, but avoid excessive quotation.

Finally, offer your overall evaluation of the book. Explain whether you found it successful and why. Mention who would benefit most from reading it and whether you would recommend it. You may include a rating if appropriate. Conclude with a clear, thoughtful statement that leaves the reader with a strong sense of your final judgment.

Please choose one of the books we have read in the class.

Use a standard academic font – Times New Roman, size 12, with double spacing and one-inch margins. Include a clear title for your review. Write in complete paragraphs with logical transitions between ideas. If quoting from the book, use proper citation format as required (APA). Only the book should be cited. Carefully proofread your work to ensure correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation before submitting it.