For Essay 1, write an explication of one of the assigned poems. Attached is a sample explication essay.
Choose to write about only one of the following:
- “The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop, 1911-1979
- “A Blessing” by James Wright, 1927-1980
- “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke
- “Lady Lazarus” by Sylvia Plath, 1932-1963
- “The Blue Bowl” by Jane Kenyon
- “Most Like an Arch This Marriage” by John Ciardi
In brief, “in an explication essay, you examine a work in much detail. Line by line, stanza by stanza…you explain each part as fully as you can and show how the author’s techniques produce your response. An explication is essentially a demonstration of your thorough understanding of a work” (Literature: The Human Experience 47).
For this particular essay, you will want to focus on the poetic techniques of diction, tone, image, and/or figurative language, which we will also cover in this unit.
Your essay must be between 500 and 750 words and adhere to MLA formatting. It needs to quote directly from your chosen text for support, but it should not use any secondary research.
Remember that the explication essay should not just summarize the poem.
It needs to look at the different elements of poetry used and offer a detailed explanation of the poem that also addresses the poem’s overall effect and meaning.
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