This document provides instructions for writing an explication of the poem "Danny Deever". It explains that a poetry explication is an analysis of the message of a poem based on a personal interpretation supported by evidence from the poem. It lists questions students should answer in their explication, including what the title contributes, who is speaking and the situation, difficult words, references that need explaining, how the poem develops its idea, the main idea, and any figurative language, symbolism, or allusions used.

1. For this paper, you will be writing an explication of the poem
Danny Deever. A poetry explication is an explanation of what
you believe the message of the poem is. Because you will be
explaining your own personal interpretation of the poem, you
will need to gather some evidence to support your ideas about
the poem. Answer the following questions using your answers in
your paper:
What does the title contribute to the reader's understanding?
Who is speaking? What is the situation?
What difficult, special, unusual words does the poem contain?
What references need explaining?
How does the poem develop? Personal statement or a story?
What is the main idea of the poem?
What kind of figurative language is the poem using? What about
symbolism or literary allusions