This document provides an agenda and notes for an English writing class. It covers key elements of writing an academic essay such as developing a strong thesis statement, writing effective introductions and conclusions, and constructing a solid argument with evidence. It also discusses MLA formatting standards and includes examples of analyzing poetry with summaries of specific poems. The document orients students on the key components of writing a successful academic essay with a focus on poetry analysis.

1. EWRT 1C
CLASS 7

2. The Writing:
• The Thesis
• Introductions
• The Argument
• Conclusions
The Technical Details:
• The works cited page
• MLA formatting
AGENDA

3. THE WRITING

4. THE INTRODUCTION
The writer of the academic essay aims to
persuade readers of an idea based on
evidence. The beginning of the essay is a
crucial first step in this process. In order to
engage readers and establish your authority,
the beginning of your essay has to
accomplish certain business. Your beginning
should introduce the essay, focus it, and
orient readers.

5. ORIENT READERS
Orienting readers means providing the information
and explanations necessary for your readers to
understand your argument. Orienting is important
throughout your essay, but it is crucial in the
beginning. Readers who don't have the information
they need to follow your discussion will get lost and
quit reading.
Supplying the necessary information to orient your
readers may be as simple as answering the basic
questions of who, what, where, when, how, and why.
It may mean including a short summary of the text
you'll be analyzing.
At the minimum, the Introductory paragraph should
briefly introduce the author, the style of poem
(sonnet, blank verse, free verse), and the basic
topic/theme the poem addresses. Do make sure it
leads up to the thesis; don’t begin your argument in
the introduction.

6. THESIS STATEMENT
The thesis of the essay will be your statement
of interpretation about what a particular poem
means. There are two related questions that
you should consider in order to come up with
the thesis for your poetry essay:
1. What is this poem about? (determined
through a close reading)
2. Why did the writer choose to use the words,
images, metaphors and perhaps the
particular kind of rhythm scheme; what effect
do they achieve?
Your thesis statement should contain answers
to these questions. Often thesis statements are
complex enough to require two or even three
sentences. If you need multiple sentences to
express your idea, use them.

7. WHY A
STRONG
THESIS?
A paper needs a strong thesis
statement so that it can make a
strong argument. Weak thesis
statements can result in papers
with no clear direction or in
papers that rely on summary to
fill their pages. A good thesis
statement predicts limits and
organizes the content of the
essay. In other words, it notifies
your reader about the scope of
the paper, telling him or her
exactly what your paper will
cover and in what order.

8. EXAMPLES OF
POETRY THESES
• Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” uses robust imagery and
a profoundly ironic tone to illustrate the paradoxical nature of
the speaker’s childhood relationship with his father, suggesting
that a father’s love is not always expressed through a gentle
caress.
• Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” juxtaposes imagery of
playfulness and violence to evoke an ambiguous tone of
reverence mixed with fear, illustrating the speaker’s attempt to
reconcile his paradoxical childhood relationship with his father.
• The waltzing ritual in Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” is
not about dancing; it is about a man who asserts and maintains
physical control over his son even as he loses control over
himself.

9. “THE FISH”
Nature routinely presents us with situations where we assume an action will
result in a logical conclusion with reasonable certainty of being correct. If we
hold paper to a flame, we expect it to catch fire; hold a block of ice over heat,
and it should quickly melt. However, Elizabeth Bishop’s poem, “The Fish,”
twists that expectation. As it opens, the fisher remarks that she caught an
immense fish with no struggle, and rather than take her easy success for
granted, she inspects her catch with some curiosity. Her examination of this
weathered and defeated beast showers us with images of colors and shapes,
initially focusing on the dilapidated state of the fish, but later discovering that
all is not what it seems. Upon experiencing a dazzling epiphany that
enlightens her connection to nature, the fisher is swayed, and releases the
fish back to the sea. Elizabeth Bishop’s poem, “The Fish,” combines vivid
images, ambiguity, and literary tension to illuminate the interconnection
that coexists between nature and man.

10. “TO HIS COY
MISTRESS”
Time proves to be both a blessing and a curse in the limited
timeline a human has, especially in matters of the heart.
Time can be extended long enough to bask in the company
of one’s lover. It can also be a ticking clock until the end of
one’s life and therefore one’s ability to physically embrace
and make love. In “To His Coy Mistress,” Andrew
Marvell writes a speaker so desperate in his efforts to
woo a woman that he will employ both seductive and
terrifying imagery to manipulate the paradox of time in
a lengthy call to action.

11. “BLACK ROOK IN
RAINY WEATHER”
The aspiring critic frequently encounters extraordinary meaning in
the meteorology of a work, but rarely is it so overt as it is in Sylvia
Plath’s melancholic “Black Rook in Rainy Weather.” The poem in
question details the account of the speaker observing a black bird
showering in dismal weather—an incident that prompts a great
deal of existential thought. In reflecting upon her various dull
experiences, the speaker searches for some sort of meaning in
her everyday life, but to little avail. Of the many crises
communicated, the most resonant remains the existential one,
particularly in regards to a missing spirituality and a conspicuously
silent God. Our divided speaker desperately awaits,
paradoxically, a transcendent meaning she knows will never
manifest, resigning herself to a life whose “respite” is found
only in an eternal symbol of death: the lonely black rook.

12. “MEMORIES OF WEST
STREET AND LEPKE”
Robert Lowell’s “Memories of West Street and Lepke” explores the year that
a middle-aged, patrician Bostonian spends in jail for being a conscientious
objector during World War II. At a deeper level, Lowell uses biblical allusions
from Genesis and the passion plays to craft a skeleton for his tightly
constructed exploration of the sense of inauthenticity and disconnection his
narrator feels. In four verse paragraphs, the poet weaves his way through the
misbegotten seasons of his speaker’s life. The protagonist wrestles with the
tensions between the privileged life he leads and the discomfort he
experiences as he struggles to find a sense of integrity within the choices he
has made. The inhabitants of the prison float through the poem like
characters out of a mystery play while Lowell uses irregular but
precisely crafted rhyme schemes, atypical syntax, and metrical shifts to
drive home his conflict over whether Noah’s covenant with God has
been irreparably broken, and if and where any sense of meaning still
resides.

13. TAKE A MINUTE TO LOOK
AT YOUR OWN INTRO AND
THESIS

14. THE ARGUMENT
The first body paragraph generally presents the large
issues; for example, it might advise the reader of
dramatic tension or describe the speaker’s paradox
or conflict.
The next paragraphs should develop the discussion
of the conflict by focusing on details of form, rhetoric,
syntax, and vocabulary. In these paragraphs, the
writer should analyze or explain the poem by
discussing details line by line. The writer should
include important elements of rhyme, rhythm, and
meter here.

15. Each paragraph should consist of a point
which is credible, relevant to your thesis,
and analytical.
• Remember that you are attempting to convince
your reader of certain position.
• Start each paragraph with a topic sentence
that tells your reader the focus of your
argument. Make sure that your topic sentence
ties back to your thesis.
• The body of the paragraph should support
your the assertion (and by extension, your
thesis) with convincing evidence.

16. You must create a compelling argument through evidence,
and you must present that evidence in the context of your
own argument.
• Before the quotation, describe the evidence in terms of the
context of the poem. Where is it located in the poem? Inform the
reader what he or she should be looking for in the poem.
• After the quotation, explain problematic syntax or vocabulary or
describe any particular rhetorical strategy you will include in your
analysis.
• Then, when you analyze the quote, show how it supports the
claims you are making in your thesis. This is the most important
part of your paper; it is where you make your interpretation clear
to the reader and where you prove your thesis. Don't assume
that the quotation will speak for itself—you must explain it, so
the reader understands your interpretation.

17. TAKE A LOOK AT YOUR
OUTLINE OR ARGUMENT.

18. WRITING CONCLUSIONS
The conclusion is your last chance to persuade your readers to
accept your point of view, and to impress yourself upon them as a
writer and thinker. The impression you create in your conclusion
will stay with readers after they have finished the essay.
The end of an essay should therefore convey a sense of
completeness and closure as well as a sense of the lingering
possibilities of the topic, its larger meaning, its implications: the
final paragraph should close the discussion without closing it off.

19. TO ESTABLISH A SENSE OF CLOSURE,
YOU MIGHT DO ONE OR MORE OF THE
FOLLOWING:
1. Conclude by framing your essay, that is linking the last
paragraph to the first, perhaps by reiterating a word or
phrase you used at the beginning.
2. Conclude with a sentence that's compound or parallel in
structure; such sentences can establish a sense of balance
or order that may feel just right at the end of a complex
discussion.
3. Conclude by setting your discussion into a different,
perhaps larger, context.
4. Conclude by considering the implications of your
argument (or analysis or discussion). What does your
argument imply, or involve, or suggest?

20. CONCLUSION
The poem’s style of writing makes it abundantly clear that the
purpose behind “To His Coy Mistress” is far more methodical
than what a reader might interpret from the poem at face value.
Critical analysis of the poem demonstrates the subtly
manipulative nature of the speaker’s conduct with the mistress.
The shifts between positive and negative reinforcement, the
emphasis on time and the lack thereof, the use of specific verb
forms and even the compartmentalization of tone in separate
stanzas, all expose the speaker’s calculating demeanor and
lustful motives. The correspondence is intentionally worded at
each and every step to psychologically pressure the mistress
into accepting the speaker’s advances. This newfound
understanding of the speaker's character raises another,
foreboding question – supposing he convinces the mistress,
what does the speaker ultimately hope to achieve?

21. CONCLUSION
Elizabeth Bishop magnificently paints a picture of a fish, aged
and beaten, that delivers an epiphany to the fisher that caught
it. In the span of only a few moments, this fish teaches her that
she is connected to nature around her, and that she must live
the rest of her life on her terms. Bishop’s use and range of color
vary to carry different tones and help make the poem’s images
vivid. She continually reinforces the old and weathered image of
the fish, while completely refraining from describing the fisher at
all, allowing the reader to place himself or herself into the boat
with the fish. As this substitution takes place, the fisher
experiences a powerful epiphany, connecting her to nature
around her and showing her the future in a blast of color and
light.

22. LOOK AT YOUR
CONCLUSION

23. TIPS TO KEEP IN MIND
1.Refer to the speaking voice in the poem as the
speaker.”
2.Use the present tense when writing the explication.
The poem, as a work of literature, continues to
exist!
3.To avoid unnecessary uses of the verb “to be” in
your compositions, the following list suggests some
verbs you can use when writing the explication:

24. MLA FORMATTING
STYLE
HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=8XAC4YZ8VS
A

25. MLA FORMAT: ON OUR WEBSITE UNDER
“WRITING SUPPORT.”
MLA (Modern Language Association) style is most commonly used to write
papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities.
MLA style specifies guidelines for formatting manuscripts and using the
English language in writing. MLA style also provides writers with a system
for referencing their sources through parenthetical citation in their essays
and Works Cited pages.
Writers who properly use MLA also build their credibility by demonstrating
accountability to their source material. Most importantly, the use of MLA
style can protect writers from accusations of plagiarism, which is the
purposeful or accidental uncredited use of source material by other writers.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/

27. Double Click in Header
Area
Type your last name
Justify right
Go to “insert” and click
on “page number
MARGINS AND
FORMATTING
HEADER: LAST
NAME 1
 1” all around
 Go to “Layout” and
adjust margins or use
custom settings
 Times New Roman 12
 Indent body
paragraphs ½ inch
from the margin

28. • Your Name
• Dr. Kim Palmore
• EWRT 1c
• 3 May 2015
• Original Title (not the title of
your poem)
• No italics, bold, underline, or
quotation marks
• Centered on the page
• No extra spaces (just double
spaced after your heading
and before the body of your
text.
HEADING: DOUBLE
SPACED
TITLE

29. MAKING A
WORKS CITED
PAGE MLA
STYLE
ENSURE THAT YOU HAVE A
PROPERLY FORMATTED WORKS
CITED PAGE

30. Here is an overview of the MLA 8th citation process:
When deciding how to cite your source, start by consulting the list of core
elements. These are the general pieces of information that MLA suggests
including in each Works Cited entry. In your citation, the elements should be
listed in the following order:
Author.
Title of source.
Title of container,
Other contributors,
Version,
Number,
Publisher,
Publication date,
Location.
Each element should be followed by the punctuation mark shown here. Earlier
editions of the handbook included the place of publication, and required
punctuation such as journal editions in parentheses, and colons after issue
numbers. In the current version, punctuation is simpler (just commas and
periods separate the elements), and information about the source is kept to the
basics.

31. Optional Elements: include any information that helps readers easily
identify the source, without including unnecessary information that may
be distracting.
Date of original publication: for clarity
Erdrich, Louise. Love Medicine. 1984. Perennial-Harper, 1993.
City of publication: necessary when a work is published before 1900
Thoreau, Henry David. Excursions. Boston, 1863.
Date of access and URLs: When you cite an online source.
Bernstein, Mark. "10 Tips on Writing the Living Web." A List Apart: For People
Who Make Websites, 16 Aug. 2002, alistapart.com/article/writeliving. Accessed
4 May 2009.
DOIs: A digital object identifier, is a series of digits and letters that leads to the
location of an online source.
Alonso, Alvaro, and Julio A. Camargo. "Toxicity of Nitrite to Three Species of
Freshwater Invertebrates." Environmental Toxicology, vol. 21, no. 1, 3 Feb.
2006, pp. 90-94. Wiley Online Library, doi: 10.1002/tox.20155.

32. For this essay, you will likely be citing only the poem you are analyzing. Here are
directions for citing a poem accessed on a web site according to MLA standards.
 Cite the poem as a page or article on a web site.
 You may have to navigate to other pages on the Web site to find citation
information ("About Us," About this Site," etc.)
 If you cannot find some of the elements of the citation, you may omit the
missing elements.
Rothke, Theodore. “My Papa’s Waltz.” 1942.
Poetry Foundation,
poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-
poets/poems/detail/43330. Accessed 23
April 2017.
Author Title of
Source
Original
publication date
Container

33. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/media/pdf/20
090701095636_747.pdf

34. HOMEWORK
 Post #6: Your introduction with your thesis; your
conclusion
 Draft your essay
 Bring two complete copies of your draft to our next class.
You must have two copies to participate in the Peer
Review Workshop.