How does this poem use the resources of language to achieve its effect?
Choose two poems, one of which must be one we have not read for class. Then, you will write an essay in which you analyze both poems in terms of a key feature they both share, comparing and contrasting the ways each utilizes or treats that feature. This feature could be, for instance:
· similar symbols used in different ways, such as a hummingbird to represent joy and a raven to represent death;
· typography that takes on a certain shape, like [Buffalo Bill’s] in the shape of a bullet, and how meaning is made from it;
· the way rhyme suggests a certain interpretation by drawing attention to certain words;
· or maybe similarities in how the poem develops an idea from the beginning of the end, such using an abrupt turn at the end.
How does this poem use the resources of language to achieve its effect? What do you notice and what’s the takeaway? What meaning do you make? Support your essay with evidence from the text.
Potential places to find poems include websites such as PoetryFoundation.com or even song lyrics (provided you can identify poetic qualities in them!)
For this paper, you will do no outside research. This analysis should come solely from a conversation between you and the poems.
Requirements
· Length of 3+ pages, double-spaced, 12-pt. Times New Roman font, 1-inch margins all around
· MLA format (including a Works Cited page). Don’t forget the MLA section of the Purdue OWL as a useful resource.
· Should be written in academic language (see the Writing Guidelines document if needed)
Poem Read in class:
The Valley of Unrest
Once it smiled a silent dell
Where the people did not dwell;
They had gone unto the wars,
Trusting to the mild-eyed stars,
Nightly, from their azure towers,
To keep watch above the flowers,
In the midst of which all day
The red sun-light lazily lay.
Now each visitor shall confess
The sad valley’s restlessness.
Nothing there is motionless—
Nothing save the airs that brood
Over the magic solitude.
Ah, by no wind are stirred those trees
That palpitate like the chill seas
Around the misty Hebrides!
Ah, by no wind those clouds are driven
That rustle through the unquiet Heaven
Uneasily, from morn till even,
Over the violets there that lie
In myriad types of the human eye—
Over the lilies there that wave
And weep above a nameless grave!
They wave:—from out their fragrant tops
External dews come down in drops.
They weep:—from off their delicate stems
Perennial tears descend in gems.
