Waved my nude arms at villages going by,

1000-1500 words
PLEASE RESPECT BOTH UPPER AND LOWER WORD LIMITS
Reread the assignment many times as you work on your paper–there is a lot of information here.
Format: Please double space all work for this class, and indicate a new paragraph by indenting the paragraph, and not by putting extra spaces between paragraphs. You will lose points for incorrect format.
Your first assignment is to take a small poem and write an argument defending a reading of it. That means that you must first choose a poem. You may choose any poem by the following writers, and must type your poem into the file with your paper and upload it together: Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath, Mary Oliver, Phillip Levine, Etheridge Knight, Linda Hogan, Wallace Stevens, Gary Soto, Adrienne Rich, June Jordan, Sharon Olds, Gwendolyn Brooks, Lucille Clifton. Canvas will only accept one file per assignment so they must be uploaded together!
You may NOT write a paper on any poem that I posted to the class—these poems are meant as models for the process of thinking and analyzing poetry. The poem should be reasonably short (a fair guide is one page maximum, but a long poem with very short lines might be a bit longer than that.)
(Poems read in class: “The Emperor of Ice Cream” by Wallace Stevens, “The Word Plum” by Helen Chasin, “On Being Served Apples” by Bonnie Jacobson, “The Joy of Cooking” by Elaine Magarell, and “Home-Baked Bread” by Sally Croft)
Poem choice will be crucial to this assignment. I would suggest looking at at least three or four poems and spending some time actually working on them using the tools before you choose. Don’t choose a poem that seems “easy”; these poems often leave the interpreter with not a lot to say. If the message of the poem seems fairly obvious then your paper should focus on why the poet says it in exactly this way, using exactly these words.
Cut and paste the poem itself into the beginning of the file, so that I can refer to it easily.
In your first paragraph you should introduce the poem and provide some kind of background, whether historical, biographical, or theme-related. The first paragraph should have a statement of your thesis which identifies a theme (an idea the poem is about) of the poem and then makes a definite and specific statement about what the poem is trying to say about that theme. Refer to the author by his or her full name in the intro, put quote marks around the poem title. After the first mention the poet should be referred to by last name only.
SPECIAL NOTE: I love Mary Oliver, but her poetry is hard to write about well. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that you should write about something just because you like it.
The body of the paper (three to five paragraphs) should use close reading skills and the analytical tools discussed in class to show how the poem supports your thesis. You should use ALL the analytical tools discussed in class. Your paper can be organized by moving through the poem from beginning to end or by thematic/conceptual divisions. No matter how you choose to organize, each paragraph should be explicitly supporting the thesis (it might only be supporting part of the thesis). Include topic sentences that state what the main idea of each paragraph is and transitions which connect ideas together and tie back to the thesis.
The conclusion can discuss your own personal experience with the poem, or return to discussing some kind of background for the poem, or discuss whether you agree with what you think the poem is saying. The conclusion should not restate and summarize the argument, but take us to some slightly different place. What is important about this poem? Why choose it?
Grammar tips and notes:
Poetry titles should be in quote marks, and authors referred to by full name the first mention, and last name only after that. All work submitted for this class should be double spaced and paragraphsshould be indented.
This paper does not need to use documentation
but should be careful about using quotations marks correctly.
When quoting a full sentence, “Capitalize the first word of that sentence.” Periods and commas ALWAYS go INSIDE the quote marks. This includes when you are giving the name of the poem, as in Sylvia Plath’s poem “Mirror.”
If you are quoting a line of poetry and your quote includes a line break, indicate this with a backslash: Wallace Stevens tell us to, “Call the roller of big cigars/the muscular one.”
If you are quoting more than three lines, use the long quote format: you can look that up at the Online Writing Lab at Purdue University.
Also, be aware that people often introduce unnecessary commas around titles. Commas only go around titles when you have already adequately identified the text. Usually you do not want these commas.
Wallace Stevens’s poem “The Emperor of Ice-Cream” addresses themes of sensual pleasure and death. (see, no commas)
But
Wallace Stevens’s most famous poem, “The Emperor of Ice-Cream,” is widely anthologized and is one of the most memorable poems of the twentieth century.
Side personal note: I was originally going to use the poem “Her Kind” by Anne Sexton (copy and pasted below) but please feel free to use another poem of your liking from an author in the instructions that DO NOT include the poems we have used in class.
Her Kind
Anne Sexton – 1928 – 1974
I have gone out, a possessed witch,
haunting the black air, braver at night;
dreaming evil, I have done my hitch
over the plain houses, light by light:
lonely thing, twelve-fingered, out of mind.
A woman like that is not a woman, quite.
I have been her kind.
I have found the warm caves in the woods,
filled them with skillets, carvings, shelves,
closets, silks, innumerable goods;
fixed the suppers for the worms and the elves:
whining, rearranging the disaligned.
A woman like that is misunderstood.
I have been her kind.
I have ridden in your cart, driver,
waved my nude arms at villages going by,
learning the last bright routes, survivor
where your flames still bite my thigh
and my ribs crack where your wheels wind.
A woman like that is not ashamed to die.
I have been her kind.
Below I have attatched a file (poetry worksheet) includingtopics we have covered regarding poem analytics and what type of analyzation my professor is looking for. The other document is a sample paper and what she is looking for.
Thank you

Calculate your order
Pages (275 words)
Standard price: $0.00
Client Reviews
4.9
Sitejabber
4.6
Trustpilot
4.8
Our Guarantees
100% Confidentiality
Information about customers is confidential and never disclosed to third parties.
Original Writing
We complete all papers from scratch. You can get a plagiarism report.
Timely Delivery
No missed deadlines – 97% of assignments are completed in time.
Money Back
If you're confident that a writer didn't follow your order details, ask for a refund.

Calculate the price of your order

You will get a personal manager and a discount.
We'll send you the first draft for approval by at
Total price:
$0.00
Power up Your Academic Success with the
Team of Professionals. We’ve Got Your Back.
Power up Your Study Success with Experts We’ve Got Your Back.