GUIDELINES - CRITICAL ESSAY #2: POETRY
AML 2020 - Dr. Blanchard - Summer A Term, 2009
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SUBJECT
Your subject should be a poem you select from the list of 46 approved poems included in
these guidelines. Keep the "four authors" rule in mind, however; you do not want to write a
critical essay on work by an author whom you might want to select as your research paper
subject.
LENGTH: approximately 600 - 900 words.
FORMAT: typed, on standard white paper, with double-line spacing, using standard 12 pt.
font and plain style, on one side of the paper only, and maintaining appropriate margins.
CONTENT
In your essay, your primary objective should be to illuminate what the poet says in the poem
you select as your subject. Doing so should enable you to explain the theme(s) of the poem.
You may also want to consider how the poet communicates or conveys this or her theme(s). In
other words, what techniques or methods does the poet employ that contribute to the
effectiveness of the poem. Relevant poetic elements you must or may note and, perhaps,
develop in your essay include the following:
Theme : what seems to be the poet's primary message or purpose in writing the poem?
Poetic structure : how many lines does the poem consist of? how many stanzas? do the
stanzas of the poem have a distinct form? If so, what is it?
Type of poem : is the poem representative of a certain formal type, such as a sonnet, or an
ode, or a villanelle? Is the poem a lyric or a narrative poem?
Imagery : does a certain kind or type of imagery predominate in the poem? Is the imagery of
the poem effective in communicating the poet's theme or intent?
Rhyme : does the poem have a regular rhyme scheme? If so, what is it?
Rhythm and Meter : is there a predominant rhythm and/or meter to the poem? If so, what is
it?
Figurative language : does the poet employ similes, metaphors, alliteration, assonance,
allusions, personification, onomatopoeia or other technical features to support the theme(s)
of the poem? Do these elements contribute to the success of the poem?
This list is meant to help you select those topics or main points relevant to your subject poem
which you might want to develop in your essay. You cannot properly address all aspects of any
poem in 600 to 900 words. Thus, you will need to be selective when planning your essay.
AML 2020: Guidelines - Critical Essay #2 (2)
