An explication of a poem is a line-by-line, sentence-by-sentence analysis of what the poem says

An explication of a poem is a line-by-line, sentence-by-sentence analysis of what the poem says

Poetry Explication Essay

Format: Essay should be formatted according to MLA:double spaced, indented paragraphs, standard font (Times New Roman), print size (12), and margins (1”) with a title and proper placement of name and class information. See tutorial under Lecture Notes.

Your tone and language should be appropriate for a college-educated audience. Avoid the use of first person (I, me, in my opinion).

Length: 4-6 pages. You may go over this maximum length only if it enriches the analysis. If you feel you have completed a thorough explication in three pages, this is fine as long as the explication is complete.

Weight: 20% of final grade

Objective: An explication of a poem is a line-by-line, sentence-by-sentence analysis of what the poem says, according to your interpretation, using the lines of the poem as compelling evidence. According to our textbook, “In an explication (literally, “an unfolding), a writer explains an entire poem in detail, unraveling its complexities” (1389).

Selection: You must choose from one of the poems discussed in class within the discussion board forums.

Your essay should contain a brief, relevant, and engaging introduction which then leads to your thesis statement.

Thesis: The thesis statement presents the central, analytical idea to be explored within your essay. Ideally, it should indicate, either implicitly or explicitly, the poetic devices used to enrich the poem. Your explication will support that claim.Here’s a hypothetical example:Through the use of irony and graphic imagery juxtaposed by a distant, nonchalant tone of the speaker of “Saboteur,” Ha Jin effectively emphasizes the political corruption in his native China. Here, the writer explicitly mentions the poetic devices used within the poem and how they contribute to theme. If the writer chose to present this implicitly it could be presented as: Through the use of various poetic elements within the work “Saboteur,” Ha Jin effectively emphasizes….etc.

Citations from the selected poem: You should incorporate direct lines from the poem to support your explication. If citing more than one line, please use a forward slash to indicate where a line ends and a new one begins. Here’s an example: The poem opens with an eerie, somewhat disturbing image and the introduction of a mysterious woman: “Even the long-dead are willing to move. / Without a word, she came with me from the desert” (1. 2-3). Please follow the parenthetical citation format for citing lines of poem according to MLA. Here, this indicates stanza 1, lines 2-3. If your selected poem is one stanza only, just cite the line number(s). Also note that when quote is introduced by a full signal sentence, a colon is placed before the quote.

Organization of Body of Essay:As mentioned, you should have a clearly delineated, engaging introduction ending with your thesis statement. Please include poet’s full name and title of poem somewhere in your introduction. Titles of poems are placed in quotation marks.

The body of your essay will contain your explication, divided into paragraphs. Stylistically, this will depend on the poem you have selected. If a multi-stanza poem, you can devote a paragraph to each stanza. Or if one stanza, you can choose to group perhaps three lines (or four) and devote a paragraph to those four lines, then move through the poem accordingly. Remember to begin your explication with the poem’s first line and work through the work, line by line. You should also discuss any poetic devices used in the poem that enrich the poem—i.e. imagery, figurative language such as metaphors and/or similes, dialect, sound devices, etc. Be sure to have clear transitions/topic sentences between paragraphs that take readers smoothly through the poem. You should close with a clearly delineated conclusion where you can re-emphasize thesis, highlight key points, and discuss theme or message of the poem.

Guidance with literary elements. Some elements you might discuss in your explication are below. These are just some examples; feel free to discuss other elements such as sound devices:

“Mother to Son:” metaphor of the staircase, symbolism, dialect of the mother

“Facing It:” simile, metaphor, sensory imagery, shifting tone of the speaker

“Happiness:” simile, metaphor, personification, imagery

“Those Winter Sundays:” shifting tone of the speaker, imagery, personification, repetition

As with the Characterization & Character Arc essay, this assignment does not require research. Any evidence of plagiarism will result in a failing grade. Since you will only use this one source, your selected poem within your textbook, you do not need to have a Works Cited page.

The rubric to be used for assessment of this essay is below:

Grading Rubric / English 1020

Poetry Explication

**Each essay will be assessed by the grading category/rubric that best corresponds to content. A solid “A” will begin at a 95; anything above a 95 is generally considered to be superior. An A- will start at a 93, a paper that is borderline A/B but leans more toward the A scale will start at a 90, and so forth. Percentages may be higher or lower depending on content and mechanics.