Department of English

Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University

2202242  Introduction to the Study of English Poetry

Poetry Is...

An Undergraduate Poetry Paper Presentation

February 15, 20, 22, 2007

Boromrajakumari Building 

Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University

The Paper

There will be six groups of students altogether (three with four students and three with three).  Each group of 3-4 students will write a 7-10 page (2,100-3,000 words) paper that focuses on one poem and explores how that poem defines poetry.  Use the MLA format.  See some writing guidelines and sample papers below.

Friday, December 21, 2007

Final paper outline due

Wednesday, January 23, 2007

Final paper draft due

Friday, February 15, 2007

Final paper due

The appendix of your paper should contain:

• the full title and text of your group's poem

• the poet's name

• a list of your group members' names

• a paraphrase of the poem

• scansion of the poem

• indication of relevant literary and musical devices or other notable elements in the poem, such as

  • tone

  • denotation, connotation

  • imagery (visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile)

  • simile

  • metaphor

  • personification

  • apostrophe

  • overstatement

  • understatement

  • allusion

  • metonymy

  • synecdoche

  • symbol

  • allegory

  • paradox

  • irony (verbal, dramatic, situational)

  • repetition

  • refrain

  • alliteration

  • assonance

  • consonance

  • onomatopoeia

  • rhyme, rhyme scheme

  • rhythm

  • meter

  • foot

  • form and type (sonnet, limerick, epic, romance, ballad, lyric, elegy, ode)

  • theme

Some writing guidelines:

• "Some Matters of Form" by Yale University (writing guidelines; pdf file)

• Writing Prose (handbook on college writing, Yale University; pdf file)

• Writing about Literature

• Writing about Poetry (some do's and don'ts)

• Writing Papers for English and Literature: A Word of Advice (also A Few Things to Remember)

• The Craft of a Literature Paper

• Writing a Literature Paper: Guidelines, Suggestions, Strategies

• What Makes a Good Literature Paper?

• Guide to Essay Writing (helpful reference, where to start, evidence, argument, what is a good essay)

• Writing about Literature (elements of the essay, the writing process, the research essay, documentation)

• Developing an Outline (pdf file)

• How to Write an Outline

Some sample papers:

• "Appearances and Verbal Paradox: Sonnets 129 and 138" by J. Bunselmeyer (accessible on Chula campus computers)

• "To Know Well" by Jane Smith (Word file)

• "Revolutionary Ideals in Wordsworth’s 'The Convict'" by Laura Kovick

• "'Perhaps A Tale You'll Make It': The Movement from Sentiment to Social Awareness and Involvement in Wordsworth's 'Simon Lee'" by Kim Kefalas

• "Othello: The Tragedy of Human Nature" by Zakia Al-Amin

The title of your paper should convey clearly what the paper is about. To give you an idea of how informative the title of your paper should be, here are some titles of past student papers:

• The Adventure of Sound: James Fenton’s “Blood and Lead”

• A Journey with Death to Nowhere: Imagery in Emily Dickinson’s “Because I could not stop for death”

• Outshining Negativity: Personification in Valerie Bloom’s “Two Seasons”

• Death the Helper: Life, Happiness, and Poems about Death

• Langston Hughes' "The Negro Speaks of Rivers": Self-Worth and African American Poetry

• Innocence, Experience, and Child Labor: William Blake's "The Chimney Sweeper"

• "Who says my hand a needle better fits"?: Anne Bradstreet and Contemporary Feminist Expectations

The Recording Sessions for Radio

Think of the radio episode you are preparing as a close-reading of a poem that shows the general public how wonderful the poem is, somewhat like a poetry version of Rob Kapilow's "What Makes It Great" series for classical music (hear excerpts).  We want this to be a fun but intellectually stimulating introduction to poetry in English where you share your discoveries about the particular poem you've chosen with listeners at home.  Each session will consist of:

• 15-minute presentation (recorded)

• 10-minute question and answer session (not recorded)

Here is a rough cut of the voices that introduce the program:

• Poetry Is mixdown (wav file; 0:27 min.; 4.68 MB)

• Text of the voices: Poetry is a train, a digital camera, a time machine, an encyclopedia, a river of words, treasure, exercise, woman, small print, fragmented memories, blooming flowers, question and answer, poison, journey, phoenix, pirate map, a Pandora box, another world--Poetry is a rainbow and it can make every tone in human’s emotional spectrum become visible.

We will be recording according to this tentative schedule:

Friday, February 15, 2007

8-9 a.m. (BRK 301)

Session 1: Conquering the Jabberwock (Panjaporn, Phavit)

Wednesday, February 20, 2007

11 a.m.-1 p.m. (BRK 312)

Session 2 (Tanyalak, Tanadcha, Pritzana)

Session 3 (Papawarin, Pleowadee, Pochamarn)

Session 4 (Patcharanan, Porncharas, Phantida, Parima)

Session 5 (Pawinrat, Naruporn, Neeranuch)

Friday, February 22, 2007

8-9 a.m. (BRK 301)

Session 6: A Greater Freedom: Beating an Invisible Cage in Dunbar's "Sympathy" (Navanat, Pancharle, Nawaporn M., Nawaporn P.)

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Last updated February 14, 2008