help.) Remember to include your word count at the end of your essay, and
also a Works Cited page that cites your poem, plus at least one outside
sources to support/explain your chosen literary theory.
Reminders:
● Use your chosen literary theory (e.g., feminist, psychoanalytical, new
criticism, post structuralism, etc.) to analyze the poem to explain what
the poem “means.”
● Use examples from the text to convincingly support the claims you're
making.
● When quoting extensively, take time to explain the specific parts in the
quote that prove your point.
● Avoid simply offering a summary or restating of each separate lie, but
analyze and discuss the words/lines with a purpose.
● Use the present tense when describing or discussing events in the
poem. In writing about literature, the convention is to always use the
present tense throughout. The idea is that the poet is currently
communicating thoughts to you in the present time.
● Ensure you have correctly spelled all names and titles. Put the name of
the poem in double-quotation marks. When referring to the poet, write
out his/her full name (and later references can be last name only).
● Don’t confuse the poet with the speaker of the poem - they are different.
● Remember to put quotation marks at the beginning and end of each
quoted part. Review the online lectures on Canvas, especially the one
about MLA conventions of writing about poems (week 10).