ENGL 301 (Section 004, Schedule #12391)
Virginia Commonwealth University
Fall 2014
TR 12:30-1:45pm :: 440 Hibbs
Prof. David Golumbia
Office: 324D Hibbs Hall
Fall 2014 Office Hours: TR 2-3:30pm

Introduction to the English Major

PAPER ASSIGNMENT 1

Write a 5-6 page (1500 words) paper in which you analyze the major metaphor or metaphors in the poem you choose. You may refer to Mark Turner's essay on "Poetry" that we read earlier in the semester for a variety of ways to approach the reading of metaphor. Focus on two questions in particular: what are the major overall metaphors in the poem, and how do they work to create the meaning of the poem? You should focus in closely on the specific language used in the poem, while also discussion more briefly what you see as a reasonable interpretation of the poem as a whole.

Choose one of the following poems from the Rita Dove, ed., The Penguin Anthology of Twentieth-Century American Poetry.

General paper instructions

The essay should be 5 to 6 pages in length, but please use your word processor to count the number of words; word count and not page length is the official metric for the assignment. An English paper should include quotations from the work you are analyzing, and short quotations DO count toward the total word count for the essay. Long quotations (of 50 or more words) should not generally be counted toward the 1500 word total for the assignment.

This is not a research paper, and you are not expected to consult outside sources except for the primary book or piece of media you choose to interpret. Any sources, including that primary source, should be properly cited in your paper, using any acceptable bibliographic citation format. One very simple format is to use a list of Works Cited at the end of the paper, and indicate by author, work and page number in parentheses the exact quotations within the paper itself. Since the paper assignment references the "Poetry" essay by Turner, you are free (but are not required) to use quotations from that essay, so long as they are properly cited. You are not expected to use other secondary sources.

For convenience, here is one proper way to cite the Turner essay and "Preludes" by TS Eliot. Within the paper you might quote "The burnt-out ends of smoky days" and then follow it with (Eliot, "Preludes," page 80). Then at the end of the paper you would include the full citation for Eliot given below. You would do the same thing with any quotations from the Turner essay.

Works Cited

Turner, Mark. "Poetry: Metaphor and the Conceptual Context of Invention." In David H. Richter, ed., The Critical Tradition: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends. Third edition. Boston and New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2007. 1077-1088.
Eliot, T.S. "Preludes." In Rita Dove, ed., The Penguin Anthology of Twentieth-Century American Poetry. New York: Penguin Books, 2011. 80-81.

Other standard forms of citation (such as footnotes) are also acceptable, but failing to properly indicate sources technically constitutes plagiarism.

Speaking of plagiarism, all work for this assignment and the rest of this course is expected to be your own, and should not include elements from other sources (such as online commentaries on the works you write about), unless you also put them in quotation marks and clearly indicate your sources as described above.

 

Last updated September 7, 2014.