WCU - Spring 2006 Poetry Journal Project Assignment Sheet

What is your poetry journal project? This project will represent the record of your independent work with several poems you choose on your own. You can choose works I’ve assigned the class but you are not required to. Your project includes the text of the works you choose and your original commentary. Your commentary should include both personal reflection (response writing) and objective analysis or interpretation, although you may choose one approach over the other for individual poems. You’re invited (and encouraged) to be creative in the structure, arrangement and final presentation of your finished journal, though you must meet the requirements below.

JOURNAL REQUIREMENTS
   Give your journal a title and create an attractive cover page
   Include the text of each work you choose
   Choose a minimum of 10 works (3 works max. by the same author); song lyrics are acceptable, but the journal must be at least 50% written poetry
   Approximately 250 words (minimum) of commentary for each poem (in a 12pt. font, this is about half a page, single-spaced). No maximum; you can write as much as you’d like.
   Minimum of one additional original poem (so that the journal contains a total of 11 works all together as a minimum)

SUGGESTED READING
   Notes relating to Poetry on the course website [http://brainstorm-services.com/wcu-2005]
   Textbook: Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature, “Reading Poetry” (pp. 563-584)

GUIDELINES FOR PERSONAL REFLECTION (response writing)
   Use the material in the poem as a springboard for exploring your own personal experiences, emotions, attitudes. Compare/contrast your understanding of the poem’s voice or vision with your own experience of the world. For more guidance, refer to your handout, “Reading Literature Responsively.”

GUIDELINES FOR OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS / INTERPRETATION
Follow these steps to objectively analyze and interpret the works you’ve chosen:

   Step 1: Observe. Paraphrase the work. In your own words, create a “play by play” view of what happens in the poem.
   Step 2: Draw Inferences. Discuss possible interpretations of the work’s meaning or theme. Ask yourself, “What is this work about? What does it have to say? What’s the attitude of the speaker?”
   Step 3: Support your inferences. Which details help illustrate the themes identified in step 2? Can you quote these as evidence to support your interpretation? Which lines, relevant figures of speech, patterns of imagery, stanzas structures, rhyme schemes or sound effects contribute to your sense of the work’s meaning, your interpretation?

Questions? Contact me.

All materials unless otherwise indicated are copyright © 2001-2008 by Stacy Tartar Esch.

The original contents of this site may not be reproduced, republished, reused, or retransmitted
without the express written consent of Stacy Tartar Esch.
These contents are for educational purposes only.