Wed./Thurs., February 03, 2016 You will need a few sheets of notebook paper for what we’re doing today

Poetry Analysis Prompt Write an essay in which you analyze your assigned poem from the Harlem Renaissance Era. In your essay, you will need to analyze how the poet’s life or historical events of the time period influenced the deeper meaning present in the poem and/or how the poet used certain rhetorical strategies (i.e. metaphor, simile, repetition, rhyme scheme, etc.) to express the deeper meaning found in the poem.

Interpretive Response Essay Summarize the text in 2-3 sentences. (Imagine your audience has never heard this poem. Tell them what it is about, how the poet expresses himself/herself, what about the poem stands out, etc. Thesis: Explain the message the poem teaches us about life. (What is the theme? What is the poet trying to tell us? Intro  Body  X 2 Conclusion  Explain which topic you will discuss in each body paragraph. (Historical Events, Poet’s Life, or Poet’s Use of Techniques/ Rhetorical Devices) Choose ONE specific example to represent the chosen topic. (one historical event, one event from poet’s life, one rhetorical device from poem, etc. Give textual evidence for each example from the poem itself or your own research. (quote from poem, biography, historical context, etc.) Explain what each piece of textual evidence means and how it relates to the message/theme of the poem. (2-3 sentences) Describe a specific personal connection you made with the message of the poem? (Explain a specific instance in your life when you felt you could relate to the poet’s message. What happened? How did you feel? What was the outcome?