1. POETRY Analysis Essay

2. Introduction Capture reader’s attention:
Quotation, provocative question, brief anecdote, startling statement, etc.
Background info relevant to thesis (to help understand your position)

3. BODY
Topic sentences associated with thesis – assert how the topic will support the central idea
Substance of each developmental paragraph will be explanations, summaries, paraphrases, specific details, and direct quotations needed to support/develop that general idea presented in the topic sentence
Don’t use line numbers as a replacement for quotes – use the exact words that are most important in demonstrating your point

4. Lines Paraphrase Element of Style Effect or Function
“Woodchucks” by Maxine Kumin
Lines
Paraphrase
Element of Style
Effect or Function
“Gassing the woodchucks didn’t turn out right.”
Killing the woodchucks didn’t work.
Informal, conversational diction – concrete and straightforward.
Introduces the poem’s subject, draws the reader into the speaker’s world immediately.
”The knockout bomb from the Feed and Grain Exchange / was featured as merciful, quick at the bone / and the case against them was airtight, / both exits shoehorned shut with puddingstone, / but they had a sub-sub-basement out of range.”
The gas was supposed to give the woodchucks a quick and painless death, but never reached them.
Play on words: the “case” against the woodchucks is “airtight,” much as the woodchucks’ underground home is made airtight to poison them.
The “case” and the ”sub-sub-basement” ascribe human behavior to the woodchucks.
Dark humor downplays the fact that the speaker is killing living creatures.
Humanizing the woodchucks could hint at ambivalence, or it could suggest that the speaker believes it’s fair to wage war against them because they aren’t simply defenseless animals.
“There’s one chuck left. Old wily fellow, he keeps / me cocked and ready day after day after day.”
Only one woodchuck is still alive. The speaker looks for it every day.
Repetition of “day”; the speaker is “cocked and ready.”
There is a sense of the need for eternal vigilance, on guard for the enemy.

5. BODY
Don’t just list devices – focus on showing HOW and WHY they’re used
What does the device add to the meaning?
Discuss their consequences – so what?

6. Thesis Arguable thesis that clearly reflects what you plan to discuss
“The text shows X in order to show/highlight/accomplish Y”
Use language from the prompt, but combine it with an interpretation that you plan to pursue in the essay
Don’t say the writer “uses” diction, tone, syntax to show his/her meaning – ALL sentences have diction, syntax, etc.
What kind of diction, syntax, etc. is being used and why

7. Structure Guide Introduction Opening Thesis Body paragraphs
Topic sentence (extension of 1st part of thesis)
Textual examples
Explanation (what quote says, identify device used)
Analysis (why this is relevant to thesis)
Conclusion
Thesis revisited
Final thoughts