Comparison

Comparison Assignment: For Paper #2, you will pick two poems on a similar theme to compare and contrast. Your paper will explain" rel="nofollow">in how the poems use some of the poetic devices we’ve been discussin" rel="nofollow">ing to express distin" rel="nofollow">inct attitudes towards their common subject. It will poin" rel="nofollow">int out the similarities and differences in" rel="nofollow">in the ways the two poems do this. Therefore, you will need to compare and contrast the general tones of the poems as well as how they use poetic devices to create those tones. Poetic devices you might want to consider in" rel="nofollow">include diction, imagery, figurative language, sound (in" rel="nofollow">includin" rel="nofollow">ing rhyme, alliteration, assonance, rhythm, and meter), and form. Your audience for this paper is other students in" rel="nofollow">in the class who have read these poems. You can assume that your reader has the poems in" rel="nofollow">in front of him or her, so you don’t need to quote the whole poem, though a brief paraphrase might be useful. You will need to quote specific lin" rel="nofollow">ines, phrases, or words in" rel="nofollow">in order to poin" rel="nofollow">int out specific features of the poems. Your purpose is to help your reader see the differences and similarities in" rel="nofollow">in the two poems and, consequently, to better understand how each one works to create its particular effects or meanin" rel="nofollow">ings. Your paper should be 800 – 1000 words long, typed and double-spaced, with 1” margin" rel="nofollow">ins all around. Use of secondary sources (other than our own textbook) is not allowed for this assignment. Topic: 2. Compare and contrast the ways Lovelace’s “To Lucasta” (p. 486) and Owens’ “Dulce et Decorum Est” (p. 486-87) represent their common subject: war. What claims does each poem make about war? What tone or attitude is taken towards war? How does each poem use specific poetic devices to create its tone? Process Pre-writin" rel="nofollow">ing: 1. Pick your pair of poems. 2. Read each one through a few times, in" rel="nofollow">includin" rel="nofollow">ing out loud, to begin" rel="nofollow">in to get a general sense of its attitude towards or claim about its subject. Keep in" rel="nofollow">in min" rel="nofollow">ind that tone may change over the course of a poem. 3. Try to make sense of any tricky or ambiguous lin" rel="nofollow">ines. Ask questions if you need to. 4. Use the list of questions below to help you identify the specific poetic devices used in" rel="nofollow">in each poem. Pay special attention to lin" rel="nofollow">ines or passages that seem important to establishin" rel="nofollow">ing the poem’s general meanin" rel="nofollow">ing or tone. Consider how the specific poetic devices seem to be contributin" rel="nofollow">ing to the poem’s meanin" rel="nofollow">ing, tone, or effects. 5. Note similarities and differences between the poems’ general meanin" rel="nofollow">ings, claims, or tone. Note similarities and differences between the way the poems use specific poetic devices to create those meanin" rel="nofollow">ings, claims, or tones. Draftin" rel="nofollow">ing: There are two general ways to organize a comparison/contrast argument of this sort. One way would be to discuss each poem separately: that is, say everythin" rel="nofollow">ing you have to say about poem A and then say everythin" rel="nofollow">ing you have to say about poem B. At some poin" rel="nofollow">int, either in" rel="nofollow">in the discussion of poem B or in" rel="nofollow">in a concludin" rel="nofollow">ing section of the paper, you need to poin" rel="nofollow">int out the similarities and differences you’ve discovered, both the general ones and the specific ones. The second way to organize such an argument would be to discuss comparable aspects of the poems one at a time: thus, you might have a paragraph or two on how each one uses imagery, followed by a discussion of how each one uses figurative language, followed by a discussion of how each one uses rhyme, etc. For most papers on this assignment, I thin" rel="nofollow">ink the first approach would probably work better. It allows you to offer a more coherent readin" rel="nofollow">ing of each poem, rather than makin" rel="nofollow">ing your reader skip back and forth between the two poems. The second approach might work for two poems that are very similar, such as two different Shakespeare sonnets. If you like the second approach, be sure to give your reader a quick overview of the similarities and differences you will focus on at the begin" rel="nofollow">innin" rel="nofollow">ing of the paper, to help your reader stay oriented. Whichever approach you take, I’d recommend outlin" rel="nofollow">inin" rel="nofollow">ing this paper before you begin" rel="nofollow">in draftin" rel="nofollow">ing it. Sometimes outlin" rel="nofollow">ines can be stiflin" rel="nofollow">ing, but the organization of this sort of paper will probably be pretty straightforward in" rel="nofollow">in most cases. Of course, if you come up with a neat or useful in" rel="nofollow">insight after you’ve made your outlin" rel="nofollow">ine, fin" rel="nofollow">ind some way to adjust the outlin" rel="nofollow">ine to fit it in" rel="nofollow">in. Keep in" rel="nofollow">in min" rel="nofollow">ind that you will probably not want to write about all the poetic features and devices you identify in" rel="nofollow">in each poem. Rather, you will want to pick the ones that seem important in" rel="nofollow">in creatin" rel="nofollow">ing each poem’s distin" rel="nofollow">inct tone, effect, or meanin" rel="nofollow">ing. Get to Know Your Poems Havin" rel="nofollow">ing picked the poems you’ll be writin" rel="nofollow">ing about in" rel="nofollow">in Paper #2, take the followin" rel="nofollow">ing in" rel="nofollow">initial steps to begin" rel="nofollow">in explorin" rel="nofollow">ing each one: 1. Try to decide the subject and theme of the poem: Subject: what is the poem about? Theme: what does the poem seem to say or feel about its subject? 2. Figure out how to read the poem aloud. Follow the punctuation. 3. Attempt to paraphrase the poem. Are there any words or lin" rel="nofollow">ines whose sense is not clear to you? 4. How would you defin" rel="nofollow">ine the tone of the poem? Is the tone consistent throughout or does it change? What poetic devices create the poem’s tone? 5. Identify words, phrases, or lin" rel="nofollow">ines which for any reason seem to stand out when you read them. Can you explain" rel="nofollow">in why they do? Do they stand out for a reason? Are they particularly significant in" rel="nofollow">in the poem? 6. What is the structure of the poem? Does it seem to be a closed form or open form poem? Why? If closed form, what are its important formal structures (e.g., lin" rel="nofollow">ine lengths, rhyme scheme, stanza form, etc.)? In either case, does it seem to be broken in" rel="nofollow">into parts, sections, or steps? 7. Identify all imagery in" rel="nofollow">in the poem. What kin" rel="nofollow">inds are there? You might want to list the imagery in" rel="nofollow">in order to see what the sequence of images suggests. 8. Identify all figurative language in" rel="nofollow">in the poem. What specific kin" rel="nofollow">inds of figurative language do you fin" rel="nofollow">ind (e.g., metaphor, similie, personification, metonymy, etc.)? What effect does the figurative language have? What do the figures suggest about the thin" rel="nofollow">ings they denote? 9. Fin" rel="nofollow">ind examples of alliteration, assonance, or other in" rel="nofollow">interestin" rel="nofollow">ing uses of the sounds of words. Do these uses of sound “echo” the sense of the poem? 10. If the poem rhymes, does it follow a structured rhyme scheme? Do the rhymes create a strong sense of rhythm in" rel="nofollow">in the poem? Do they highlight important words? Do you notice in" rel="nofollow">internal rhymes? 11. Does the poem contain" rel="nofollow">in caesura that in" rel="nofollow">interrupt the rhythms of certain" rel="nofollow">in lin" rel="nofollow">ines? What effects are created at the ends of lin" rel="nofollow">ines? What lin" rel="nofollow">ines are end-stopped or run-on? Does the poem sound musical, conversational, rough, smooth? 12. Scan the poem for stressed and unstressed syllables and for significant pauses. Do these rhythmic devices enhance the poem’s effectiveness? Does the poem follow a particular form or meter? 13. Review your responses to the above questions. Begin" rel="nofollow">in to note ways in" rel="nofollow">in which these features of the poem work together to contribute to the poem’s meanin" rel="nofollow">ings or effects.