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English 112 Short Paper #1. The Power of Words in Poetry: Analatical essay on true love

Essay Instructions:

English 112 Short Paper #1: The Power of Words in Poetry Due Date: Wednesday, April 2nd @ 5:30p “Poetry focuses… on connotative, emotional, or associative meanings and conveys meaning more through suggestion, indirection, and the use of metaphor, symbol, and imagery” (Making Literature Matter 143) For this first assignment, you will select one of the poems we read so far in Chapters 1 & 6 and write a 600 word short essay that focuses on one word in the poem, explaining its significance and how it creates, changes, and explores the overall meaning of the poem. Here is the comprehensive list of poems from those chapters: “Lying in a Hammock…”, “Woodchucks”, “We Did Not Fear the Father”, “What Work Is”, “Singapore”, “Blackberries”, “The Mill”, “So Mexicans Are Taking Jobs from Americans”, “The Lady in the Pink Mustang”, “The Secretary Chant”, and “The Restaurant Business”, “Ex-Boyfriends”, “True Love” (Szmborska version), “True Love” (Sharon Olds version). You must select one of these poems. This essay will likely be somewhat difficult in the beginning. The concept of writing 600 words about one word seems daunting and impossible. My advice to you is to not focus on how to write 600 words about one word, but instead, focus on exploring the various meaning and uses that this word takes in this poem. Here are some strategies for doing this: •Explore the connotative & denotative meanings of the word. Remember that words contain both connotative and denotative meanings. The denotative definition of the word is the dictionary definition; it gives us a frame for understanding the word, but it does not convey a great deal of emotion behind that definition. Think of the definition for the word “beach”; “a pebbly or sandy shore, esp. by the ocean between high- and low-water marks”; is this what you think of when you hear the word “beach”? Very likely, your answer here is no; when you think of the word “beach”, you likely feel the word more than you hear it: you feel relaxation when you picture the water flowing over the sand, you hear waves crashing and perhaps children laughing, you feel a sense of calm when you imagine why you might be at that beach to begin with: perhaps you are on a vacation of some sort, which leads you to associate the word “beach” with certain circumstances. You might also feel sun baking your skin, sand between your toes, and sunglasses on your face. All of these mental images come together to create the connotative definitions for the word “beach”. Use this sort of emotional tone in your piece. What connotative associations will your reader likely have for the word you select? Remember, there are likely MANY different associations depending on audience. What might “beach” mean to a child? To a teenager? To an old man? Don’t be afraid to paint a mental picture for your reader. •Quote lines from the poem that use this word and explore both what this line means, what it means within that stanza, and what that line and/or stanza means in relation to the rest of the poem. Do not limit yourself to only lines where this word is used; use any line from the poem that will help you explain why this word is so powerful and/or any line that changes or is affected by the word. •Consider discussing how this word affects other words in the poem as well, including how various definitions of it affect the same lines (ie. if you focus on the word “deliver” in “The Secretary Chant”, there are two different definitions for this word – “to hand over something” and “to state something” – how does the line “I am about to be delivered / of a baby” in “The Secretary Chant” change based on these two definitions of the word “deliver”?). •Discuss lines where a similar version of the word is used (if you are discussing the word “my” in “The Secretary Chant”, you can also discuss the use of the word “me” or “I” in the poem). MAKE SURE YOU ARE NOT SIMPLY SUMMARIZING THE POEM BUT RATHER ANALYZING ITS CONTENT. One way to test this is to view your paper from an outsider perspective and ask yourself: am I adding my personal opinion or am I just restating what the poem in my own words? If your paper could be written by anyone in the class, you are likely just rehashing the poem itself; your job here is to go beyond what is says and explain what it means. Don’t worry about analyzing it “correctly” or trying to figure out what exactly I (your professor) thinks it means; I am interested in what YOU think it means. The beauty of poetry (and all literature in general) is that there is more than one way to interpret the same work; be confident in YOUR way and YOUR conclusions about what this poem means, what the lines mean, and what it is trying to say. You will likely need to define this word using a Dictionary. You may use up to two online or paper dictionaries, but no more. You do not want your essay to be overloaded with definitions, and you do not want the majority of your writing to be someone else’s. Furthermore, do not just put this definition in your paper and expect it to explain itself. Use this definition to better explain to your reader what this word means and how this definition contributes to an understanding of this word’s power in the poem. You should also connect the denotative definition (which is the dictionary definition) to its connotative associations. When using outside source material (the poem itself as well as any online dictionaries do count as “outside” sources), make sure you are citing using the proper MLA standards for citing poetry and dictionaries. Please consult the Purdue OWL and other reputable citation websites for help with citation: https://owl(dot)english(dot)purdue(dot)edu/owl/resource/747/03/ (for poetry); http://bcs(dot)bedfordstmartins(dot)com/resdoc5e/res5e_ch08_s1-0001.html (for dictionary definitions). Make sure you include a works cited page with your essay. The formatting for this paper is as follows: at least 600 words, double-spaced, with 12 point Times New Roman font, and standard 1 inch margins on all sides. Your name should be on every page. Remember to use spell check and grammar check before turning anything in. Reading aloud yourself, or having a friend (or writing tutor!) read your paper aloud is a fantastic way to catch small errors and edit for clarity. .

 

True Love

By: Wislawa Szymborska

(Page 577 in MLM)



True love. Is it normal
is it serious, is it practical?
What does the world get from two people
who exist in a world of their own?

Placed on the same pedestal for no good reason,
drawn randomly from millions but convinced
it had to happen this way - in reward for what?
For nothing.
The light descends from nowhere.
Why on these two and not on others?
Doesn't this outrage justice? Yes it does.
Doesn't it disrupt our painstakingly erected principles,
and cast the moral from the peak? Yes on both accounts.

Look at the happy couple.
Couldn't they at least try to hide it,
fake a little depression for their friends' sake?
Listen to them laughing – it’s an insult.
The language they use - deceptively clear.
And their little celebrations, rituals,
the elaborate mutual routines -
it's obviously a plot behind the human race's back!

It's hard even to guess how far things might go
if people start to follow their example.
What could religion and poetry count on?
What would be remembered? What renounced?
Who'd want to stay within bounds?

True love. Is it really necessary?
Tact and common sense tell us to pass over it in silence,
like a scandal in Life's highest circles.
Perfectly good children are born without its help.
It couldn't populate the planet in a million years,
it comes along so rarely.

Let the people who never find true love
keep saying that there's no such thing.

Their faith will make it easier for them to live and die.

Essay Sample Content Preview:
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'Love' in the poem "True love" by Wislawa Szymborska
In the poem True Love, word love, repeatedly used four times, is the underlying theme whereby the poet offers different aspects of love. The title and firsts two words of the poem are True love highlighting the importance of the subject in life. Love is an affectionate and deep feeling for another person, and typically leads to romantic relationships. Love is such an intense feeling that those who do not experience it miss out on life. The opening stanza states “True love. Is it normal is it serious,” (1) showing that one needs to experience love to really understand why it is worth. This paper analyses the meaning of love denotatively and through associative meaning in the poem True Love.
In the first stanza, line (1) Wislawa, explore the word 'love' since one needs to look at the meaning attached to the feeling, by lovers, where love has strong emotions, beyond normal and is exciting. Clearly, the feeling of love invokes strong passions at the individual level for lovers. It is the strong feelings between two people that also highlight the value of love in the society. Just like lovers have intense love, so should people show passion in changing the society’s wrongs and inadequacies. Love is indeed a powerful emotion, but not many people experience true love, and the need to conform makes love less appealing. However, love is unconditional to the extent that lovers may at times ignore what other people say, because lovers do not need to conform to please people in the society.
Love is a positive thing as espoused in the poem, but there arises a question on whether on whether lovers should show their love publicly. There is no doubt that love enriches life, but the sarcastic tone of th...
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