Explication Essay

It is your task to create meaning throughanalysis and interpretation.

Unlike the Short Fiction Essay, these piecesallow one to deconstruct a given poem before building a semblance of brevityfrom its constituent parts.

This section aims to examine the variouselements of a poem and how they all work together. It is also about trying tofind out what the poem really says.

The result should be a 2 4 page Explicationof a particular poem. But what exactly is Explication?

This type of essay, explication, is a processthat involves carefully analyzing a text to find out its meaning. It starts bygoing through the text and analyzing its various facets. Themes are created byanalyzing short texts and developing them into deeper and more complex works.

This section shows how to analyze a poem bycarefully examining its various components. It shows how the various elementsof the poem develop.

You may organize the text by treating eachsection as a separate paragraph or by arranging the techniques mentioned inDickinson’s message in a way that makes them topics for a middle paragraph.

In writing this essay, I would suggest thefollowing steps:

1. Read the poem. Read it again. Now put it down and come back to it later.

2. Annotate (add notes giving explanation or comment). I will post a sample annotation of Gloria Anzaldas poem horse on Blackboard.

Your introduction should describe what the poemmeans in terms of general terms. It should also address the various bodyparagraphs that will be organized into sections.

A mixture of both would be appropriate. In theend, get back to the main meaning of the introduction.

Since this essay is all about specifics, Iexpect liberal use of direct quotes. Remember that a slash (/) is used in placeof a line break for quoting three lines or less of a poem:

And ahead in the freakish Atlantic/Where itpours bean green over blue/In

the waters off beautiful Nauset (11-13).

If you are quoting more than three lines, itshould be a block quote:

And a head in the freakish Atlantic

Where it pours bean green over blue

In the waters off beautiful Nauset.

I used to pray to recover you.

Ach, du. (11-15)

In terms of citation, I prefer to use the linenumbers instead of the page numbers. Also, in order to avoid having to type outall the details, I prefer to use the line numbers instead of the page numbers.

Although I do not require you to quote fromoutside sources, I am always happy to give you feedback on any topic thatinterests you. Just make sure that the quote is formatted properly and hasin-text citations.