3 page Poetry Analysis Paper

The two poems the analysis paper are on are “Borderless Compassion” by Franciso X. Alarcón & “Bent to the Earth” by Blas Manuel De Luna. Attached I have a document with two thesis statement ideas that could be run off or changed completely, along with some notes on each poem.

INTSTRUCTIONS:

Write a ~1000 word (3-page double spaced, 1-inch margins) thesis-driven paper about one or two texts from our semester thus far, focusing on the author’s choices and the larger purpose/context. I care more about the quality of analysis than the exact length – so if it goes onto the 4th page, don’t worry.

THESIS: Don’t tell us about the plot, but instead, focus on teaching your audience WHY the author is doing something about a particular TOPIC or TWO by showing several examples and explaining HOW.

AUDIENCE: Note: Your classmates are the audience of your paper. Keeping this in mind will help you avoid repeating plot details, and will guide your thesis development beyond what might be obvious to another reader. Your thesis should teach your audience something about the text(s) by drawing on evidence and analyzing it.

The introduction should: Introduce the thesis of your paper more than the plot. Define key terms. Indicate the order of information in the paper (First, x, then y…)

The thesis should: make an argument about the AUTHOR’S WRITING – both how they achieve a particular effect and why.

The body paragraphs should: develop and progress the thesis, with textual examples (both quotes and paraphrasing) to prove the point.

The conclusion should: NOT summarize, but discuss the argument’s value. (i.e., Might your way of examining one novel help us examine another? Etc.)

Example Paper: from ENGL 174 Protest Literature, Fall 2020

The literature of this course delves frequently into the realms of tragedy and loss. This essay will examine poets’ techniques of drawing their reader into the narrative of a poem as a way to counteract the apathy that derives from such trauma. The poems “Borderless Compassion” by Francisco X. Alarcón, “Portions” by Joann Anglin, and “Dreaming In Crayon” by Craig Santos Perez offer a collective route to coping with hardship via dreaming. Through their use of specific narrative perspectives and vivid imagery, Alarcón, Perez, and Anglin demonstrate the essential role hopeful dreams play in envisioning a better future. While Anglin and Perez use metaphor to illustrate the value of dreams, Alarcón draws on anecdotal horrors that his imagined protagonist faces. Those specific details drive the speaker of the poem to hold onto hope as his last form of resistance from devastating circumstances.

The three author’s intentional narration choices allow the reader to empathize with the tragedies in the poems. The poets compel readers to imagine themselves in the particular situations. For example, in his poem “Borderless Compassion” Alarcón directly asks the reader to imagine that they were the young boy fleeing violence through the repeated line of “What if you were…” (8-9). Alarcon calls on the reader’s imagination to challenge negative assumptions or judgements they may have of immigrants. He wants to impress upon his readers understanding about the threats and desperation of people attempting to migrate to the United States. Similarly, in “Portions”, Anglin also situates the reader in the perspective of the main character with the inclusive pronoun of “we”. This poem is about all of us, not only the speaker and their partner.

Similar to Alarcon and Anglin, Perez also prompts readers to envision a more just future in “Dreaming In Crayon” by inviting them into the story through narrative perspective. Although Perez employs a first-person perspective rather than a plural first-person “we,” readers still imagine themselves as the speaker, watching Perez’s daughter draw a fantasy world as he contemplates realistic horrors, such as “gray fighter jets”(Perez, line 3). Despite his cynical overlay, Perez creates an overall optimistic view of the future we can work to create that mirrors the imagined worlds Anglin and Alarcón hint at as well in their poems. There is a sense that “I” is universal, both in our cynicism and hope.

Both the imagined futures and the unfavorable circumstances of the present that inspire these collective acts of dreaming are brought to life through sensory details. Perez’s “Dreaming In Crayon” presents the daughter’s drawing filled with hope and bright colors. While Perez uses simple diction that reflects the daughter’s childlike nature, his visual descriptions capture the vibrant and paradisal essence of the make-believe scene. Such hope, through the eyes of a child, inspires the readers to reconsider their own world. In “Portions”, Anglin also appeals to the senses with intimate details of the shared meal and its imbued meanings. The evocative language, such as the auditory descriptor of the “clang” of the forks (10), jars the reader as it contracts the simple scene of a shared meal. This discordant tone reiterates the tension in our everyday lives. Such choices by these poets immerse the reader in the poems through their physical senses, connecting us to the ideas, situations, and experiences of one another. Such commonality is key to the impact of these poems.

Whereas the three poems possess a shared focus on the value of dreams, especially when navigating hardships, there is a divide amongst the poets between utilizing metaphor or realism to represent this truth. Anglin uses the basic human need of eating as an extended metaphor in “Portions” to underscore the many inescapable aspects in life that will always be easier to conduct in the community. The mutual benefit of cooking together relates to Anglin’s aspiration for a society with a community, opposed to individualistic, centered philosophy. The dream of an egalitarian world that Anglin touches on is fully expressed in Perez’s “Dreaming In Crayon”.  The act of the daughter creating the crayon drawing serves as a metaphor for the imagination and childlike ideals necessary to create this improved civilization. Although we are not starting with a “blank page” as in the poem, Perez reminds us that we have the tools to construct this harmonious world and we simply need the courage to dream (Perez, line 2). Similarly, Alarcón also emphasizes the importance for those experiencing misfortune to continue dreaming about a brighter future. However, opposed to the metaphors used by Perez and Anglin, Alarcón conveys this message through realistic examples. In “Borderless Compassion”, much of the poem centers on recounting the genuine tragedies faced by the young migrant boy, Chava. Alarcón demonstrates that the heartbreak and loss that Chava endures forces him to maintain hope of the faint possibility of a better life in the United States as his last means to survive. The same way that these young migrant children clutch “their lives and their dreams in their own small hands willing to risk it all”, Alarcón challenges his reader to possess a similar hope against all odds and to picture a world where we can accept and embrace all immigrant people in need of refuge (8).

As a result of the tragedy the central characters of these poems have either witnessed or experienced first hand, the poets could have chosen to let their characters slink into a state of desolation. Instead, Anglin, Perez, and Alarcón indicate, in a way that is careful to avoid escapism and favor pragmatism, dreaming as a possible way out of current unpleasant circumstances. The concept of dreaming as a form of resistance can be applied to other poetry as well, such as the work of Maya Angelou. While we cannot control what happens to us, we can control how we respond to life’s tribulations. As these poets suggest, one of the most radical acts is to be met with the cruelties of this Earth and respond with a yearning to envision and create a more compassionate society for all.