- Using the poem Interview by Dorothy Parker
- Read and reread the poem; by paying attention to the varied features of a poem, you will build an interpretation of the poem’s meaning.
- See the Interpretation vs. Analysis, How to Approach the Analysis of a Poem, The Four Modes of Approaching a Poem, and the Explication pages, as well as the Sample Poetry Analysis using Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” for assistance.
- Take notes and use your notes to create an outline of textual evidence that points to the same or a similar conclusion.
- Use this outline to develop your working thesis. You can then use the guidelines on the the Starting Your Poetry Analysis Essay page to write your introductory paragraph.
- Read/review this Purdue OWL link on Close Reading of Poetry and this overview of how to write about poetryto help you develop your remaining paragraphs.
- Draft your concluding paragraph, in which you will restate your thesis in a slightly different way (for example, possibly relating it to other elements of the poem, the author’s work, or other poems).
- Leave time to submit your draft to Free Tutoring at Tutor.com for review. Your tutor can help with thesis and content development, organization, grammar, and mechanics. Utilize this free service to write the best draft possible on this major assignment.
- Don’t forget that you can submit your draft to Tutor.com multiple times during the revision process.
- Submit your final paper in Turnitin, OR in the assignment dropbox, according to your instructor’s preference. Should you use Turnitin, make sure to take a screenshot of the confirmation screen once you upload your paper.
File submissions: Please submit your file as a DOC.X or PDF file.
Criteria on Which You Will be Graded:
- The specificity and development of your thesis
- Your supporting claims, logic, and organization
- The quality of your writing, to include paragraph development and organization: topic sentences, conclusions, transitions, etc. See Starting Your Poetry Analysis Essay
- Your engagement with the text (how you explain your examples, your choice of supporting quotations)
- Format: You are required to use MLA style for all writing assignments. Proper MLA citation and a correctly formatted Works Cited page (12-point font, Times New Roman, double spacing, Last name and page number on each page, etc.). Please refer to the Purdue Online Writing Lab for MLA formatting and style guide.
- Academic Honesty (all sources must be cited)
- Length Requirement: 750-1000 words
