Writing A Comparative Poetry Analysis Essay

Writing a Comparative
Poetry Analysis Essay

What do the graders want to see?
Knowledge: Very good selection of Personal response: Personal
relevant references and quotations to response is perceptive, freshly
address the question. May have personal, fully supported by the text.
sensitivity to contexts. May show originality in approach
and treatment.
Understanding: Very good Communication: Complex ideas
understanding of how writers’ choices of and arguments expressed with
structure, form and language shape clarity and fluency. Coherent
meanings. Analysis is sustained and structure, logical progression.
shows sensitivity to effects of literary
methods.
The Prompt
1. First, read the prompt to identify the topics that your essay
should cover.
2. Then, select two poems that most clearly touch on those
topics.
3. Note, all prompts will ask you to compare the ways poets
discuss the topic. That’s code for poetic devices.
Past Prompts
Nov. 2019: Compare ways in which poets present family

relationships in two poems.
Nov. 2018: Discuss ways in which two poems express

disappointment and disillusionment.
Nov. 2017: Compare ways in which poets present difficult human

relationships in two poems.
Introductory Paragraph
1. First, acknowledge the prompt by identifying its designated topic or device and introduce the
two poems you will analyse (title and poet).
a. Let the poets act as the subject of the sentence, NOT the titles of the poems
2. Then, provide a brief summary of the poem that touches on its main topics. You can begin
introducing devices here.
a. Again, let the poet or speaker of the poem act as the subject
b. If the poet is the subject, let the subsequent verb indicate his/her purpose
c. If the speaker is the subject, let the subsequent verb match his/her tone
3. Finally, end with the thesis that discusses the difference in the devices’ impact--in other words,
the difference in purpose and/or message.
a. Remember, thesis statements should begin with devices and then explain what they
accomplish (message/purpose). It’s a statement of your argument and a preview of your
evidence. Select devices and describe them in way that demonstrates a clear link to the
message or purpose.
Sample Introductory Paragraph
In “Remember” and “Break, Break, Break”, Christina Rossetti and
Alfred Lord Tennyson confront death and loss. However, the tone and
mood of each poem differ considerably. Christina Rossetti is writing to a
loved one to get on with their life after she is gone, rather than be
saddened by constantly remembering her. This request not to dwell on
death is contrasted by Tennyson’s “Break, Break, Break”, in which the
poet cannot express the great sadness he feels at the loss of his own
loved one, and is frequently dwelling on it. Consequently, the dark
brooding in Tennyson’s poem, as reflected in a grey setting that’s
juxtaposed with a cheerful outer life to which he doesn’t belong, draws
more sympathy than Rossetti’s poem, whose logical approach to death,
mirrored in the simplicity of the poem’s form, is almost too sterile.
First Body Paragraph
1. In the first body paragraph, consider comparing the two poems’ forms or
structure, since that device appears throughout the poems. This category
includes:
a. The number of stanzas and their length; the number of lines and their
length
b. The rhythm and rhyme scheme
c. Any classic model this poem follows
2. You may also wish to touch upon the tone in the first body paragraph, since
that is a device that permeates the poem.
Body Paragraph Structure
As in any classic argument, begin with the argument itself, before immersing the reader in the
evidence and your analysis of it.
1. First sentence: topic sentence that states the paragraph’s argument (several devices and
their effects)
2. Subsequent sentences:
a. Short direct quotation, introduced with some analysis or context
b. Explanation of the device’s immediate effect
c. Explanation of how the device’s effect helps develop and advance the central message/purpose
3. Where relevant, include historical and biographical context
4. Final sentence: sum up the paragraph’s argument
5. You MUST discuss BOTH poems in EACH body paragraph so you are explicitly
comparing them.
Sample Body Paragraph
The atmosphere created by Tennyson’s setting, like Rossetti’s, is lonely and
desolate, but it evokes sympathy as the speaker depicts himself as isolated in that setting,
while Rossetti’s speaker uses the setting to thrust the harsh reality of death onto the
reader. The “cold gray stones” of Tennyson’s poem are contrasted by the second and
third stanza, which depict the rest of the port going about its business in a brighter
atmosphere. It is almost as if the rest of the world is a mystical other reality, distant and
full of laughter and song, while Tennyson is trapped in a cold, dark, sorrowful reality,
mourning death and seeing nothing but grey. The harsh breaking of the waves is
emphasised through sibilance, and ‘Crags’ appears to be a deliberately harsh-sounding
alternative to ‘stones’. Like Tennyson’s lonely setting, Rossetti’s after-life is similarly
isolating,
Sample Body Paragraph, continued
...described as a “silent land” to which the subject has “gone far away”. However, her
description of the setting stops there. It is almost as if the subject has entered an abyss, a
void, and her absence is accentuated by an absence of any further description of the
after-life. The lack of descriptiveness beyond “the silent land” suggests that the former
lover should not dwell on the deceased’s new resting place, but better “forget and smile”.
Thus, because Tennyson’s speaker is embedded in an explicitly grey world of loneliness
that only reinforces his isolation, his poem evokes more sympathy than Rossetti’s, whose
minimalistic setting suggests to us that we, too, should not concern ourselves with
thoughts of the dead and the after-life.
Conclusion
The purpose of the conclusion is to give your argument one final
push.
1. Restate your thesis at the start of the conclusion

2. Remind your reader how you proved your thesis by harking
back to some of your most persuasive evidence and analysis
(devices used, their contrasting effects, and thus, the
contrasting overall purpose or message)
Sample Conclusion
Although “Remember” has a simple beauty to its quiet reflection on death and the
degree of forgetfulness that should follow, “Break, Break, Break” presents a more vivid
and moving exploration of the same topic, making its message on the inability to forget
that much more stirring. With its speaker’s bleak reality, contrasted with the cheerfulness
of his outer world, the poem evokes more sympathy for the bereaved Tennyson. While
the speaker of “Remember” drifts into “the silent land”, Tennyson’s speaker remains
starkly present as he battles the two realities of sadness and happiness, and his conflict
suggests that life after death is far more tumultuous than Rossetti proposes.
Writing Tips
1. Directly quote when language is critical; paraphrase when the idea is critical
2. Introduce the quotation with some analysis or context
3. Transitional words and phrases are critical in comparative essays
4. Vary your sentence lengths
5. Only mention biographical and historical context when relevant to your thesis
6. Since a comparative essay will include less quotations than a passage-based essay, it needs to
include more analysis. Go beyond the immediate effect of the device to discuss the greater,
overall effect (message/purpose). Move from literal to figurative interpretation.
7. Don’t “gush” about the poem in your personal response--keep the personal response linked to
the central message and purpose. After all, an explanation of the devices’ effect is an
explanation of your personal response to the devices.
8. Some speculation can occur (“this may mean…”), but should not be overused.

Writing A Comparative Poetry Analysis Essay

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Writing A Comparative Poetry Analysis Essay

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Writing A Comparative Poetry Analysis Essay

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Writing a Comparative

Poetry Analysis Essay

Nov. 2019: Compare ways in which poets present family

Nov. 2018: Discuss ways in which two poems express

Nov. 2017: Compare ways in which poets present difficult human

1. Restate your thesis at the start of the conclusion

You might also like