CLOSE READING

Purposes

to engage creatively and critically with the interpretive dynamism of a single figure of speech and to write a coherent, impeccably argued essay, with a clear and interesting thesis

Grading Information

  • Due Date: Nov.3
  • Format: MLA Style of parenthetical reference, otherwise known as in-text citations; please do not use any historical sources or critical secondary sources
  • Weight: 10%
  • Length: 2-3 typed pages or 500-750 words

Instructions

  1. Choose a poem from The New Oxford Book of 16th Century Verse and focus on the most prominent or the most interesting figure of speech in the poem.
  2. Get a general grasp of this figure by consulting different rhetoric manuals, handbooks, and websites.
  3. Figure out the ways in which this figure of speech relates to the poem as a whole.
  4. Write an essay that argues for the figure's importance in the poem's overall structure. Thus your essay might relate the figure of speech to an interpretation of the poem; or it might interpret the figure itself; or it might explain how the poet manipulates and reshapes the figure for his/her own purposes; or it might consider the effect of the figure on the reader. Whatever your thesis, your essay should not be content with merely identifying the presence of a figure. More significantly, you must concentrate on the way(s) in which the figure operates in the poem.

Grading Criteria

  1. Organization: integrated beginning, middle, and end
  2. Close Reading: interpretive success in explaining how the figure operates in the overall poem
  3. Thesis: persuasive, focussed, and interesting
  4. Argumentation: persuasive use of textual evidence and clear explanation of the evidence's significance
  5. Grammar and Style: proper and effective use of language

Plagiarism

Please see MLA Guide and the Documentation Handout, paying particular attention to the distinctions between "direct" and "indirect" reference. Remember that failure to acknowledge your indebtedness to someone else for words or ideas is a serious academic offense, and could result in a grade of "0" in either the paper or the course.
See the Nipissing Calendar.

Late Policy

To be accepted for full value, assignments must be presented in class on the due date. Late assignments will be received for one week following the deadline, but at a cost of a daily penalty. After the grace week, students must provide a formal written request, accompanied by a valid explanation, for their late submissions to be accepted by the instructor. Students who know they will not be able to meet a particular deadline are strongly urged to contact the instructor before the due date.

The instructor will deduct a penalty of 2 marks per day up to 7 days. The weekend amounts to "one day"--ie. 2 marks total, or 1 mark per day, will be deducted for Saturday and Sunday. Any papers submitted on the due date, but after the beginning of class, will be docked 1 mark. Total possible marks deducted on the last day of receipt = 12 marks (regardless of whether the paper is handed to the instructor in lecture, in the hallway, or in the office on the 7th day).



Any questions about the assignment?
emailblu.gif - 1.82 K