Two critical essays.
See attached files (two pdf files)
ESSAY I:
POETRY
750 words in length (equivalent of 2 ½ to 3 typed pages).
1 inch margins all around. Calibri (12) or Times New Roman (12) font.
Paragraph indentations and double-spacing.
MLA guidelines for Standard English grammar with a Works Cited page added on.
Due by 12/10/13, 11:30pm EST.
Choose just one of the following poems and write an explication essay, analyzing the poem in
terms of such poetic devices as form, metaphor, simile, symbolism, imagery, theme and aspects
of sound (rhyme, rhythm, etc.). In simpler terms, write an essay that answers the question, in
detail, of “how does the poem make its meaning?”
1. Unholy Sonnet
After the praying, after the hymn-singing,
After the sermon’s trenchant commentary
On the world’s ills, which make ours secondary,
After communion, after the hand wringing,
And after peace descends upon us, bringing
Our eyes up to regard the sanctuary
And how the light swords through it, and how, scary
In their sheer numbers, motes of dust ride, clinging—
There is, as doctors say about some pain,
Discomfort knowing that despite your prayers,
Your listening and rejoicing, your small part
In this communal stab at coming clean,
There is one stubborn remnant of your cares
Intact. There is still murder in your heart.
–Mark Jarman
2. Afraid So
Is it starting to rain?
Did the check bounce?
Are we out of coffee?
Is this going to hurt?
Could you lose your job?
Did the glass break?
Was the baggage misrouted?
Will this go on my record?
Are you missing much money?
Was anyone injured?
Is the traffic heavy?
Do I have to remove my clothes?
Will it leave a scar?
Must you go?
Will this be in the papers?
Is my time up already?
Are we seeing the understudy?
Will it affect my eyesight?
Did all the books burn?
Are you still smoking?
Is the bone broken?
Will I have to put him to sleep?
Was the car totaled?
Am I responsible for the charges?
Are you contagious?
Will we have to wait long?
Is the runway icy?
Was the gun loaded?
Could this cause side effects?
Do you know who betrayed you?
Is the wound infected?
Are we lost?
Will it get any worse?
–Jeanne Marie Beaumont
3. One Art
The art of losing isn’t hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.
Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master.
Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.
I lost my mother’s watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master.
I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn’t a disaster.
—Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan’t have lied. It’s evident
the art of losing’s not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.
–Elizabeth Bishop
4. Did I Miss Anything?
Nothing. When we realized you weren’t here
we sat with our hands folded on our desks
in silence, for the full two hours
Everything. I gave an exam worth
40 percent of the grade for this term
and assigned some reading due today
on which I am about to hand out a quiz
worth 50 percent
Nothing. None of the content of this course
has value or meaning
Take as many days off as you like;
any activities we undertake as a class
I assure you will not matter either to you or me
and are without purpose
Everything. A few minutes after we began last time a
shaft of light suddenly descended and an angel or
other heavenly being appeared
and revealed to us what each woman or man must do to
attain divine wisdom in this life and
the hereafter
This is the last time this class will meet
before we disperse to bring the good news to all people on
earth
Nothing. When you are not present how
could something significant occur?
Everything. Contained in this classroom is
a microcosm of human experience
assembled for you to query and examine and ponder
This is not the only place such an opportunity has been
gathered
but it was one place
And you weren’t here
–Tom Wayman
Essay II: Drama – Hamlet
750 words in length (equivalent of 2 ½ to 3 typed pages).
1 inch margins all around. Calibri (12) or Times New Roman (12) font.
Paragraph indentations and double-spacing.
MLA guidelines for Standard English grammar with a Works Cited page added on.
Due by 12/10/13, 11:30pm EST.
Choose just one of the essay questions below and write an essay in response. Again, this
should be a critical/analysis essay.
__________________________________________________________________________
1. In Hamlet, Shakespeare has created many foils–minor characters, which through their
personal struggles, actions and speeches, mirror the struggles of the play’s major characters.
Ophelia, Laertes, Fortinbras, Horatio, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern–all mirror Hamlet in some
way, and in doing so, illuminate for us various aspects of his character and struggles.
Making detailed use of text, write an essay that explores how two of the preceding characters
act as foils to Hamlet, and go on to comment critically on what each of these foils reveals to us
about Hamlet and his struggles. (I am looking for depth in your answers here and explication of
text: make sure the claims you make have evidence from the text and reasoning of your own to
back them up.)
__________________________________________________________________________
2. Pick any one of the following film versions of HAMLET and discuss and/or critique it:
LAURENCE OLIVIER, MEL GIBSON, KENNETH BRANAGH, ETHAN HAWKE, DAVID TENNANT. You
may focus on an analysis of the actor playing the role of HAMLET, or you can critique other
aspects of the production: other actors’ performances, staging, tropes, props, additions made
to the play to modernize it, editing of the written text (or not) to screenplay, any aspects of
production you would like to focus on. In your critique, you are free to be positive, negative or
both; think of your essay as a kind of review of the production. Be sure to refer to specific
scenes and details in what you discuss; don’t just provide your opinion, spouting off, without
backing it up with evidence. Be sure, also, to explain your reasoning with regard to your
responses.