English Lit II

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.