1. Paper 1 focuses on your interpretation of the meaning of one poem chosen from the previous pages of this module.
2. The paper has a short introduction paragraph, which includes
a lead-in line to get the paper started [don’t start the first line of the paper with the thesis]; this is just a general statement of the topic of the paper,
the title of the poem [in quotation marks],
the name of the poet,
the thesis [your opinion about what the poem means or its major theme or idea].
3. The thesis makes one arguable point about the theme (point, meaning, your interpretation) of the poem. Your thesis is arguable; that is, it takes a stand that other people who read the poem might disagree with but one which you support. The thesis is your interpretation of a theme, point, or meaning of the poem.
4. Include at least two body paragraphs. In the body paragraphs, you will want to
thoroughly explain all your ideas,
make every sentence clear and understandable to the reader
not use any contractions,
not use the words you, your, yours, (second person point of view)
not use the words I, me, mine, our, us (first person point of view)
use the literary present tense of verbs to talk about your poem. For example, “the man stands in the house remembering”, not “stood”; or “the poem is about a man who has lost his family,” not “was about a man.”
5. Back up your ideas in your body paragraphs with quotations from the poem. Put quotation marks around the quotations. After the quotation, put the line number in parenthesis. Be sure to lead into the quotation before giving the quotation. After the quotation tell what the quotation suggests to you or your interpretation of the quotation. Link this discussion to the topic sentence of the paragraph and to the thesis of the paper.
6. Since this is a paper about a poem, be sure to use the forward slash correctly between lines of the poem that you quote . When you quote, quote accurately. Use ellipsis to indicate any omissions you have made from the original quotation. Use square brackets to enclose any change you make in the original, including ellipsis. If your quotation from the poem is long (more than 4 lines of the poem), display the quotation as a long quotation. See pages 52-57 in The Little, Brown Essentials Handbook for information on writing about literature.
7. End the paper with a short conclusion paragraph that echoes or mirrors the thesis in some way and that wraps up the entire paper.
8. Since this is a first writing, you do NOT need to write title page. You do NOT need to write an outline page. You do NOT need to write a Work Cited page.
9. Give your paper a title that is NOT the title of the poem. Type the title, at the top and centered, on the first page of the paper itself.
10. Assigned length: 300-500 words
11. Avoid using first person (“I” or “me” or “my”) and second person (“you” or “your” or “yours) pronouns. These pronouns make the paper less formal than a paper for college should be.
12. Avoid using contractions such as “doesn’t” or “isn’t” or “can’t”. Instead write out the full words “does not” or “is not” or “can not.” Using contractions make the paper less formal than a paper for college should be.
13. Underline the thesis in your introduction paragraph. Your thesis shou
