ENGL 110 (013) Approaches to Literature: The Craft of Reading In-Class Essay Prompt This essay must be written

without the aid of notes, books, dictionaries (including electronic ones), and other sources. Please write in the booklets provided and ensure that your name, student number, and name of your TA are clearly indicated on your test booklet(s). Please write in pen and double-space your essay. Be sure to re-read and check your essay before handing it in. You can use as much paper as you like for planning and scratch work, but be certain to indicate when your essay begins (scratch paper must be handed in with your essay but will not be graded or read). You must hand in your test sheet with your exam. Failure to comply with these instructions can result in a failing grade. Write an essay that offers a well-organized close reading of one poem [text(s) to be provided]. Be sure to start your essay with a clear introductory paragraph that sets the direction of your reading. Trace how the author develops these ideas in the course of the poem through three of the following poetic elements: imagery (concrete and abstract), figurative language (simile, metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, personification, symbol), diction, tone, contradiction (irony, paradox, oxymoron), sound patterns (onomatopoeia, rhyme, alliteration, assonance, rhythm, metre, enjambment), and narrative. Be sure to back up your analysis with evidence by providing specific quotes of lines, phrases, or words to support your claims. Conclude your essay by showing how these elements convey, illustrate, and/or demonstrate some of the main themes and/or purposes of the poem. Move from the analysis of specific elements into an original claim about the poem overall (you may, if appropriate, consider the contexts of the poem but this cannot replace the careful analysis of its language and structure). The length of your essay should be 400-500 words.

NB: You will be given a copy of this prompt, the poem(s) on which you will write, as well as test booklets in which to write. Please bring extra pens (no pencils, please). In order to prepare for the in-class essay, you should: 1) Re-read and review the poems assigned on the syllabus as well as notes from lecture and discussion. The powerpoint slides shown in class can be downloaded from the course Vista page. 2) Look up any vocabularly from the course readings that might be unfamiliar. 3) Mark up your course texts and practice writing a sample close reading. 4) Talk to your TA if you have any questions about course content or about the mechanics of writing an in-class essay.