This is a DRAFT. Choose one poem from our anthology to dig into. This should be a poem that thrills or puzzles you in some way — something you feel interested in “unpacking” or understanding more deeply.
Write a tightly-focused argument of 750 words (3-page, double-spaced) MINIMUM in which you make a claim about the poem (for example: in “The Racer’s Widow” Louise Gluck uses sound to mimic and intensify the poem’s drama.) Then, support this claim with evidence from the text. You may peruse the attached handout “Unpacking a Poem” for some ideas about what you’d like to write about. The purpose of this assignment is to get you thinking in small units of language, both in your writing and in your reading. It is from small things that larger and more complex things grow, like moss and bees!

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