10ENG Exam #3: Poetry essay (2)

YOUR POETRY ESSAY

Remember that poetry is about emotions and feelings: poetry brings feelings, experiences and environments vividly to life.

In your poetry essay, make sure you refer to the authors' names and the titles of the poems.

Remember to COMPARE poems as required by the topic. If possible, choose comparisons where you can clearly demonstrate CONTRASTS, e.g. poems 2 & 4.

Poetic techniques are never random or accidental: the writer has used them as TOOLS to achieve a special PURPOSE. In you essay, you must explain THE EFFECT of the poetic techniques you are discussing, not simply point them out. If you are not sure what effect a technique achieves, read and 'feel' the poem in your head, be imaginative and take a guess.



EXAMPLE PARAGRAPH
"Discuss how poetry can be used to portray one topic in two completely different ways."

(Introduction and paragraph one)

Poetry is used to bring feelings and experiences vividly to life through specially chosen techniques which act as tools for the writer's purposes. Through these techniques, poets can portray one topic in starkly contrasting ways. This essay will focus on two poems by Judith Wright and Ruth Pitter and the contrasting use of the techniques of metaphor, imagery and simile.

Firstly, the use of the technique of metaphor shows how differently two poets can depict the same topic. For example, Judith Wright's snake is "black horror", a metaphor that vividly portrays the snake as the source of all evil and loathing. This "killer" is something to be feared and the writer goes on describe her frenzied efforts to kill the snake. However, Ruth Pitter's snake is depicted very differently. This snake is a thing of wonder, a "fallen angel" with a beautiful "embroidered dress". The writer uses these metaphors to show the snake not as something evil but something lovely, leaving her staring in wonder after it has slipped away. Wright and Pitter have both portrayed the same topic in two very different ways through their use of metaphor.

Notice:

• The introduction has begun with a statements about poetry and techniques
  
• In paragraph one, the topic sentence and concluding sentence both refer directly back to the topic (different portrayals of a topic).
• The important key words have been used strategically throughout paragraph one, e.g. "technique", "metaphor", "portray", "depict", "differently"