When choosing your poem, consider its content. Do you understand the poem? Does it seem to offer enough for you to write about? Are there examples of metaphor, symbols, imagery, to work into your analysis?

How to write an explication of a poem:
A poetry explication involves a very close reading of a poem, examining the poem for meaning line-by-line, sentence-by-sentence, stanza-by-stanza, while considering its use of the poetic elements we’ve discussed in class so far: metaphor, symbol, alliteration, rhyme, etc. You’ll also consider who the speaker of the poem may be and the rhetorical situation and intended audience of the poem. In doing so, you will also consider the tone of the speaker towards the poem’s topic. Does tension exist between two opposing ideas in the poem? If so, which idea seems to dominate? Which idea seems to lead to a resolution?
A poetry explication can be written in a number of ways, so there is no single, standard format I can suggest for you to use in your paper. However, I can offer a few suggestions to get you started. First, look to the way I go through poems with you in class—considering the title, then working through the poem sentence-by-sentence, stanza-by-stanza. Consider this method as a type of oral explication and a model you can follow when setting up the structure of your paper. In class, we normally consider each part individually, then look to how the parts fit together as a whole for meaning. You can do the same in your paper.

Another approach to writing an explication would be to read the poem a few times to get a sense of the whole, taking note of the poet’s use of metaphor, symbol, rhyme, etc. But instead of writing an examination of the poem sentence-by-sentence, or stanza-by-stanza, you would give an overview of the poem as a whole, and then explain how certain parts of the poem seem to answer, or contradict, other parts the poem. By the end of your explication, you should have developed a good explanation of the tension present in the poem, and whether that tension is resolved.

I know this may seem a little vague, but explication assignments generally are vague on purpose, to help you think creatively while struggling to understand a poem. I ask that your paper include a brief introductory paragraph (3-4 sentences at most) introducing the poem, its form (sonnet, occasional poem, etc.), and the main theme it addresses. This should be followed by your explication, with a concluding paragraph summing up your analysis. To get yourself started, look at your poem as a series of parts, and consider each part individually. Then consider how the parts work together and seem to relate. Does one part answer another part? Does one part further develop a previous part? Is there one part that seems to sum the poem up as a whole?

And please—don’t surf the web for what other folks have written about these poems. I already know what others on the web have written about each. The purpose of this assignment is to offer you practice in analyzing a poem and synthesizing your own thoughts in your own paper. It’s ok to struggle with a poem—every poem you analyze should involve some struggle; otherwise, you’re probably not reading it closely enough. This assignment isn’t about right or wrong answers, for it’s possible for different readers to have slightly different ideas of what a poem says. As long as your analysis is reasonable and shows evidence of a careful and thoughtful reading, you’re doing just what I’m asking of you in this assignment. OK? So no peaking on the web…

This paper should be 4-5 pages long, double-spaced throughout, written in 12 pt. Times New Roman font, and should include a Works Cited page (which does not count in the page total). Anything less than three full pages is not an adequate explication and will earn a low grade. And make sure to give it a title. For the purposes of this assignment, a simple title like the following is adequate:
Explication of Poe’s “The Raven”