Analyzing a "Text" Successfully (3 pgs.)

OVERVIEW: Analyzing something is very difficult in the 21st century. People do not often enjoy thinking "deeply" about the movies they watch or the books that they read.

You must complete any 2 of these assignment options to successfully pass this sequence and the course.

Option One: Analyze the main theme in a poem or song of your choice..

Option Two: Analyze one poem selected by your instructor; arrange on a personal basis for this 'final exam'-style option during finals week.

Notes: In this sequence of assignments, your main goal in a analysis essay is NOT to tell readers if you liked the poem/song or not (similar to a book report); your main task is to assess and to analyze what you think the theme of the poem, using smaller bits of the main idea and creating categories of analysis, such as setting, character, plot conflicts, narrative point of view, symbols, and thematic elements.

In this essay, you should write a 2-3 page minimum essay that discusses the main theme of ONE poem or song. YOU MAY CHOOSE YOUR OWN (poem, song, rap, etc) to analyze, but you must show me a copy of what you will analyze. I do not believe in censorship, but I'd like to offer advice on the poem or song or painting or store that you select. You should not find existing poem analyses or painting analyses online and submit them as your own—that's plagiarism. If you lack the will/energy/critical thinking since it's the end of the semester to choose a song or poem, you are free to choose one from instructor's poem booklet, which will be made available to all students. If you are stressed out or lacking the cerebral power to pick a poem of your own, you are welcome to pick a poem from our own selection.

Any written analysis of a work allows us to more deeply connect with several aspects of the text: the author's culture, personal beliefs, socioeconomic background; as such, analysis of a text allows us to gain insight into how "texts" structure our world. Many of us feel that the written word, especially something stereotypically "lame" as poetry has very little impact on the real world. Yet, parts of the Bible are poetic verse (and it has become the most widely sold book, ever); some individuals say that the insights on the Declaration of Independence are lofty enough to serve as poetry. Literature matters because words matter. When Abraham Lincoln met Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, a book depicting the evils of slavery, it is reported that Lincoln stated, ""So this is the little lady that started this big war!" Words can change the way we think and how we perceive the world. That's why the literary analysis is an important component in this class. .

Tasks:

Phase One Task: DECIDE which options works best for you.

Option One (Literary Analysis) is useful for those of you who will go into literature or creative writing courses during the W.I. sequence of classes.

Option Two (Poem Packet / Final Exam) is useful for those of you who might want to prepare for what U.H. Manoa might have in store for you, namely, a blue-book exam.

Note: YOU MAY CHOOSE YOUR OWN (poem, song, rap) to analyze, but you must show me a copy of what you will analyze. Identify, using a strongly worded thesis statement, how that poem articulates success or your worldview.

Sample: VNV Nation's song, "Illusion," depicts the complex nature of being proud of one's identity, expressing that we should not change our essentialized ethos despite outside pressures placed upon us to do so.

 

Student-Learning Objectives

In this essay, students should ideally attempt to:

--Analyze and interpret a literary work (nonfiction, fiction, poetry, or drama) or other textual material;

--Find a poem or song or text of a visual medium that resonates with impact or meaning for the writer; create a clear thesis statement that expresses the core theme of that poem or song or painting;

--Apply proper P.I.E. paragraph structures to the essay so as to outline and organize the major points consistent with the essay's thesis statement (e.g. setting, character, plot-conflicts, point of view, symbols); If you choose a visual work, you should analyze for line, dimensions, shapes, colors, contrast, etc.

--Apply proper M.L.A. or A.P.A.-based quoting conventions to the essay with regards to proper quote introduction, parenthetical citation, and other quote dynamics;

--Examine quotes or images from the formal and informal text or visual-based resources so as to significantly comment on the relevance and impact of those selected images/words.

--Manifest real world success by giving it your best shot towards applying for a scholarship in or out of the UH System.

FORMAL REQUIREMENTS

1. For this essay, you should have at least 3 quotes from the poem or from outside sources related to the poem, with strong quote commentary;

2. You should cite all applicable line #'s for the text, if you cite them;

3. You should use proper PIE structure, especially "E," so as to wrap up the end of the paragraph ideologically with your theme;

4. You should provide me with a copy of your poem so that I can refer to it while reading your analysis.

1. If you choose a visual work, you should be very SPECIFIC about the elements that can be discerned within the painting;

2. You may want to investigate the historical or cultural context of the painting if it helps your essay.

3. You should be very precise about how you analyze the piece, looking at elements like size, shape, color, line, irony, or any other precise aspect of the picture/photo.

4. You should include a copy of the painting analyzed.

5. You should NOT plagiarize any response about the painting from another source.

 

Some resources:

MAIN RESOURCEs:

Visual Rhetoric (OWL)

Visual Rhetoric: What I see, What I feel

Wikibooks
   

Samples OF WORKS YOU MAY USE (the poems/short stories)

Essential Components

Grading Criteria; provides the grading criteria for this essay;
Topic Proposal gives me a heads-up about what you might be planning to write about; offers a brief summary of the work
Important Prewriting; provides helpful questions to start thinking about your text;
Organizing your Essay; provides ONE possible organizational model;
Peer-editing for this essay; provides a peer-editing checklist for you to assist your fellow writers;
Self-editing checklist; provides an assessment for how you can help your analysis;
Evaluation; provides the evaluation associated with this unit;

RR:

Suheir Hammad's "First Writing Since"

or

Lisa Kanae's "Island Girl"

 

 Reading Response #4: Suheir Hammad's "First Writing Since" or Lisa Kanae's "Island Girl"

Phase Two Bonus Task: Manifest that sense of success by actually applying for a scholarship. I will support you in this endeavor if you give me clear deadlines for if / when I need to prepare letters of recommendation, etc.

A. Find a scholarship.

UH SYSTEM SCHOLARSHIPS

LINKS TO MAJOR SCHOLARSHIPS IN AND OUT OF STATE

KCC-SPECIFIC SCHOLARSHIPS

Go to Financial Aid Office, Ilima 102, and ASK, politely, what scholarships the office might have.

B. Apply for the scholarship, learning how to write a polite cover letter/statement of purpose.

Sample A / Sample B

Supplementary Components

FILM ANALYSIS (harder option) gives you the option of attempting a film analysis of any movie, music video, or film clip that you'd like to interpret;
SHORT STORY HELP gives you the option of assessing short stories;
Quoting-conventions and literature; gives you more insight on MLA-conventions as they relate to this assignment;
SAMPLE ESSAYS (1) gives you several sample essays to peruse;
SAMPLE ESSAYS (2) gives you film analysis sample essays;

Luisa Valenzuela's "The Verb to Kill" or

Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery"

Extra short stories; we used these short stories in previous semesters as reading responses.
STUDENT SAMPLE ESSAY gives you a sample student analysis of a poem;
Thesis construction; gives you pointers on thesis construction;
Helpful hints (to be read, only if you're really stuck); SHOULD ONLY BE READ IF YOU ARE REALLY STUCK.