The art of poetry

For the short essay assignment, you need to choose one of the questions below. Your paper should consist of your original response and analysis. Please do not include biographical information on the poets or use outside sources. Also, please note that your paper will be submitted through Turnitin, a plagiarism detection tool. The short essay is due at the end of Week 7.

Compare Pablo Neruda’s “Ode to a Large Tuna in the Market” (Links to an external site.) with Elizabeth Bishop’s poem “The Fish.” (Links to an external site.) Your analysis should focus specifically on the poets’ use of figurative language (metaphor and simile, in particular). How does the speaker in each of the poems feel about the fish? How does the poet’s use of figurative language contribute to the poem’s tone?

Compare Thomas Hardy’s “The Convergence of the Twain” (Links to an external site.) (page 369) with David Slavitt’s poem “Titanic” (page 371). How do the words used to describe the Titanic and its passengers differ in the two poems? How does the tone of Hardy’s poem differ from the tone of Slavitt’s poem?

Compare Emily Dickinson’s “Hope is the thing with feathers” (Links to an external site.) with Langston Hughes’ poem “Harlem” (Links to an external site.) (page 545). How does Dickinson describe hope and how does Hughes describe deferred dreams? Your analysis should focus specifically on the poets’ use of figurative language (metaphor and simile, in particular). How does the tone of Dickinson’s poem differ from the tone of Hughes’ poem?