Poetry Unit Review

Important Test Info You may use your notes. You may not use your textbook. Plan ahead, so you can finish your essay in one class period. Use third person only. Write in ink! I will deduct points. You can work on your original poem after the test.

More Essay Writing Tips Make sure you develop and explain your ideas. Each paragraph should contain at least six sentences. Introduce quotes! Include line numbers after quotes. (98).

Correction Codes AB = Author Background MI = Main Idea/Purpose TH = Thesis Statement TS = Topic Sentence IQ = Introduce Quotes D = Identify Devices 3E = Three Specific Examples 3P = Use Third Person EX = Expound/Explain

More Tips You may want to re-read the poems and write down addition notes to make sure you have enough literary devices to discuss in your essay. You need to make sure that you know the main idea of each poem. You also can re-read the sample essays. Review the analysis PowerPoints if you were absent. If you want to group similes and metaphors in one body paragraph and label it “comparisons,” that is acceptable.

Example Thesis Statements In the poem “The Raven,” Edgar Allen Poe uses poetic devices such as repetition, allusions, and onomatopoeia to express feelings of sorrow and death. Edgar Allen Poe uses allusions, rhyme scheme, and onomatopoeia in “The Raven” to reveal that the speaker was constantly reminded of death and the haunting of his sweet Lenore.

In “Thanatopsis” William Cullen Bryant uses personification, imagery, and juxtaposition to reveal the connection between nature and death. William Cullen Bryant uses personification, simile, and imagery in “Thanatopsis” to illustrate when people die, they become nature.

Example Topic Sentences Frost’s utilization of onomatopoeia or sound words in “Out, Out” permits the author to bring the saw to life. Poe uses repetition in his poem “The Raven” to reiterate and place emphasis on death and its haunting presence.

Example Body Paragraph Edgar Allen Poe uses many allusions in his poem “The Raven” to give a feel of negative emotions using a gothic style. One of these examples in the poem is “On the Night’s Plutonian Shore!” This is important because Plutonian is in relation to Pluto, who is the Roman god of death, so this scene is filled with dark, deathlike feelings. When the raven comes in and lands, the raven “perched upon a bust of Pallas.” This is important because it makes one feel like the raven is a messenger of death because he lands upon Athena, who is the goddess of wisdom. Finally, at the end of the poem the speaker asks, “Is there a balm in Gilead?” He is asking if there is a way to make the pain of his lost love one go away. All of these allusions portray death and negative feelings in the poem.