1. Writing Tips from “Crossing the Swamp”

2.   Show your understanding of the Big Picture (the “forest”)  Briefly, in your introduction !  (With poetry, it is often an extended metaphor.)  “Here is swamp, here is struggle”  Example: In “Crossing the Swamp,” Mary Oliver communicates how the nature of a swamp is representative of her experience as a human being. She uses the form and shape of the poem to illustrate unpredictable and universal nature, and uses aspects of sound (alliteration, internal rhyme, and euphony) to communicate her feelings about struggle and redemption. “Crossing the Swamp”

3.   Remember the vehicle and tenor. If you refer to a metaphor, make sure you know what the vehicle & tenor are. (If it’s unclear, it’s probably not a metaphor!)  2 extended metaphors in “Crossing the Swamp”:  Vehicle #1: Swamp = ?  Vehicle #2: Dry stick = ? Vehicle & Tenor

4.   What devices does Oliver use to support the extended metaphor, and build the relationship between the speaker and the swamp?  Form / White Space  Punctuation:  enjambment  internal punctuation / caesura  Alliteration  B’s vs. S’s  Turn / Shift in Tone Literary Devices

5.   Avoid “parroting” the prompt.  Parroting (bad): Mary Oliver uses techniques to develop the relationship between the speaker and the swamp.  No parroting (good): She uses the form and shape of the poem to illustrate unpredictable and universal nature, and uses aspects of sound (alliteration, internal rhyme, and euphony) to communicate her feelings about struggle and redemption. General Tips

6.   Assume (unless it’s clearly otherwise) that the speaker shares the author’s gender.  Avoid “he or she” or “they” to refer to a singular speaker.  Citing line numbers is unnecessary and time-consuming.  Semi-Colons (;) work exactly like periods. They are used to show the close connection between the ideas in two independent clauses. General Tips