First essay

Write a short essay of three to four pages on one of the following poems.

• Margaret Atwood, “The Planters”
• Archibald Lampman, “Autumn Maples”
• Dorothy Livesay, “Pear Tree”

Your essay must use the Times New Roman font, 12-point in size. There must be one inch (2.5 cm) margins on all four sides of the essay. The essay must have double-spaced lineation. The essay must include a separate page for a Works Cited list (which is not included in the page count). The essay should not have a title page. Essays shorter than three full pages or longer than five pages will be returned unread and ungraded.

Your essay must follow the Modern Language Association (MLA) bibliographic, citation, and presentation guidelines. You can consult the Purdue Online Writing Lab for information about using MLA format. See especially the example essay and the sample Works Cited page on the site. Please also follow the checklist items listed below.

Write an essay on the one poem you choose, focussing on the content of the poem (that is, what it is saying) and the language of the poem (that is, how it says it). You should focus on the use of trees or tree images in the poem, or at least imagery of nature in general. You may ask yourself: What does the tree symbolize and how is the language of the poem contributing to my understanding of that symbol? What are the most interesting words in the poem, and how are they being used, especially in light of what the poem says? What words does the poem use in an interesting or novel way? How do the rhyme words contribute to the content of the poem? (You do not have to answer all or even any of these questions in your essay: they are provided here to help guide your thinking as you prepare to write your essay.)

For your essay, you are expected to develop a thesis that represents your main argument for your analysis of the poem. The whole essay will attempt to support the thesis, using careful argumentation and supporting examples where needed. Your essay is meant to reflect your own interpretation of the poem. As with any English Studies essay, value will be awarded based on the depth of the analysis, the complexity of the discussion, the solidity of the writing, and the thoroughness of the support to the thesis.

For this assignment, you are welcome to use reputable reference sources, but you should avoid all other sources of interpretation and information. Remember that plagiarism will not be tolerated. (This includes using any source for an idea without proper documentation: even if you try “to make the words your own” by rearranging and rewriting them, you still must identify the source of the ideas.) If you cannot avoid other sources of interpretation and information for this assignment, you must still cite them properly.

The essay is due in class on February 25. Consult the lateness policy for late papers.

Essay Checklist

1. No title page
2. One-inch (2.5 cm) margins on all sides.
3. 12-point Times New Roman font.
4. Four lines of identifying information in the top left corner of the first page: your name, prof name, course, and date you submit.
5. Title of essay: centred and not underlined, bolded, or in a larger font.
6. The first lines of all paragraphs (except perhaps the first) are indented.
7. All lines are double spaced. Block quotations and first-page identifying information can be single spaced.
8. No extra blank space between paragraphs.
9. Use left-margin justification (“align text left”): not full justification.
10. Do not use subheadings for this essay.
11. Make sure all your quotations are accurate.
12. Prose quotations of more than four lines of your essay are presented as block quotations.
13. Poetry quotations of more than three lines of the poem are presented as block quotations.
14. Poetry quotations of three lines or less: please use “|” (not “/”) to separate lines of the poem: “Behold her, single in the field, | Yon solitary Highland Lass!” (1-2).
15. Do not use the following words in your own writing: amongst, amidst, whilst.
16. A Works Cited page is included, on a separate page.
17. Please always include a URL in your Works Cited list when citing an online resource.
18. Do not use underline anywhere in your essay: use italics instead. The only reason to use underline is when you are quoting something that itself uses underline.