Poem Explication
Eng 112Writing the Explication
A poetry explication is a relatively short analysis which describes the possible meanings and relationships of the words, images, and other small units that make up a poem. Writing an explication is an effective way for a reader to connect a poems plot and conflicts with its structural features. This handout reviews some of the important techniques of approaching and writing a poetry explication, and includes parts of two sample explications.
PREPARING TO WRITE THE EXPLICATION
1. Read the poem silently, then read it aloud (if not in a testing situation). Repeat as necessary.
2. Consider the poem as a dramatic situation in which a speaker addresses an audience or another character. In this way, begin your analysis by identifying and describing the speaking voice or voices, the conflicts or ideas, and the language used in the poem.
The large issues
Determine the basic design of the poem by considering the who, what, when, where, andwhy of the dramatic situation.
What is being dramatized?
What conflicts or themes does the poem present, address, or question?
Who is the speaker? Define and describe the speaker and his/her voice. What does the speaker say? Who is the audience? Are other characters involved?
What happens in the poem? Consider the plot or basic design of the action. How are the dramatized conflicts or themes introduced, sustained, resolved, etc.?
When does the action occur? What is the date and/or time of day?
Where is the speaker? Describe the physical location of the dramatic moment.
Why does the speaker feel compelled to speak at this moment? What is his/her motivation?
The Details
To analyze the design of the poem, we must focus on the poems parts, namely how the poem dramatizes conflicts or ideas in language. By concentrating on the parts, we develop our understanding of the poems structure, and we gather support and evidence for our interpretations. Some of the details we should consider include the following:
Rhetoric: How does the speaker make particular statements? Does her/his use of language seem odd in any way? Why? Consider her/his assertions and what they reveal about the speaker.
Syntax: Consider the subjects, verbs, and objects of each statement and what these elements reveal about the speaker. Do any statements seem convoluted or vague?
Vocabulary: Why does the poet choose one word over another in each line? Do any of the words have multiple or archaic meanings that add other meanings to the line? Use the Oxford English Dictionary as a resource.
WRITING THE EXPLICATION
The First Paragraph
The first paragraph should present the large issues; it should inform the reader which conflicts are dramatized and should describe the dramatic situation of the speaker. The explication does not require a formal introductory paragraph; the writer should simply start explicating immediately. According to UNC s Professor William Harmon, the foolproof way to begin any explication is with the following sentence: This poem dramatizes the conflict between Such a beginning ensures that you will introduce the major conflict or theme in the poem and organize your explication accordingly.
Here is an example. A students explication of Wordsworths Composed upon Westminster Bridge might begin in the following way (please note that this student begins with her thesis, but remember that your introductions should end with your thesis):
This poem dramatizes the conflict between appearance and reality, particularly as this conflict relates to what the speaker seems to say and what he really says. From Westminster Bridge, the speaker looks at London at sunrise, and he explains that all people should be struck by such a beautiful scene. The speaker notes that the city is silent, and he points to several specific objects, naming them only in general terms: Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples (6). After describing the glittering aspect of these objects, he asserts that these city places are just as beautiful in the morning as country places like valley, rock, or hill (8,10). Finally, after describing his deep feeling of calmness, the speaker notes how the houses seem asleep and that all that mighty heart is lying still (13, 14). In this way, the speaker seems to say simply that London looks beautiful in the morning.
The Next Paragraphs
The next paragraphs should expand the discussion of the conflict by focusing on details of form, rhetoric, syntax, vocabulary, imagery, and foreground/background (meaning, what is the story being told in the foreground of the poem and what does it reveal about the message or the background of the poem). In these paragraphs, the writer should explain the poem line by line in terms of these details, and he or she should incorporate important elements of the poem. The students explication continues with a topic sentence that directs the discussion of the first five lines:
However, the poem begins with several oddities that suggest the speaker is saying more than what he seems to say initially. For example, the poem is an Italian sonnet and follows the abbaabbacdcdcd rhyme scheme. The fact that the poet chooses to write a sonnet about London in an Italian form suggests that what he says may not be actually praising the city. Also, the rhetoric of the first two lines seems awkward compared to a normal speaking voice: Earth has not anything to show more fair. / Dull would he be of soul who could pass by (1-2). The odd syntax continues when the poet personifies the city: This City now doth, like a garment, wear / The beauty of the morning (4-5). Here, the city wears the mornings beauty, so it is not the city but the morning that is beautiful
The Conclusion??
Though many explications have no formal concluding paragraph, for reasons of consistency and practice, I would like you to include one in your papers.
Eng 112–Poetry Explication
Please read the handout “Writing the Explication” before you begin this assignment.
For your explication, you will choose ONE of the poems we read in this unit. Your paper should be five paragraphs in length (three full pages plus a Works Cited), and it should include a clear thesis (argument) about the poem in question as well as quotations from the text and explanations that link those examples back to your central argument. Remember that your paper is an ANALYSIS of the poem and should do more than just summarize the lines of the poem.
Some topics for your paper may include:
How does the language and/or structure of the poem lend itself to the listener’s understanding of the poem?
How does the imagery of the poem contribute to or detract from the speaker’s success in telling a cohesive story?
What does the poem seem to be about and how does this meaning reveal itself over the course of the poem?
How (or how well/poorly) does the foreground of the poem (the story, or what is happening in the poem) reveal to the listener what might be happening in the background (the message) of the poem?
Please submit your explication no later than 8pm EST on Monday, 4/13.
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Onions
BY WILLIAM MATTHEWS
How easily happiness begins by
dicing onions. A lump of sweet butter
slithers and swirls across the floor
of the saute pan, especially if its
errant path crosses a tiny slick
of olive oil. Then a tumble of onions.
This could mean soup or risotto
or chutney (from the Sanskrit
chatni, to lick). Slowly the onions
go limp and then nacreous
and then what cookbooks call clear,
though if they wer