English Question

First Literary Analysis Essay Assignment

(Due Date: March 2, 2026)

Please choose ONE of the following topics. Your essay should be a minimum of 1,000

words (approximately 4 full pages), double-spaced, in MLA format.

This is a close reading assignment. No outside research is required. Your analysis

should focus on the language and structure of the poem(s).

Option 1 Voice and Tone

Choose one poem longer than 12 lines from our assigned readings (for example: The

Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister, Ballad of the

Landlord, The Unknown Citizen, or one of the war poems). Analyze how the poem

constructs its speakers voice.

How do diction, syntax, rhythm, or structure shape our understanding of the

speaker?

What does the tone reveal about the speakers emotional state, social position,

or worldview?

Does the poem employ multiple voices or shifts in perspective?

How do connotations of key words deepen meaning?

Suggestion: If analyzing Hughess Ballad of the Landlord, consider how multiple

voices (tenant, landlord, police, media) create social critique. If analyzing Browning or

Eliot, explore how the dramatic monologue form reveals psychological complexity.

Option 2: Imagery and Meaning

Choose one or two poems from our syllabus that use especially vivid imagery (for

example: Owens Dulce et Decorum Est, Rosenbergs Break of Day in the Trenches,

or Eliots urban imagery in Prufrock). Analyze:

How does the poet create sensory images?

Do these images function symbolically or metaphorically?

How do denotative and connotative meanings contribute to larger themes?

Do the images challenge romanticized ideas (of war, love, patriotism, or urban

life)?

Your essay should move beyond identifying images and instead argue how imagery

shapes the poems overall meaning.

ENGL 2201

Spring 2026

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Option 3: War Poetry and Anti-War Protest

Analyze how word choice, figurative language, and poetic devices contribute to the anti-

war message in Wilfred Owens Dulce et Decorum Est.

You may:

Compare it briefly with another war poem from our unit (Brooke, Sassoon,

Rosenberg, etc.).

Discuss how irony, tone, or imagery dismantle patriotic rhetoric.

Argue whether the poem remains relevant in contemporary society.

Option 4: Urban Life and Social Critique

Compare two poems that critique urban or modern society (for example: Prufrock,

The Unknown Citizen, Ballad of the Landlord, or Larkins This Be the Verse).

How do the poets represent modern life?

What role do social class, bureaucracy, racism, or alienation play?

How does tone (satirical, melancholic, ironic) shape the critique?

Option 5: Gender and Modern Anxiety in Prufrock

In The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, Eliot portrays strained and fragmented

interactions between men and women. Analyze how Eliot uses these gendered

interactions to comment on:

Urban alienation

Social performance and insecurity

Masculinity and modern identity

Emotional paralysis

How do imagery, repetition, and fragmentation reinforce this critique?

ENGL 2201

Spring 2026

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Organization

Your essay should:

Present a clear, arguable thesis early in the paper.

Develop focused body paragraphs that support your thesis.

Include close readings of specific passages.

Integrate quotations smoothly and analyze them carefully (avoid excessive

quotation).

Conclude by reinforcing the significance of your argument.

Your thesis should make a specific claim about how the poem achieves meaning, not

simply summarize its theme.

You should include

I. An original title (i.e., dont use the poets name or title of a poem as your

title).

II. An introduction to what you will be discussing

A good introduction should identify your topic, provide essential

context, and indicate your particular focus in the essay.

III. Body paragraphs: A careful reading of the poem for what it says, how it

says it, and what the poet himself/herself wants the reader to see.

You should include an account of the poem to tell your

understanding of what the poet is saying. Therefore, you should

cite relevant lines from the poetry, and interpret them, as support

for the claims you are making about the poem, but do not over-rely

on excessive quotation. You should provide a discussion

comparing the poet’s views to your own.

IV. Conclusion

Conclusions wrap up what you have been discussing in your paper.

After moving from general to specific information in the introduction

and body paragraphs, your conclusion should begin pulling back

into more general information that emphasizes the main points of

your argument.

ENGL 2201

Spring 2026

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Format

V. Your essay must be submitted typed, double-spaced, in a standard 12-

point font, with one-inch margins and numbered pages (No cover pages).

VI. Your documentation and citations should conform to MLA specifications.

VII. Your essay must be submitted to the assignment folder on Canvas, which

will then submit the assignment to TurnItIn.com, an online plagiarism and

AI detector.

VIII. Any essay flagged by AI-detection software and determined to contain AI-

generated content will receive a 0 and may be reported under university

academic misconduct policies.

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