ENG200.003 -- Introduction to Literary Study

Prof. Eileen Joy

Fall 2009

SHORT PAPER #4 −- Yet Another Explication Essay (20 points)

Figure 1. tatoo based on Sylvia Plath's poem "Tulips"

explicate (verb): 1. to unfold, unroll, unravel in words; 2. to open out and expand what is wrapped up; 3. to enter into explanations

This essay is meant to build on your first explication essay (on Spencer Reece's "Florida Ghazals"), and once again, you are to try your hand at explaining how a poem is constructed and what you think its "message" might be (what is it trying to say/convey to us?). Choose any poem (excepting "Lady Lazarus") from Sylvia Plath's Ariel: The Restored Edition, that appeals to you. Remember that this isn't an editorial-style opinion paper ("I love this poem because . . . ."); rather, it's an essay that attempts to describe what the poem does (with form, language, images, etc.), how it creates its effects upon you as a reader, and what sort of thing, or things, it might be trying to say. Please remember that whatever it is you think the poem might be about, that it will be important to connect that to a very close attention to the language and form of the poem itself. It will not be enough to speak about the poem in general and broad terms, although you can certainly start there; you have to get down into the thicknesses of the language itself and ask yourself: what is this language trying to do? how is it trying to make me feel? what kinds of pictures and moods and situations is it creating? and how, more importantly, is it doing this? Matters to consider are:

• What kinds of scenes, moods, images, feelings, etc., does the poem evoke for you?
• How would you describe the overall tone of the poem (see pages 835-842 in the Norton Intro. to Literature)?
• What is the setting and situation of the poem (see pages 882-894 in the Norton Intro. to Literature)?
• What kind of form does the poem take (look at its line and stanza and other formatting elements, including repetition of words, sounds, and images), and why do you think that matters (if it does)?
• What is interesting about the poet's use of figurative language (look at pages 941-948 in the Norton Intro. to Literature)?
• What can you say about the speaker/narrator of the poem (look at pages 861-872 in the Norton Intro. to Literature)?
• Does the poem tell a story, and what is that story, more exactly?
• How does the poem ultimately affect you as a reader?
• Does the poem ultimately have any kind of message that it is tring to convey, and what might that be?

There is no particular order in which to do these things; first, spend some time getting really acquainted with the poem. Read it several times, and then several times again, to really get the feel of it. Make notes on the phrases, lines, and images that really strike you. Begin the paper by answering the last three questions posed above, and then work your way through the small details of the poem's form, language, etc. in order to explain to your reader how the poem works--as a narrative, as the setting of certain scenes or moods, and as something that moves you in a particular way.

Go HERE to see how some experts have written about Sylvia Plath's "Lady Lazarus" over the years.

Go HERE to see a fellow student's explication of Spencer Reece's "Florida Ghazals."

Also, it never hurts, when working on an explication, to hear a little bit about what the poet herself thinks about when she is working on her poetry. So go HERE and HERE for an interview with Sylvia Plath.

Target length: 3 pages, double-spaced, TYPED.