Final Paper
Dr. McGarrity
English 62 001 Fall 2021
Close Reading: Analyzing a Contemporary Poem
Assignment: This semester we have learned how to analyze literature. Analyze and perform a close reading of the following poem in a paper of 3-5 pages. Assume that every word, detail, metaphor, image, and structural element of the poem is significant. Analyze those items to create thesis driven essay/paper that asserts a close reading of the text. Treat the words/language of the poem with a respectful intensity of meaning. No outside research is required nor should any be consulted. You can consult the Guide to Close Reading under the content tab for the course Blackboard page.
Requirements: 3-5 full pages of analysis/writing with an additional Works Cited page (4-6). Times New Roman, 12 pt font, 1 inch margins, double-spaced. Cite the language of the poem by line number parenthetically in your analysis. So if you are talking about the significance of the busyness in the opening of the poem, you need to indicate like this (Baker 1).
Due: 12/17/2021 by 11:59 pm via Blackboard/SafeAssign.
Rubric for Grading:
Thesis 10 pts
Close Reading/Analysis 50 pts
Paragraph Coherence 10 pts
Style/Structure of Essay 20 pts
Depth of Thought/Development 10 pts
Any instance of Plagiarism will result in zero credit and course failure.
Can You Say It
By David Baker
Published in The New Yorker, November 1, 2021
1.
There was a busyness. Yes, in the apple tree.
The first light. You could say it was a busyness
like a hive of movements, indistinct as haze
caught up in strings of light. Low sunlight, among webs.
And along the strands those slender brown fingerlings,
the leaves, hovered, just there, in the breeze.
2.
What I meant to say is the morning was heavy.
Was it our sorrow. The tree was at the window.
Before we could see the webs, the dew, the thousand
little apples, we saw the end of it only. The night, yes
the end of it. There is always something else to say.
No, I mean the first light. Theres far too much to say.
3.
Low sunlight. Yes, in the apple tree, coming up.
Every day is the anniversary of a terror.
But there you are. A sorrow. And something
caught there dazzling in the haze, just the same. Yes.
And of this moment closer to you than I can say.
There was busyness in the apple tree.
4.
First I thought it just a slim leaf, hanging
to the screen. On the door. The night was settled.
Darkness inside, darkness out. Then the wings
half-closed like hands, or a clasp. I mean, of a jewel.
Dust of a moth, half a palm wide, and the crickets
a busy tide at the seashore, when this was a sea.
5.
In the morning, the moth was gone. Or was it silence.
Every day the image at the windowus, each other,
wings on the door. Yes, can you say it now.
Before the webs we saw first light, a breath of haze
then leaves, floating there. In the window, yes. We saw
ourselves. Then we saw ourselves with shadows.
What Students Are Saying About Us
.......... Customer ID: 12*** | Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐"Honestly, I was afraid to send my paper to you, but you proved you are a trustworthy service. My essay was done in less than a day, and I received a brilliant piece. I didn’t even believe it was my essay at first 🙂 Great job, thank you!"
.......... Customer ID: 11***| Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"This company is the best there is. They saved me so many times, I cannot even keep count. Now I recommend it to all my friends, and none of them have complained about it. The writers here are excellent."
"Order a custom Paper on Similar Assignment at essayfount.com! No Plagiarism! Enjoy 20% Discount!"
