Eric Rabkin English 240 Introduction to Poetry February 27, 1997
Writing About More Than One Poem
A paper about two or more poems should _not_ be the same a mere
concatenation of two or more papers about single poems but rather
should, like any good essay, have a clear thesis, in this case
one that applies to or somehow relates the works under discussion.
The works should be chosen for their ability to interilluminate
or to warrant a generalization. In the former case, some feature
of one or more works ought to become more vivid or understandable
because the work is compared and contrasted with another. For
example, the power of a sonnet as a form may become clearer when
one love poem in that form is compared and contrasted with another
love poem in a different form. In the latter case, some feature
of all the works ought to become more vivid or understandable
when the works are taken together. For example, the meaning of
"snow" as a symbol might be easier to explore if one
compares and contrasts its use in poems in which snow seems inviting
and in which snow seems deadening.
Before you begin to write about two or more poems together, you
should make sure you know as much as possible about each of the
poems singly, following up the kinds of inquiries we've been making:
consider the denotation of each poem, the etymologies of words,
possible allusions, rhythm, rhyme, form, relation of sound to
sense, tone, historical context, and so on. Once you understand
each poem well, and have developed a thesis about the set of poems,
begin your draft.
All good writing, as the syllabus asserts, requires a strong sense
of audience and purpose, meaning, in this case, that you expect
to interrogate your own prose, test it for validity, modify it
and/or your ideas as necessary; in short, revise for the potentially
dissenting reader who, in this case, is the hypothetical intelligent
senior in our class whose reading experience you aim to enrich.
I hope this helps.
Additional correction notes based on revisions of the first paper: