Poetry

What to fix when revising an explication of "The Flea": content, style, and mechanics.

The scoring rubric for the essay that compares the Keats and Frost poems.

The scoring rubric for the timed essay on the Yeats and Updike poems.

A sample essay on the Keats and Frost star poems that scores a 7.

A sample essay on the Keats and Frost star poems that scores a 9.

A filled-in plan for an explication of Larkin's "A Study of Reading Habits," with thesis, topic sentences, and details.

A student's explication of Donne's "The Flea," stanza by stanza.

Sample comments on quotations, style, grammar, and punctuation in student explications.

Rick Reed introduces John Donne’s Holy Sonnet XIV beside Purgatorio, with the text of the poem.