EN1006 3.

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Essay #1
Due: February 6, 2020
20% of your final grade
750-1000 words

Choose and complete one of the questions below:

1. For those who enjoy creating their own texts:

Write and analyze your own sonnet. Our expectation is that your sonnet will adhere to the strict
rules of the sonnet form but, of course, a few transgressions will make it more interesting.

The sonnet will not be graded on your brilliance as a poet but rather on the extent you understand
and achieve the sonnet form. Mostly we are interested in your analysis: how do the
transgressions aid in the signification of the sonnet? Are the metre/ rhyme scheme/ alliteration/
assonance/ consonance/ punctuation etc working in concert with the theme of the sonnet, or do
they provide a tension with the theme of the sonnet? Avoid discussing figurative language and
imagery. Instead focus your attention on the sonnet's form.

You will need to submit the following:

a) A copy of your sonnet (which should have a title)
b) A 2-3 page analysis of your sonnet
c) A copy of your sonnet plotted on the iambic grid with all deviations circled (5%)

2. For those who enjoy pulling apart other texts:

Analyze one of the assigned sonnets (found under the Poetry: Traditional Constraints link) that
has not been covered in the discussions or the lecture. Your analysis must attend to the way the
structure of the poem (metre/rhyme scheme/ alliteration/ assonance/ consonance/ punctuation
etc) works in concert with the theme of the sonnet, or provides a tension with the theme of the
sonnet. Avoid discussing figurative language and imagery. Instead focus your attention on the
sonnet's form.

You will need to submit the following:

a) Your essay (which should have a proper title)
b) A copy of the sonnet plotted on the iambic grid with all deviations circled (5%)
c) A Work Cited in MLA format
 w S w S w S w S w S
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