English 201

Introduction to Literary Analysis

Dr. O'Dea

Poetry Annotation Project

Due: Monday, March 28

For this project, you will choose one of the poets listed below and annotate a selection of poems
by that poet. The goal is to practice and demonstrate active reading skills by digging into the
texts and explaining them to yourself by writing on them and about them. Another way to think
of it: an annotated text is an account of your own act of reading the poem.

Poets:
 William Blake (5 poems)
 Robert Browning (3 poems)
 e.e. cummings (4 poems)
 Emily Dickinson (4 poems)
 John Donne (4 poems)
 Robert Frost (4 poems)
 John Keats (4 poems)
 Sylvia Plath (4 poems)
 William Butler Yeats (4 poems)

Format:
Your final document should include the following items:
 A photocopy of the poems, neatly marked and annotated (see below)
 An introductory essay (perhaps two or three pages) in which you discuss the kinds of
annotations you've made—why you found yourself annotating certain features, what the
process of reading this way revealed, and so on.

Annotating:
Obviously, the kinds of features you mark and comment on will depend on the poems you
choose and your experience in reading them. These guidelines may help you think about what
to annotate and think about:
 Words & Language: definitions, repetitions, levels of diction, sounds, rhythm, meter
 Structure and Form: How is the poem structured? What are its parts? How do the lines,
stanzas, and/or rhyme schemes work, and help organize the poem? How do the parts fit
together? Are there closed forms here? If so, are the conformist or radical?
 Imagery: What sorts of images appear? How do they "move," or proceed, or change
through the poem?
 Thematic issues: What are they, and where are they especially developed? How are
they developed across the poem?

This is merely a general list; again, you should let your own experience in grappling with the
poems dictate your annotations. The goal is to make the annotated text reflect your reading.