POETRY ESSAY BEFORE YOU WRITE: ◦Read the poem carefully ◦Highlight the three literary devices stated in the question ◦Remember all the rules for literary essay writing: ❑Use present tense ❑No personal pronouns ❑No contractions ❑Formal register ESSAY OUTLINE 1. INTRODUCTION (TAKO – TITLE, POET /AUTHOR), KEY WORDS FROM TOPIC (THESIS) OUTLINE OF ARGUMENT) 2. BODY PARAGRAPH ONE: (FIRST POETIC DEVICE) 3. BODY PARAGRAPH TWO: (SECOND POETIC DEVICE) 4. BODY PARAGRAPH THREE: (THIRD POETIC DEVICE) 5. CONCLUSION (REVIEW OF MAIN POINTS) EXAMPLE : The poem “a young man’s thoughts before june 16th” describes the horror that awaited young protestors on June 16th in 1976.
By close reference to DICTION, IMAGERY and TONE, critically
discuss the validity of this statement.
Your response should take the form of a well-constructed essay of
250–300 words (about ONE page). [10] EXAMPLE OF INTRODUCTION: Fhazel Johennesse uses diction, imagery and tone in a young man’s thoughts before june 16th to express the horror that awaited young protestors on this day.
NOTE: Use the poet’s full name in the introduction, and
then use the poet’s surname in the rest of the essay. BODY PARAGRAPH: ◦Use the PEEL method: ◦Make a POINT to start your paragraph ◦Choose ONE poetic device (eg: Structure) and discuss THREE EXAMPLES from the poem. ◦Explain how the examples express meaning (EVALUATE) ◦LINK to the topic Paragraph one ◦ The poet uses specific diction to convey the horror that awaited young protestors on 16th June 1976. The use of ‘winds’ and ‘hill’ suggest that the journey will not be straightforward and easy. There will be difficulties and obstacles along the way. It will be an uphill journey further indicating the difficulties on the way. ‘Aches’ expresses intense emotional pain that the young people experienced as they anticipated death and loss. The repetion of ‘sad’ emphasises the emotional state of the protestors. The word ‘drenched’ at the end of the poem suggests the extent of the death that is inevitable. It is thus clear that the poet has used diction effectively to convey horror. Paragraph two ◦ Furthermore, Johannesse uses vivid imagery to illustrate the horror. He compares the protest march to a winding road that ‘leads to the top of a hill’ which conveys that the journey will be challenging. His use of alliteration of the ‘s’ sound in ‘sing my sad song sing for me’ effectively conveys the sadness of the songs of mourning that will be sung when the protestors die. In the final stanza the poet describes his sunset as ‘red’ which vividly conveys the horror of the blood that will be shed during the violence that will result at the protest. The vivid images and aptly convey the horror that awaits the young people. Paragraph three CONCLUSION: ◦Restate your main points. ◦Explain how these points relate to the topic. HOMEWORK: ◦ Write out paragraph three of the body of the essay (The focus is TONE) and write out the conclusion.
