How to Write a Poetry Analysis Essay Properly

So, you got it! A poetry analysis essay is you home-task, and you have to deal with it on your own! Whatever you write, it will influence your grade. Are you worried? That’s ok, and worrying is human. But still, how to write a poetry analysis essay correctly and efficiently? How to analyze a poetry work in an excellent way even though you might not be keen on poetry?

Basically, writing an essay on poetry text is just a little bit different than writing an essay on any other kind of text. Even not an essay but the text differs. Even if you might believe that poetry is something special, you still can write a nice paper on that. There are basic rules that apply to any kind of writing, and all you have to do is to follow them.

What is a Poetry Analysis Essay? Definition and Ideas

Well, a poetry essay is an essay about a poem. Well, but not everything is simple. Your essay might have different targets. You can write about different literary methods and poetical means that the poet has used in his poem. Or you can write about lexical means and phrases that the poet has used to make the poem more expressive.

If your case is the first one, then, writing a poetry essay might be more challenging. You have to know not only the methods and poetical means, but you have to be able to find them in a text. But if you are dealing with the second kind of essay, then, you are a lucky guy. You just deal with the text like with any other type of text. Describe what words and expressions are used for what and that’s it.

How to Do a Poetry Analysis Essay: Structure Rules

Actually, before we move to the essay structure, you have to make some preparation. What about checking other sources and other opinions? They might be helpful even if you are an expert. Well, the views of other people might open for you new dimensions of the poem, so, don’t ignore them. Moreover, you will need a reference list anyway.

Further, after you are ready with the sources, you should make a plan. Write down the ideas you would like to discuss. Write down all literary means that you are going to mention. Then, arrange them in proper order.

Finally, you can start the actual writing. The poetry essay structure is the same as the structure of any paper of this kind. You start with an introduction. There, you explain why you have selected the poem, what are the things that have touched you. Maybe there is something personal in it. If yes, share it with your reader.

Then, you write the main part of the paper. There, you describe all means that the poet used, explain what you see in them and why they were used. For that, you might need some additional information, but you have collected some already. Arrange all your thoughts in a logical order. You may describe the means as they follow in the poem, or you might want to group them – this is up to you.

And, finally, it is time for a conclusion for a poetry essay. There, you make the summary of what you have already written in the introduction and the main part. What impression did the poem make on you? Why does it seem for you relevant or irrelevant, beautiful or awful now, after you have analyzed it?

As you can see, writing a poetry analysis essay isn’t so complicated if you do it correctly and without hurry. You don’t need to be an exceptional writer, and it is enough just to know how to look for ideas and how to apply them in a correct way.

Poetry Analysis Essay Outline Is as Follows

So, poetry analysis essay outline is a standard one. It consists of

  • An introduction: here, you explain the idea relevance and make the reader interested;
  • the main part: give the explanation of your ideas, compare them with the expert opinions;
  • a conclusion: make conclusions and state, why the ideas were right or wrong and what the results of your research are.

However, the content is rather specific. Yes, analyzing a poem might be more complicated than analyzing any other kind of literary work. But the principle is the same: when you write a poetry analysis essay, you follow the rules and use additional sources even if you believe that you know everything.

Poetry Essay Topics: Select the Most Attractive One

However, sometimes it is not writing itself that causes most of the issues. The most complicated part is selecting a topic. What about you? Is it easy for you to choose a theme that you like? If not, we have made here a list of poetry essay topics that might be interesting. Who knows, maybe you will want to pick one:

  • Breaking Through and its critical analysis.
  • Indo-Anglian poetry: World treasure.
  • A Poem of Kabir: Literary means used.
  • English epic poetry and its influence on modern poetry.
  • Susan Gilbert and her role in the poetry of Emily Dickinson.

Writing a poetry analysis essay might be not the simplest task, but if you follow all the tips we have given here, you can handle it. Just keep calm, work hard, and the success is waiting for you, even in the most complicated situations!