For this assignment, you will select a single collection of poetry (50-100 pages long) by a single author and write a 5-page book review.
Writing the Essay: In your essay you will discuss and analyze the poet’s historical context, and you will conduct close readings of at least 3 poems from the book to provide textual examples of the poet’s use of form, themes, images, language, style, and other relevant points. I encourage you to make comparisons to other poems or poets when discussing the book as well as to draw on the criticism of scholarly work (just be sure to cite them all.)

In your review, consider these questions:

What is holding this book together? Are there certain themes that get repeated in the book?
What is the form of the poems like? Are they all similar? Different? How so?
Where does this poet fall in the timeline of poets we have looked at in this class? Are they working in the same tradition or with the same tendencies as others, or are they reacting against them? Try to relate their work to at least a few writers we have discussed.
Lastly, what is the importance of this book? What is your final opinion of it? (be sure to back this up with examples.)
Requirements: The essay should be a total of 5 full pages, double-spaced, in MLA format.
I will be grading the essays on the following criteria:

Quality and complexity of analysis
Synthesis and use of terms/ materials from this class in your discussion of the book you’ve chosen
Clarity of writing (take time to proofread your essays; seek help from others, if needed)
Follows appropriate MLA form and properly cites and uses sources without plagiarism (since all essays are automatically checked for plagiarism, be very careful to always cite your source when you use ideas that are not originally yours; see this guide on avoiding plagiarism here)