Choose a song written since 1970 and analyze its lyrics as poetry.

Choose
a song written since 1970 and analyze its lyrics as poetry. Write
an organized, well-developed essay of approximately 700 words based on the poem you choose. You may use up to two secondary sources, in addition to
your primary source, but please document using MLA 8 style. Whichever prompt
you choose, I expect to see frequent references, including direct quotes, to
the work(s) you’re writing about.

•700 words (600-800)
•You MAY use two secondary sources (but
you don’t have to)
•Please document any sources (including
primary source) using MLA 8 style
•Exception: If you use any of the links on
the syllabus, you don’t have to cite those
•Use MLA 8 format (Google “Diana Hacker
MLA sample paper” or go to this link: https://depts.washington.edu/owrc/Handouts/Hacker-Sample%20MLA%20Formatted%20Paper.pdf)
What I’m looking for:
•An argumentative essay about a work (or
works) of literature
•Thesis: What you think the
story/poem/song is about or what you think the author is saying—their main
point
•Support: Evidence taken from the
story/poem/song itself, in the form of quoted passages
•LOTS of quotes from the story/poem/song
•I want to know what YOU think (not what
somebody else thinks about the story/poem/song)
•I want to hear your voice and see
evidence of YOUR mind at work
•We usually write about literature in the
PRESENT tense, as if it’s happening now
•For example, we don’t say that the pool
players in “We Real Cool” stayed out
late and drank gin.
•We say that they stay out
late and drink gin.
•We don’t say, “When Goodman Brown went into
the forest….”
•We say, “When Goodman Brown goes into
the forest….”
•Exception: When you’re referring
back to
some that happened earlier in the story or poem: “When Brown first went into
the forest, he….” (if, for example, you’re talking about the ending and
comparing the two).
When
you quote two or three lines of poetry, use forward slashes to indicate line
breaks: “We real cool. We / Left school.”
Long
quote (poetry) = more than three lines. In that case, block off, or indent one
inch from the left margin:
I
have eaten
the
plums
that
were in
the
icebox
Long
quote (fiction): Indent if you quote more than four lines on
your page (MLA)
Don’t
use a long quote as the subject of your sentence: “That time of year thou may’st in
me behold” indicates that persona is talking about himself.
Instead,
try putting the “interpretation” or point up front and using a colon to
introduce the quote: In the opening line of this sonnet, persona is clearly
referring to himself: “That time of year thou may’st in me behold.”
Don’t:
“Blood” and “veins” suggest that Hughes is comparing rivers to the human
vascular system.
Do:
Words like “blood” and “veins” suggest that Hughes is comparing rivers to the
human vascular system.

Last Completed Projects