Essay should be at least 1250 words (not counting quotation). But what is most important is addressing the topic proposed and doing as good a job of it as you can. One can always write a sloppy paper that has little to say and repeats itself a lot to fill up a word count. That won’t do. It is possible perhaps to write a fine paper that doesn’t exceed the minimum word count. That is okay. I will not count words unless it seems to me that you were writing an essay in order to fulfill a word count rather than to do a good job on the topic.
I have pointed out that Modern poetry is characterized by the increased frequency and importance of lyric poetry: “[relatively] short poems … directly expressing the poet’s own thoughts and sentiments. Hence, applied to the poet who composes such poems.†(OED). The speakers of most of the poems we have read may usually be taken as versions of the poets themselves. The poems are, therefore, presenting a kind of aesthetic portrait of the artists that make them.
How would you characterize our poets? What kind of a person does the poet present themself as? Using their poems (in combination with biographical context when appropriate) as the basis of your description, describe at least two of our poets, using interpretations of at least three each of their poems on which to base your characterization. If you do research (to determine biography for example), be sure to keep a bibliography and to make clear when you are using an idea or quotation from one of those sources.
USE THESE TWO POETS
-Edgar Allen Poe and Robert frost
