Written Text Analysis: Sample Assignment and Essay

Literary/Interpretive Analysis

Meena Singhal, Instructor

The first assignment in English 108 requires you to do a close reading of a specific text in order to argue for a particular interpretation of it. Such interpretations are reached through an in-depth analysis. Your job is to critically analyze a text, in this case a poem, in order to extract meaning from it. Your writing will describe and evaluate the effectiveness of various strategies the writer used for communicating his/her particular message.

Choose a poem that interests you or perhaps one that you are curious about. As you spend time reading over the poem, think about what the poem means or says. Writers, as we know, use many different kinds of strategies to emphasize particular meanings. Such strategies include the portrayal of characters, use of symbols, images, metaphor, personification, irony, paradox, point of view, tone, choice of settings, narrative structure, and appeals such as pathos, ethos, and logos. Write a 4-5 page essay offering an interpretation of your chosen poem. What does the poem mean and why have you come to that conclusion? What is the author's purpose and which literary devices/strategies does the author use in order to effectively get his/her message across to us? Consider the strategies mentioned above and make sure your essay has a clear focus. Remember, in order for your argument to be convincing to readers, you must provide support for your claims.

In this essay, you will be expected to do the following:

· examine the specific elements of a text in order to identify its meaning, or more specifically its purpose and its message/theme

· choose the most influential meaning-making elements which will allow you to most thoroughly (ie. 3-4 literary devices)

· explain what information the author uses, how s/he uses it, and why it is used in the way it is in order to fulfill the purpose and support the message/theme you have identified construct a critical analysis of the text that includes the following:

· an introduction that sets up your analysis including a brief summary of the text, the author, and establishment of the author’s/text’s purpose and message/theme, all working towards a thesis statement that will focus YOUR PURPOSE for writing

· a logically and systematically organized internal body in which you provide thesis supporting POINTS, backed-up by textual ILLUSTRATIONS, all followed-up by clear, detailed EXPLANATION of your claims and direct relation to your thesis (PIE structure)

· a progressively led-to conclusion of your thesis statement in which you utilize what you have written internally to support a final summation of the effect and effectiveness of the author’s/text’s fulfillment of purpose and support of message/theme.

The Analysis Essay should be 4-5 pages long, excluding the required title page and works cited page— typed, double space, 12 pt font, 1 inch margins—adhering to the MLA citation conventions.

SAMPLE ESSAY

In her award-winning essay, Asami Nozuki, Meena Singhal's student, analyzes Robert Frost’s poem “Wild Grapes.” She analyzes Frost’s portrayal of a woman who is struggling due to the life she lives in and her lack of knowledge. Nozuki focuses on Frost’s use of poetic devices such as character portrayal, metaphor, symbolism, and diction.

ASAMI NOZUKI

Knowledge for Life

In “Wild Grapes,” Robert Frost demonstrates the complex thoughts and struggles of a woman who lives her life, wishing that she had gained a knowledge that would have made her life different. At the same time, she hopes to preserve the exhilarating way she lives her life. Through the use of character portrayal, metaphor, symbolism, and diction, Robert Frost suggests to the reader that although people know that they should prepare themselves to walk through life, they still listen to their hearts, which causes them to be unprepared for what lies ahead of them. The poem starts with the woman telling a story from her youth, which is engraved traumatically in her mind.

The story that the woman describes is about an incident that happens when her brother takes her to a glade where there is a grape tree standing alone. Her brother starts to climb the tree while she admires the tree filled with the grapes. Climbing even higher and picking some grapes to eat, he bends the tree to try to let her have some. As she picks her own grapes, he tells her to hold the top of the tree. So she holds the tree as she was told. The tree, however, catches and suspends her, and it keeps her there for a minute with its grapes. She starts to cry like a baby and does not know what to do. But she clings to the tree, even though her brother is telling her to let go. Trying to bend the tree down, her brother tells her to wait until he leads her down. Finally, against his advice she falls off the tree and feels the ground with her feet. Since the incident happened, the life that she has been living is something different than what she expects or what people expect. She knows she does not want to give up her life in which she lives freely.

In the introductory paragraph, the woman says, "I was born, I suppose, like anyone, and grew to be a little boyish girl." At the beginning she is thinking that she is prepared and knows about things like anybody else. Comparing herself with her brother, she characterizes herself as a tomboy who is fond of adventure. However, on the day that she hangs on the tree, she realizes her lack of knowledge, in comparison to her brother, and she shows her fear of facing the reality of life. Frost uses character portrayal to illustrate the differences between their characters. Like Eurydice in Greek mythology, whose husband came back to save her, the little girl is saved by her brother from the tree where she is suspended. Frost captures the idea that she is no longer an adventurer, and that leads the reader to notice that she is facing reality.

Then Frost develops their characters making clear contrasts: the one who always knows about things and makes a decision following the knowledge and the one who is always led by the other, follows his knowledge, and gets confused in the process. Frost describes that the glade where the grape tree stands is the place that her brother already knew, and he leads her to the place. This introduces to the reader that he knows about the thing before he does it while she just follows what he does. Next, Frost describes, "My brother did the climbing; and at first for in sweet feru and hardhack; which gave him some time to himself to eat." This represents that he is knowledgeable, and that makes things go smoothly. Then, what is strongest in his character is that he is the one who always tells her what to do. It can be seen in "Here, take a tree-top, I'll get down another," "Let go!" "Drop, I'll catch you in my arms," and "Hold tight awhile till I think what to do," for example. This shows that he is confident about what he says and does because he always knows what happens next, and he prepares for it. Since the girl is the one who watches his action and follows him, and these are all described from her perspective, she accepts his knowledge and preparedness, which she does not have.

Later, however, she gets confused about what he says. She starts to have feelings against her "brother's nonsense," and she finally falls to the ground. At the very ending she says, "I had not taken the first step in knowledge; I had not learned to let go with hands, as still I have not learned to with the heart, and have no wish to with the heart nor need that I can see. The mind is not the heart." Although she accepts her brother's wisdom, and she might wish to have the wisdom, she knows it's not all that she desires. She would rather follow her heart. From their different characteristics, the reader can feel that her brother's character represents her wish to have knowledge or wisdom, and her character allows the reader to see her heart. Using character portrayal, Frost demonstrates the process that she takes to find out about her life through her wishes and beliefs.

The other way that Frost merges her complex thoughts is with metaphor and personification. Looking through the poem, the reader notices that the author uses these devices to capture her knowledge about life, her realization that her life is going to be different, and her fear of facing this fact. Frost illustrates the step that she takes to experience these. In the very first sentences of this poem, she states that “What tree may not the fig be gathered from? The grape may not be gathered from the birch? It’s all you know the grape, or know the birch.” This shows that what the girl knows about life is not very much at all, or she thinks she might know a few things; however, she is still not sure if she is right. As a girl, she has not realized that she does not know or even care about what life is like. The day her brother takes her to the glade she sees a white birch “wearing a thin head-dress of pointed leaves, and heavy on her heavy hair behind, against her neck, an ornament of grapes.” The white birch with the grapes represents a life in which she has to go through many experiences. The tree is personified as Frost is trying to capture the idea that life has so many problems. Then, the girl notices that “One bunch of them, and there began to be bunches all round me growing in white birches.” What the author is trying to do here is to make the reader have a feeling that the simple life of a young girl begins to be more complex. Using metaphor in “Mostly as much beyond my lifted heads”, he emphasizes that there may be many things that she is going to have to deal with through her life, and it may not be easy to take care of them. Reality is looming, but the girl has no idea how to prepare for the world.

Other examples of metaphor can be seen in Frost’s clear description the girl and her brother climbing the tree. Her brother has no problem climbing the tree since he knows how to do it. He can climb even higher, picking some grapes and bending the tree. On the other hand, what she is doing is waiting for her brother to throw the grapes down, scared of hanging on the birch, and crying. She has so many problems climbing the tree, and she does not know how to deal with it. The reader clearly gets the author’s idea that she will have to take care of things and survive; however, she might have a hard time with it because of her lack of knowledge. This allows the reader to notice that learning to climb the tree is a metaphor for knowledge or preparedness for life. To describe her clinging to the tree, Frost also uses personification such as “The tree had me.” He illustrates that she is not the one who controls life, but life is the one that controls her because she does not know how to do it. And she is not even ready for it because she is scared. Although she loses her hat and shoes, she still clings. This represents also that her fear comes from her lack of knowing. She just “held on uncomplainingly for life.”

However, she goes against her brother's wishes and against what she sees and hears, too, as it can be seen in “shut my eyes against the sun, my ears against my brother’s nonsense.” This represents that she is confused and undergoes a struggle between what seems to be right and what she believes in. Frost is trying to show that her complex thoughts are mixed with her mind and heart. Because these are all from her perception as an adult woman, this story is a reflection of how she sees the way that she lives her life. Through the use of metaphor and personification, Frost demonstrates what she knows about her life and how she got to this point in the way she is. The reader can see the step that she goes through from knowing nothing, realizing, having fear, and to getting into trouble, but still keeping her belief inside.

The last important device that Frost uses is diction. To describe the knowledge for life or preparedness, he uses the words "climb," "gather," "pick," and "weigh." "Bunches," "fruit," and "birch" are used to give a clear image of life. Frost illustrates that the birch reflects her dealing with so many things that she carries in her life. To get the knowledge, she needs to be able to learn, make decisions, look ahead, and have control. Therefore, he describes climbing the grape tree as a journey of life. Frost also uses the word "advantage" to give the idea that she is the only one who can take advantage of life if she has the knowledge and is able to deal with things. However, she is not able to do so. And he writes that the tree has her, not that she has the tree. This represents that she is not the one who controls life, but she is the one who is led by someone since she does not know what to do. Then, he uses "clinging" and "curled-up fingers" to emphasize that she is scared of letting go and doesn't even know how to do it. Therefore, even after she falls off the tree, she still has a fear of facing reality and has no idea what she needs to do. This illustrates that she was depending on someone or something too tightly, and that is why even when she faces the fact and has to stand alone, she can never deal with it because she is unprepared and is scared. And he uses the words "revolving" and "space" to represent the idea about life. However, it is interesting that a life Frost represents here has a different meaning than the earlier one with "bunches," "fruit," and "birch." Frost uses "revolving" and "space" to describe a life that is more complex and has lots of problems. What he is trying to say is that if she is unprepared, she will have no idea how to handle the realities of life.

Finally, he uses the words "mind" and "heart," and these obviously represent her complex thoughts. She wishes that she had knowledge and wisdom that would make things easier. However, at the same time, she does not want to be restricted in the way she has been living. At the end, the woman says that nothing tells her that she needs to learn to let go with the heart, and therefore she never changes the way she is through her life. The author intends to show that she does not completely want to change. However, even though she cannot or does not want to, she also wishes that she could have a different life than what she has now. Her complex thoughts are presented in "an extra life," "waste," "two birthdays," and "two different ages." Through the use of diction, Frost demonstrates his idea about life and preparedness for life, and he describes the woman's unpreparedness and fear that leads to her struggles that are engraved traumatically in her mind.

Robert Frost amazingly demonstrates the woman's complex thoughts through the use of character portrayal, metaphor, symbolism, and diction. He illustrates his clear idea about how she lives her life, having struggles in her mind. Reflecting her life in the story that she tells, the poem presents a journey to find out how and why she lives the way she lives between her wishes and beliefs. Using those devices effectively, Frost presents his ideas clearly and makes a strong impression on the reader. Through his demonstration of her journey of life, he shows the significance of life and its complexity.

Works Cited

Frost, Robert. (1920, December). "Wild Grape." Harper's Magazine [Online], 3 paragraphs. Available: http:// www.bartleby.com/155/15.html [1999, October 6].