Essays (college papers)“a. A short literary composition on a single subject, usually presenting the personal view of the author. b.Something resembling such a composition: a photojournalistic essay.”
(from http://www.dictionary.com/cgi-bin/dict.pl?term=essay )
Academic essays are usually structured around thesis (or hypothesis) statements, which provide the reader with an exact statement regarding what will specifically be covered in the essay and how (in what order) that will be covered.
Thesis
Every college essay ought to be guided by its thesis.
The main point you are trying to prove, explain, attack, or defend.
Provides a specific blueprint for what your paper will cover.
Addresses the assignment’s requirements.
Is contained in one sentence.
Your Assignment
Explain what (the theme, the message) is and how you know that theme (how the poem communicates its meaning). You should discuss how at least one of the elements the writer uses in the piece is essential to the communication of the poem’s theme
Thesis RequirementsPoem’s Identifying Information
“Title”
Poet’s full name
ThemeMoral or lesson that can be applied to reader’s own life
ElementsSpeaker and situation
Sound
Syntax
Style: Tone, Diction, Imagery, etc.
Structure
By Element Highly RecommendedIntroduction with thesisBody: Paragraph for each element, in order of their listing in the thesisConclusion
By StanzaIntroduction with thesisBody: Paragraph for each stanza, covering the elements listed in your thesis in the order Conclusion
Citing Poetry
Where to Include Citations
Generally, put a citation at the place where a pause would naturally occur, as near as possible to the cited material—usually at the end of a sentence, line, clause, or phrase before the final punctuation. If identifying the poet in the text, then give only line number(s) in the parentheses after the quotation marks.
Short Citations
Cite poetry by the line (and section) number. You can cite up to three lines this way, with quotation marks, as long as you separate the lines with a slash mark ( / ) with a space on each side.Shakespeare concludes with the line "I never writ, nor no man ever loved"(14).Emily Dickinson explains that "God made a little gentian; / It tried to be a rose / And failed, and all the summer laughed" ( "XLVIII" 1-3).
Long Citations
To cite a longer section of poetry, start your quotation on a new line, indenting each line two tab spaces, ten spaces, or an inch. As when quoting long sections of prose, you do not add quotation marks:
Emily Dickinson's poem, "XLVI," plays on
seasonal symbolism, as its speaker seeks
to determine the time of year:
It can't be summer,—that got through;
It's early yet for spring;
There's that long town of white to cross
Before the blackbirds sing. It can't be dying,—it's too rouge,—
The dead shall go in white.
So sunset shuts my question down
With clasps of chrysolite. (1-8)
Work Cited
Don’t forget to cite your poem, per the Stylebook’s explanation
Other MLA Formatting Concerns
Use 1” margins
Header should be placed to print at ½”
Header contains your last name and page number at right margin
Left justified
12 point, Times New Roman font
Double-space throughout