I want to hear your thoughts on and interpretations of the texts, not SparkNotes, not Shmoops. Therefore, if I find plagiarized, paraphrased or summarized material from a study aid site or another resource of that nature, I will write you up for academic dishonesty, EVEN IF YOU CITED THE MATERIAL. This course is not about your ability to copy and paste another persons interpretation of a text but your ability to interpret and analyze a text. Peer-reviewed secondary sources (articles in refereed journals, available through the library databases), ARE allowed in your papers, but they must be incorporated and cited properly, whether paraphrased, summarized, or directly quoted, both in-text and on a Works Cited page.

Prompt 1: Tone:

This poems speaker is a grown child speaking to his/her father on his deathbed. Is the tone consistent throughout, or does it change as the stanzas unfold? Describe that tone and how it is kept/changed. How does that tone create emotional connections to you as the reader? How does your emotional response further the purpose of the poem?