The Poet Robert Frost and His Work

Topic

The Poet Robert Frost and His Work

Instructions 

This final paper should be an analytical essay about one of the poets assigned in the Week 9 reading OR a poet of your choice.  If you choose an alternative poet, please email me first for permission.

The paper should be 5-6 pages total.  The rough draft should be 2-3 pages.

You should use MLA format including in-text citations and a final reference list.

For help on writing an analytical research essay on literature: http://www.germanna.edu/documents/literary-analysis-sample-paper.pdf

You must use at least two sources for your research essay, but you are welcome to use more.  Sources should be credible academic sources found from the WCCC library or online.  Please do not use sources such as Shmoop, Wikipedia, Ask.com, etc.

The essay should contain:

1. An introduction to the poet and his/her work
2. A close analysis of at least one poem
3. A cohesive theme that holds the paper together

Answer Preview 

The very popular poem mirrors Frost’s broad view and an approach that is realistic to issues. The four stanzas made up of five lines with approximately ten syllables employ an iambic rhythm. With a rhyme pattern of abab the crux of the poem lay in the use of symbolism in the poetic language that Frost uses in the poem. Leech defined poetic language as a way of expression that would deviate or violate the language rules in numerous ways but still be accepted (7).

The poem was which was written in the first person raised questions of the likelihood of the poet has been the persona in the poem. Most argued that there was a chance that the speaker must have been Frost himself. All the same, these questions were put to rest in Frost’s autobiography as well as through the fact that during the reading of the poem he made a point of informing his audience that the speaker was a friend of his named Edward Thomas. Frost said about Edward that he was a person who was predisposed to question all his choices and regret the options that had to be foregone when he chose one instead of the other.

Word Count: 1700