English Homework

Ashford 5: – Week 4 – Assignment

Reading Responses to a Poem

  Select one poem from this week’s assigned readings, and identify at least three elements in the poem that you found interesting or engaging (e.g., form, language, content, and/or other literary elements).

  Then, assess how these elements affected your response to the poem, in its entirety.

  (e.g., Did these elements affect your opinions on (or reaction to) the content of the poem?  Did they cause you to focus on one aspect of the poem over others?)  

Assignment Requirements

• Length: Your paper should be two to four double-spaced pages in length (excluding title and reference page) 
• Sources: Support your reflections with textual details and analysis from at least two scholarly sources. 
• APA: Your draft must be formatted to APA (6th edition) style. 
  • Separate Title Page: Must include an original title 
  • Separate Reference Page 
  • Proper Citations: All sources must be properly cited, both within the text and in a separate reference page.
• Elements of Academic Writing:  All academic papers should include these elements. 
  • Introduction with a thesis statement 
  • Supporting paragraphs 
  • Conclusion

  The paper must be two to four pages in length (excluding the title and reference page), and formatted according to APA style. You must use at least two scholarly resources (at least one of which can be found in the Ashford Online Library) other than the textbook to support your claims and subclaims. Cite your resources in text and on the reference page. For information regarding APA samples and tutorials, visit the Ashford Writing Center, within the Learning Resources tab on the left navigation toolbar, in your online course.

  Carefully review the Grading Rubric for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.

Boy at the Window

Richard Wilbur (1952)

Seeing the snowman standing all alone
In dusk and cold is more than he can bear.
The small boy weeps to hear the wind prepare
A night of gnashings and enormous moan.

5 His tearful sight can hardly reach to where
The pale–faced figure with bitumen [1] eyes
Returns him such a God–forsaken stare
As outcast Adam gave to paradise.

The man of snow is, nonetheless, content,

10 Having no wish to go inside and die.
Still, he is moved to see the youngster cry.
Though frozen water is his element,
He melts enough to drop from one soft eye
A trickle of the purest rain, a tear

15

For the child at the bright pane surrounded by
Such warmth, such light, such love, and so much fear.