Siegfried Sassoon’s poetry reflect critical thinking about one aspect of the WWI-era historical

Major Essay #3 (Owen and Sassoon)
ENGLISH 110 TRAVIS

MAJOR ESSAY #3, WORLD WAR I POETRY

LENGTH: 1800 WORDS

BACKGROUND: In this unit we are learning about the poetry of World War I with a focus on works by two poets who fought in the war and who expressed deep feelings of betrayal and alienation. For both Owen and Sassoon, conventional sentiments about war, patriotism, and heroism were hideously out of place in the context of WWI. Traditional literary forms, too, came to seem somewhat of a poor fit—though neither of these poets thoroughly broke from poetic tradition. These are authors whose poetry clearly represents their critical response to their own experiences of events of great historical significance. Major Essay #3 will be your first of two research essays for English 110.

***ESSAY PROMPT: How does Wilfred Owen’s and/ or Siegfried Sassoon’s poetry reflect critical thinking about one aspect of the WWI-era historical context?***

HOW TO DO IT: You should choose one relevant historical topic that interests you.

Possible topics include trench warfare, WWI technology, propaganda, religious discourse, women (on the home front or closer to the fighting), political and military leadership, and male friendship.
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any topic is fine.

Class sessions will include some demonstrations of library database searches, but remember that you also can consult directly with a librarian for help with secondary sources. Note that library research (locating, evaluating, synthesizing, and documenting sources) is an important part of this assignment. Remember that the CSM Library website has helpful materials under “Citation Resources,” and Purdue OWL (google it) is another good source for information about MLA-style documentation.

Note that you must include parenthetical documentation and corresponding Works Cited entries not just for quoted material but also for material you paraphrase from sources.

Identify at least two poems by Owen and/ or Sassoon that are relevant to your topic. You may include poems that we did not discuss in class. Make sure your essay includes analysis of these poems, not just description and summary.

Remember to use PIE (or some variant, such as PIEIE) for the body paragraphs of your essay. This type of structure should prevent you from devoting too much space to mere summary or description; PIE helps you develop your argument and analysis. Remember that your point/ topic sentences should each make a claim smaller than, but closely related to, the main claim in your thesis statement.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS (for a passing grade):

Quote from at least two poems by Owen and/ or Sassoon, and discuss quoted passages
Quote from at least two secondary sources that you will discover through library research
Write readable, coherent, focused paragraphs and sentences
Double space your essay text
Write at least 1800 words
Use MLA style for parenthetical documentation and Works Cited page
WHAT I’M LOOKING FOR:

Orientation and direction. What’s YOUR angle on your topic, and where do you want to take your reader? Show me a way of looking at this text, and make me understand why it’s worthwhile to look at the text in this way. Your essay title counts.
Thesis statement. Yes, the thesis statement is closely related to #1 (above), but some students do ok with orientation and direction without ever capturing their argument in a thesis statement. You will get a better grade if you can make a supportable claim which you articulate in a statement of 1-2 sentences relatively early in your essay.
Discussion of formal/ stylistic features of the text. Examples include (you don’t need to discuss ALL of these!): rhythm/ meter, sentence structure, stanza structure, word choice, poetic form (e.g., sonnet), rhyme scheme, other sound effects (e.g., alliteration), etc.
Awareness/ anticipation of other voices/ positions. How well do you use your secondary sources? Do you give your reader the sense that you are having something like a real conversation with the critics and/ or historians (“listening” to what they have to say and responding in a thoughtful, relevant way)? Make sure to include your primary AND secondary sources on your Works Cited page.
Focused paragraphs with good transitions. Write strong point/ topic sentences. Integrate your quotations effectively. Analyze your evidence. Make sure transitions between paragraphs are effective.
Well-connected, well-constructed sentences. Give yourself time for editing and proofreading.
Evidence of substantive Revision. Participate in peer review and submit a draft. NOTE: This section of the rubric is new for this unit, and it accounts for 1/7 of your essay grade.