1200-1400 word essay
Minimum of 4 academic research sources (e.g. journal articles)
MLA-style citations and formatting
Submit online (Canvas)
25% of course grade:
Content/Ideas /7

Structure /6

Clarity of Expression /6

Research/Evidence/Citations /6

Topic: Romanticism vs. Modernism. The term paper will consist of a compare/contrast essay focusing on two poems and providing additional research.

According to your research and your reading of the work of one Romantic poet and one Modernist poet studied in class, what is your understanding of the similarities and differences in style, subject matter, and philosophy between the two major poetic movements? Which attitudes and beliefs characterize Romanticism and Modernism? How do the poets you have chosen exemplify the style and approaches of Romanticism and Modernism? Are there obvious similarities between Romantic and Modernist poetry? How do the two movements and poets differ from each other? Do you have an opinion on the superiority or inferiority of either poet or movement? Does anything in the poems you have chosen contradict the values of the movement to which it belongs?

Making specific reference to such elements as theme, mood, imagery, symbolism, structure, setting, and sound, point out parallels and divergences between the two poems and the movements they represent. The best essays will make direct and explicit reference to the poems and your research sources.

Romantic Poets (Choose one):                                              Modernist Poets (Choose one):

Emily Dickinson                                                                      William Butler Yeats

William Blake                                                                          Dylan Thomas

William Wordsworth                                                                DH Lawrence

Walt Whitman                                                                        Wilfred Owen