Annabel Lee Rough Draft

Posted on: Fri, 07/19/2019 - 18:14 By: Dominique Monteon

Comments

1. The essay does use quotations about what people have said about the essay but it does not provide an inline citation. The essay does do a good job about explaining and building up the argument from the quotations.

2. The essay doesn't go through each line however it only chooses the ones that builds their argument. The interpretation of the poem is in-depth and is supported by facts.

3. The essay wasn't in MLA format but instead APA. A way to switch this is to pick the MLA format in google docs and go off that.

4. The quotations in the essay does not use inline citations when referencing another work. The quotations from the poetry does still not follow MLA format.

  • The scholarly research is evident towards the end of the essay, and the quotes are relevant to the themes and background of the poem, which I think complements the rest of the essay well. It seems like throughout the paper, the poem is being interpreted as a reflection of the author’s relationship with his wife. I do not know the background of the poem, so I’m not sure, but the essay appears to be implicitly conveying that the inspiration behind it is not just an interpretation, but a fact that Poe has confirmed. The scholarly quotes touch on different aspects of the poem, which is a good use of the research and is well implemented into the essay.
  • The essay is rich in its detailing of significant quotes from the poem. I think it was important that the background of the poem was spelled out from the beginning, as Poe’s background and the context in which he wrote the poem.
  • My only concern with the poem is what I already mentioned, which is that one interpretation of the poem seems to be taken as a given. It does make sense, because the poem does tell a story that parallels Poe’s own experience, and it was definitely well integrated into the essay. I’m just not sure if Poe actually confirmed it is about his wife, or if that is just speculation and thus the essay was written through the lens of one interpretation. My suggestion would be to just have a sentence or two explaining that this is only one interpretation, or that Poe explicitly said it is about his wife. Otherwise, it comes off as a given.  
  • The quotes are well integrated, both from scholars and from the poem. The actual citations on the works cited page look like MLA format, but 1) the works cited page is not formatted correctly (no indentations) and 2) the in-text citations are more just mentioning the author of the quote. Furthermore, in-text citations are needed for any information that is taken from a source, not just for quotes.