The Act William Carlos Williams There were the roses, in the rain.
 Don’t cut them, I pleaded.
 They won’t last, she said.
 But they’re so beautiful
 where they are.
 Agh, we were all beautiful once, she said,
 and cut them and gave them to me
 in my hand. The Act William Carlos Williams There were the roses, in the rain.
 Don’t cut them, I pleaded.
 They won’t last, she said.
 But they’re so beautiful
 where they are.
 Agh, we were all beautiful once, she said,
 and cut them and gave them to me
 in my hand. At a Certain Age BY DEBORAH CUMMINS He sits beside his wife who takes the wheel. Clutching coupons, he wanders the aisles of Stop & Save. There’s no place he must be, no clock to punch. Sure, there are bass in the lake, a balsa model in the garage, the par-three back nine. But it’s not the same. Time the enemy then, the enemy now. As he points the remote at the screen or pauses at the window, staring into the neighbor’s fence but not really seeing it, he listens to his wife in the kitchen, more amazed than ever—how women seem to know what to do. How, with their cycles and timers, their rolling boils and three-minute eggs, they wait for something to start. Or stop. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/deborah-cummins For a Father BY ELISE PARTRIDGE Remember after work you grabbed our skateboard, crouched like a surfer, wingtips over the edge; wheels clacketing down the pocked macadam, you veered almost straight into the neighbor's hedge? We ran after you laughing, shouting, Wait! Or that August night you swept us to the fair? The tallest person boarding the Ferris wheel, you rocked our car right when we hit the apex above the winking midway, to make us squeal. Next we raced you to the games, shouting, Wait! At your funeral, relatives and neighbors, shaking our hands, said, "So young to have died!" But we've dreamt you're just skating streets away, striding the fairgrounds toward a wilder ride. And we're still straggling behind, shouting, Wait—! https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/elise-partridge Making a Fist Naomi Shihab Nye, 1952 For the first time, on the road north of Tampico, I felt the life sliding out of me, a drum in the desert, harder and harder to hear. I was seven, I lay in the car watching palm trees swirl a sickening pattern past the glass. My stomach was a melon split wide inside my skin. “How do you know if you are going to die?” I begged my mother. We had been traveling for days. With strange confidence she answered, “When you can no longer make a fist.” Years later I smile to think of that journey, the borders we must cross separately, stamped with our unanswerable woes. I who did not die, who am still living, still lying in the backseat behind all my questions, clenching and opening o.

1. The Act
William Carlos Williams
There were the roses, in the rain.
Don’t cut them, I pleaded.
They won’t last, she said.
But they’re so beautiful
where they are.
Agh, we were all beautiful once, she said,
and cut them and gave them to me
in my hand.
The Act
William Carlos Williams
There were the roses, in the rain.
Don’t cut them, I pleaded.
They won’t last, she said.
But they’re so beautiful
where they are.
Agh, we were all beautiful once, she said,
and cut them and gave them to me
in my hand.

2. At a Certain Age
BY DEBORAH CUMMINS
He sits beside his wife who takes the wheel.
Clutching coupons, he wanders the aisles
of Stop & Save. There’s no place he must be,
no clock to punch. Sure,
there are bass in the lake, a balsa model
in the garage, the par-three back nine.
But it’s not the same.
Time the enemy then, the enemy now.
As he points the remote at the screen
or pauses at the window, staring
into the neighbor’s fence but not really seeing it,
he listens to his wife in the kitchen, more amazed
than ever—how women seem to know
what to do. How, with their cycles and timers,
their rolling boils and three-minute eggs,
they wait for something to start. Or stop.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-
poets/poets/detail/deborah-cummins
For a Father
BY ELISE PARTRIDGE
Remember after work you grabbed our skateboard,
crouched like a surfer, wingtips over the edge;
wheels clacketing down the pocked macadam,

3. you veered almost straight into the neighbor's hedge?
We ran after you laughing, shouting, Wait!
Or that August night you swept us to the fair?
The tallest person boarding the Ferris wheel,
you rocked our car right when we hit the apex
above the winking midway, to make us squeal.
Next we raced you to the games, shouting, Wait!
At your funeral, relatives and neighbors,
shaking our hands, said, "So young to have died!"
But we've dreamt you're just skating streets away,
striding the fairgrounds toward a wilder ride.
And we're still straggling behind, shouting, Wait—!
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-
poets/poets/detail/elise-partridge
Making a Fist
Naomi Shihab Nye, 1952

4. For the first time, on the road north of Tampico,
I felt the life sliding out of me,
a drum in the desert, harder and harder to hear.
I was seven, I lay in the car
watching palm trees swirl a sickening pattern past the glass.
My stomach was a melon split wide inside my skin.
“How do you know if you are going to die?”
I begged my mother.
We had been traveling for days.
With strange confidence she answered,
“When you can no longer make a fist.”
Years later I smile to think of that journey,
the borders we must cross separately,
stamped with our unanswerable woes.
I who did not die, who am still living,
still lying in the backseat behind all my questions,
clenching and opening one small hand.
https://www.poets.org/node/45713Making a FistNaomi Shihab

5. Nye, 1952
Poetry Analysis Argument / Research Paper
Assignment Sheet
Note: Take this document with you to any writing lab
appointment you make. Tutors need to know this information, in
addition to seeing your essay in order to fully assist you in the
writing process.
Points: The final draft of this paper is worth 20% of your
overall class grade. Maximum points: 100.
Length: The paper should be a minimum of 4-5 complete pages
(not counting the Works Cited page) and should not be more
than 7 pages.
Source Requirement: The Works Cited page must list 4-5
sources, primary and secondary; see note below for more
details.
Every source listed on the Works Cited must be used in the text
of the paper. Your book’s biography of the poet may be one
source; the poem will be another.
Assignment: For this essay, you will focus on one poem and its
poet. It must be a poem assigned in this class.
PART 1: (50 pts)
The first two pages will focus on the life and history of the
poet. Choose a specific angle (relationships, education, family,
thematic connection the poem, childhood, vices/problems, etc)
to discuss in this portion of the essay.

6. • Include details from your textbook (if available) and from at
least two research sources (15 points).
• Your life and history portion must be accurate, cohesive (not a
list), detailed, and focused (15 points).
• You must make and support conclusions about the author (15
points).
• The paper should have an original title that is not just the title
of the text you are writing about. State the author’s full
name and title of the text in the introduction, and refer to the
author by last name only thereafter. (5 points)
PART 2: (50 pts)
The second section (must be at least three pages) should argue
your interpretation of the poem. Consider this to be a
thematic analysis – it will be your job to support your reading
of the poem, your interpretation of its theme and how its
use of literary elements contributes to that theme.
• Your essay should show a strong familiarity with the poem
and should use literary elements and terminology to explain
your debatable, interpretive angle and argument. (20 points)
• Your introduction must have a debatable thesis. This should be
the last sentence (or two, if necessary) of the FIRST
paragraph. Underline your thesis/claim statement to make it
stand out. (5 points)
• Everything in your essay should work towards helping your
develop and prove the literary argument as stated in this
thesis sentence. This section of your essay should be paragraphs
developed in support of your thematic
interpretation of the poem. It should be organized by literary
element or section of the poem. Each paragraph
should be an organized, contained unit, using quotes from

7. research and the poem to support your reading. Do
not organize by summary. (20 points)
• This section should use research to support its interpretative
claims, integrating quotes into your own sentence. MLA
formatting should be used throughout. (5 points)
Source Details:
You are required to use and document a minimum of four
sources in this paper.
• One of these sources should be the primary text (poem) you
are discussing.
• Another source may be the biographical information in the
textbook.
• The other two or three sources should be secondary sources in
which scholars or experts have written their
interpretations and analyses of the texts or topics that are
relevant to your argument.
• At least two of your secondary sources must be either database
sources (journal articles that you can access
through the library website’s database) OR print sources.
• Additional sources can be any type (website, documentary,
personal interview, etc.) as long as they are relevant and
credible. Do NOT use Wikipedia, Ask.com, About.com,
Sparknotes.com, etc.

8. Note:
• Each source must be listed on the Works Cited page that will
be the last page of your essay.
• Every source listed on the Works Cited page must be used in
the text.
• The in-text citations should take readers to the alphabetical
list of sources in the Works Cited page and should lead them to
the
correct source by providing the FIRST word of the source entry
(which will almost always be the author’s last name).
• In-text citations must include page numbers when the source
has numbered pages (as almost all of your sources will).
• You should have a good balance of direct quotes and
paraphrased information from your sources.
• Every time you use any information from any source, you
must credit the source with an in-text citation in the same
sentence
with that information so that it is very clear to your readers
what information comes from you and what information comes
from a
source (and which source it comes from).
• Read more about source documentation in your textbook
and/or in the documents posted online.
Format:
Your paper and the Works Cited page MUST be submitted in
correct MLA format.
If your writing contains ANY plagiarism (if any source
information is not credited to the source it came from), you will
be
given a ZERO on the paper.

9. Final Tips:
• Don’t try to cover too much information or use too many
literary elements as the focus of your work; instead, choose one
or two
elements that work together to give an overall interpretation of
the text;
• Don’t use summary any more than you need to in order to
make a point; assume your readers have already read the text;
summary should only be used as support and for clarity;
• Don’t use 2nd person “you” or “your” in your writing (1st
person “I” or “we” is allowed IF it fits the tone and style of
your work;
• Do remember to underline your thesis statement and make sure
your work stays focused on discussing and proving your main
argument;
• Do make sure your work is in MLA format and your sources
follow MLA guidelines;
• Do proofread and edit carefully!
PART 1: (50 pts)PART 2: (50 pts)Source
Details:Note:Format:Final Tips: