Critical Analysis

This section includes some descriptive and analytical “data,” as well as associated critical assertions. As per the essay writing “pathway,” interpretation, description, analysis, as well as a certain amount of thinking about why what one has noticed is significant, should precede the crafting of a thesis statement.

Some more descriptive analytical data, here focusing on external form

Lyric “I” speaker.

There is no clear rhyme scheme.

The diction is plain.

There is evidence of caesura and enjambment.

Some more descriptive analytical data, here focusing on imagery and figures

The first stanza references the speaker “Counting bells knelling classes to a close” (2).

Many phrases draw attention to the passage of time.

The sixth stanza includes a personification.

The seventh stanza uses a metaphor to describe the boy’s fatal injury as “a poppy bruise” (19).

Some preliminary argumentative statements

The pattern of the three-line stanza is disrupted at the end of the poem, and many lines make use of enjambment,

The metaphor of the “poppy bruise” (19) calls to mind opium and forgetfulness,

Although the diction matches the plain speech of a young man, the complexity of the literary figures, together with the frequent references to the passage of time and people’s ages,

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Building a Better Thesis Statement Copyright © by Neta Gordon is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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