Length: 750-900 words 

Task: Compose a 750-900-word reflective paper that examines your developing understanding of poetry through the first four weeks of the unit. Your reflection should demonstrate both personal growth and academic insight into poetic analysis.

Key Components
1. Critical Engagement
Analyse two specific moments from your learning that transformed your understanding of poetry. These might include:

- Your response to a particular poem discussed in class
- A breakthrough in understanding poetic terminology
- An insight gained from class discussions

2. Theoretical Connection
Connect your learning experiences with specific poetic concepts and theories covered in the unit. Consider how your understanding of form, tradition, and poetic language has evolved.

3. Future Application
Articulate how these insights will inform your approach to reading and analysing poetry in the remainder of the unit.

Scholarly references: you must include a minimum of 3 scholarly references in your discussion.

Important: Your response must refer to poets, poems, poetic vocabulary, poetic forms, from the unit material, including both the weekly study guides and the weekly tutorials, from the first 4 weeks of the unit.

Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence agents (Gen AI)

Within this assessment, the use of Gen AI agents (including but not limited to ChatGPT and Microsoft CoPilot) is as follows: 

- Gen AI may only be used within the constraints that are specified in individual assessment instructions within Moodle. Please refer to the unit website for those details.

- You must disclose all use of Gen AI in your submission.

- You are expected to reference how and where it has been used using the ALC reference guide as they have defined a mechanism for this.

WORD COUNT for this assignment: 

The word count excludes the cover page and reference list. It includes in-text references and direct quotations.

The critical reflective paper will be assessed using the following criteria:

1. Depth of reflection: evidence of critical thinking and self-awareness in learning.
2. Technical Understanding: Demonstration of poetic concepts and terminology.
3. Analysis: Quality of connections between experience and theory.
4. Presentation & Referencing: The proper formatting of the prose and references according to the Harvard (author-date) referencing style, and adhering to the assessment guidelines. 
5. Writing Skill: Clarity of expression, including spelling and grammar.

Length: 1600-2000 words total (Part A 1000-1200-word analysis + Part B 500-800-word creative)

Analysis and Creative Dialogue: Poetry in Practice

Part A: Critical Analysis (1000-1200 words)
Select one poem from a provided list representing different poetic movements (e.g., Romanticism, Modernism, Contemporary).

Note: You may choose a period and poem from any week of the unit, even those we have not done a "deep dive" on yet (this is so you can choose something you resonate with) but exercise caution if you choose something from a week not yet discussed.

Key components:

• Analyse technical elements and contextual significance
• Identify key stylistic features and techniques
• Examine the poem's relationship to its literary-historical context

Part B: Creative Response (min 500, up to 800 words)
Part B1: Compose an original poem that deliberately employs the techniques and style analysed in Part A, and Part B2: accompany this with a reflective commentary explaining your creative choices.

Key components:

1. Original Poem (300 words max)

• Length: 14-30 lines, and a maximum 300 words (no matter how many lines of poetry, you cannot exceed 300 words)
• Must demonstrate deliberate use of at least three technical elements from the analysed poem
• Must maintain thematic or stylistic connection to the chosen movement/period

2. Technical Statement (approx. 100 words)

• Clearly state the three poetic techniques employed

3. Reflective commentary (approx. 400 words)

• Explanation of creative decisions and their relationship to the analysed poem
• Discussion of challenges encountered, and solutions found
• Critical evaluation of the effectiveness of chosen techniques

Scholarly sources: there must be a minimum of three (3) scholarly references in Part A and one (1) scholarly reference in Part B: reflective commentary.

Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence agents (Gen AI)

Within this assessment, the use of Gen AI agents (including but not limited to ChatGPT and Microsoft CoPilot) is as follows: 

- Gen AI may only be used within the constraints that are specified in individual assessment instructions within Moodle. Please refer to the unit website for those details.

- You must disclose all use of Gen AI in your submission.

- You are expected to reference how and where it has been used using the ALC reference guide as they have defined a mechanism for this.

WORD COUNT for this assignment: 

The word count excludes the cover page and reference list. It includes in-text references and direct quotations. The word has an allowance of +/- 10% either way. There is some flexibility with the word count due to the creation of the poem, but at a minimum must meet 1600 words, and a maximum of 2000 words +/- 10%.

Assessment 2 Marking Criteria:

1. Critical Analysis: Demonstrates sophisticated understanding of the original poem through detailed textual analysis, appropriate technical vocabulary, and integration of historical/cultural context.

2. Creative Application: Shows effective implementation of identified poetic techniques in original work while maintaining originality and technical control within the chosen style.

3. Technical Understanding: Displays clear articulation of poetic devices and form-content relationships through accurate use of terminology and detailed technical explanations.

4. Reflective Practice: Exhibits depth in analysing the creative process through sophisticated self-evaluation and clear connections between analytical and creative components.

5. Presentation and Referencing: Adherence to submission guidelines, including proper formatting, meeting word count requirements, evidence of editing and proofreading, and minimum four (4) scholarly references in Harvard (author-date) style.

Length: 2000 words + references

Critical Perspectives in Poetry: Essay

In this 2000-word essay, you will develop a sustained critical argument in response to one of the provided questions. Your essay should demonstrate comprehensive engagement with poetic analysis, drawing on specific examples from poems studied in the unit and incorporating relevant scholarly sources (min. 5 scholarly sources + referencing the poets and each poem).

Your essay must:

• Present a clear and focused argument.
• Perform advanced poetry analysis in answering your chosen topic question.
• Analyse at least three (maximum 6) poems from the unit material to answer your question. Refer to each question for specifics on the number of poets and/or poems required.
• Provide direct evidence from the poems.
• Use secondary material to support both your argument and analysis and therefore engage with a minimum of five scholarly sources.
• Demonstrate sophisticated understanding of poetic techniques and their cultural/historical contexts.
• Optional: Apply appropriate theoretical frameworks to support your analysis

Choose ONE of the following questions:

1. "The personal is political" - Examine how two or three poets use personal experience to engage with broader social or political issues. Consider how poetic form and voice contribute to the intersection of individual and collective experience. (For example: you might explore works by Judith Wright, Sylvia Plath, Adrienne Rich, or other poets who bridge personal and political themes). Your choices can be from different poetic/literary periods or within the same. 

2. How do poets from different historical periods represent urban modernity and its impact on human experience? Analyse three poems from at least two different time periods, examining how poetic form and imagery reflect changing perspectives on urban life. (For example: you might compare Romantic poets' views of industrialisation with modernist urban poetry)

3. Analyse how two First Nations poets (such as Oodgeroo Noonuccal, Ali Cobby Eckermann, Lionel Fogarty, or Ellen van Neerven) explore themes of Country, sovereignty, and cultural continuation in their work. For example, how do their poetic techniques and use of language (including English and/or First Nations languages) contribute to their expression of these themes? Consider two (2) poems across both poets' works.

4. Examine how three poets use traditional poetic forms (such as the sonnet, villanelle, or ghazal) to address contemporary themes or challenge conventional expectations. How does their engagement with form contribute to meaning? Choose one poem from each poet.

5. Compare representations of grief and mourning across three poems from different cultural or historical contexts. How do the poets' choices of imagery, form, and voice reflect distinct approaches to expressing loss? Consider how cultural and historical contexts influence these representations. 

If you wish to use a different number of poems or poets than specified in the questions, please consult the unit coordinator.

Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence agents (Gen AI)

Within this assessment, the use of Gen AI agents (including but not limited to ChatGPT and Microsoft CoPilot) is as follows: 

- Gen AI may only be used within the constraints that are specified in individual assessment instructions within Moodle. Please refer to the unit website for those details.

- You must disclose all use of Gen AI in your submission.

- You are expected to reference how and where it has been used using the ALC reference guide as they have defined a mechanism for this.

WORD COUNT for this assignment: 

The word count excludes the cover page and reference list. It includes in-text references and direct quotations.

1. Critical Analysis and Argument: presents a clear, sophisticated thesis that develops a coherent and well-supported argument through careful analysis of poetic works, demonstrating independent critical thinking.

2. Textual Evidence and Close Reading: Demonstrates sophisticated engagement with poetic language through detailed analysis of literary techniques, supported by specific and relevant textual evidence from the chosen poems.

3. Contextual Understanding: Shows comprehensive understanding of relevant historical, cultural, and literary contexts, demonstrating how these shape the meaning and significance of the chosen poems.

4. Comparative Analysis: Develops meaningful connections between three or more poems, demonstrating sophisticated understanding of how different poets approach similar themes or employ different techniques to achieve their effects.

5. Presentation and Referencing: Adheres to submission guidelines, including proper formatting, meeting word count requirements, evidence of editing and proofreading, and minimum five (5) scholarly references in Harvard (author-date) style.