“Icarus” Rehash – the good, the bad, the ugly

The Good…

  • Make (correct) use of the critical literary vocabulary. KNOW YOUR TECHNIQUES!
  • Have a clear thesis (even if it’s a list). For instance: “[Edward] Fielduses many literary techniques to argue that even the great and powerful can fall the mediocrity.”
  • Have clear, analytical topic sentences as you go from paragraph to paragraph
  • “Field integrates numbers of symbols into his work to connect the allusion to Icarus’ myth and modern society.”
  • “The speaker uses many examples of irony throughout the text to demonstrate how ones [sic] perception of themself [sic] may not be the same as the perceptions of others.”
  • “The metaphors describe a life that is not fulfilled and portray how difficult it is to go on living after failing at one’s dream.”
  • Good insight: “Now that he is living a normal life, he is loosing [sic] the feeling of being heroic and amazing, and the others are referring to him as “That nice Mr. Hicks,” somebody who is good and respectable in their world. This [contrast between the myth and the modernization] ultimately shows that his views on what is ‘good’ and ‘heroic’ are not consistent with those around him.”
  • Good insight: “In a way, this man escaped his crazy life with his wings, the dull new life crushed his adventurous wings and he drowned in suburban society.” [Could be phrased more sophisticatedly, but this idea was good.]
  • Well-written: “As Icarus contemplates his current state of life, he believes downing would have been a better option. Field assumes the reader knows of the pains of the repetitive suburban life, and thinks that they, too, sometimes would choose death over mundanity [sic].”

The Bad…

  • Answer the prompt! Read the prompt carefully. Many of you understood the poem and got a plausible theme, but it wasn’t asking you for a theme. It asked for how the techniques help adapt the myth for a contemporary setting.
  • You need an analytical topic sentence that has an argument. Transitions are also good to include.
  • Remember the three big questions: WHAT is it? HOW does it function? WHY is that important to supporting your argument? WHAT and HOW will answer the prompt at a basic level. WHY will show critical thinking!
  • Contextualize your evidence… ICE. Introduce it, cite where it’s from (line/stanza), explain it in relation to your argument. Don’t just plunk it down and expect it to speak for itself.
  • Structure your essays, even if it’s by topic, so your argument follows clearly. Do not repeat yourself. Some essays circled the issue, not quite getting to the prompt or analysis but suggesting they could have gotten there. BE SUPER EXPLICIT about answering the prompt. Use language from the prompt to help with this.

The Ugly…

  • As the poem points out the allusion, nay IS about the allusion, it’s not necessary to talk about what the allusion is. Rather, talk about how the myth was adapted. DON’T DEFINE the allusion. EXPLAIN how and why it is important. WHY IS it being used? What is the effect and purpose?
  • NEVER again say, “The author does this to help the reader relate” or “…to make it easier to understand.” These are lame comments.
  • Tone isn’t USED. It is created by a combination of devices. If the prompt asks you to consider tone, always analyze how it is created and for what reason.
  • Avoid colloquialisms… you are writing a college-level essay, not a note to a friend.
  • Deal with the whole poem. Many addressed only the beginning or the middle stanzas and one line from the third stanza in poem about wings. While you don’t need to address EVERY line, you SHOULD address the poem, beginning, middle and end (especially the end if there is a major change from beginning to end).
  • Basic spelling errors… you’re vs. your. There, their, they’re. Metaphore (really?)
  • Spelling in general – atrocious. Yes, errors are allowed, but if they distract the reader, they count against you, dropping you a whole point.
  • Don’t use diction as a technique…word choice maybe or even selection of detail, but not diction.