Group 3 is Mahhhvelous!
Please post your criteria, your fabulous thesis, and your justification here!
posted by Ms. Clapp @ 2:04 PM
3 comments
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
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3 Comments:
Our aweeesome thesis statement:
Helen of Troy, the wife of Greek king Menelaus, is generally considered to be an admirable and brave woman, typically creating images of beauty and love. The speaker in Edgar Allan Poe’s, “To Helen,” follows this typical approach of presenting her, whereas the speaker in Hilda Doolittle’s, “Helen,” takes on an opposing view. While Poe uses elevated diction, glorious imagery, and an upbeat form and tone to portray a more admirable and favorable view of Helen, H.D. uses standard diction, a more negative imagery, and a critical and hateful tone to show an intolerable and resentful view of the Greek queen.
Here are the qualities of a good thesis statement:
1) It clearly states each speaker's attitude toward the subject
2) It states how they are different
3) It shows how literary terms are used to create the speaker's view.
And our justification:
1) The thesis statement firmly notes the completely opposing views of the two speakers. It addresses the establishment by noting the favorability of the speaker of Poe towards Helen versus the negativity and resentful tone of the speaker of H.D.
2) Our thesis statement clearly states the different approaches the two poets take towards Helen of Troy--Poe takes a "typical" approach, describing her beauty, whereas H.D. takes an opposing approach, talking about the hatred that Greece feels for the woman.
3) The thesis statement clearly distinguishes three literary techniques used in both poems: diction, imagery, and tone. It states that Poe uses "elevated" and "admirable" diction, “glorious imagery,” and “upbeat form and tone” to express the speaker’s positive attitude toward Helen. The thesis statement also states that H.D. uses more "standard diction," "negative imagery," and a “hateful tone” to express the speaker’s negative attitude toward Helen.
Our group members were me, Erica, Antoine, Isade, and Derek.
I feel like this thesis addresses all parts of the question: it clearly identifies each speaker's view of Helen--the positive one of Poe's speaker and the negative one of H.D.'s--and the contrast that arises from this. It also delves into the techniques each poet used--specifically, diction, imagery, form, and tone-- and how these techniques get across how the speaker feels. For example, rather than just say that Poe uses "elevated diction, glorious imagery...", this thesis discusses the effect of these techniques: to convey a "favorable view of Helen." However, on the other hand, it seems like the first two lines are merely filler. It isn't necessary to introduce who Helen is, especially when the prompt already talks about her, or to mention the typical associations people have with her; for a timed test, one should just delve right into the thesis. Furthermore, the second sentence is not necessary because it would be clear how each speaker feels about Helen based on the subsequent line. Overall, though, I thought this thesis addresses all relevant parts of the question in a concise manner.
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