Textual Analysis Essay

Overview:
Your textual analysis of Anybody should hone in on a poem, group of poems, or particular aspect of the collection that you find merits further discussion. A successful analysis will investigate the poetic devices employed by the poet to glean further understanding of the material. Your essay must be guided by a thesis statement that, in keeping with the theme of the course, applies the lens of gender.

Optional Prompts:
• From the publisher: “In Anybody, Ari Banias takes up questions of recognition and belonging: how boundaries are drawn and managed, the ways he and she, us and them, here and elsewhere are kept separate, and at what cost identities and selves are forged.” Consider the boundaries you encountered in Anybody. What boundaries does Banias construct/deconstruct in Anybody? What argument do these poems make about boundaries?

• Consider Banias’ use of metaphor to discuss gender. For instance, “At Any Given Moment” is a strong example of his ability to extend multiple metaphors throughout a poem in order to allow room for a multiplicity of meanings to arise. In this poem, or others in Anybody, what meanings might one glean from the metaphors presented? How do the metaphors react to the other metaphors present in the collection? Do they intensify, confuse, or diffuse each other?

Requirements: • 750-1500 words
• Creative and specific title
• Presentation of a focused and arguable thesis statement
• Discussion of the figurative language, form, and/or sound employed
• Use of textual evidence in the form of quotes, paraphrases, and summarization
• Clear organization • MLA format