The Wife Speaks

Writing is no easy task: transforming intricate ideas in your mind to coherent, limpid sentences is no simple feat. And even when you think you are finished with a piece of writing, you can always improve it. Which is why my analysis of The Wife Speaks by Elizabeth Stoddard, which I earned a 7 on, requires revisions on numerous aspects: my lengthy, garrulous thesis, and--most importantly--the analysis of the poem itself, which is cursory and superficial.

Right off the bat, I noticed that my thesis, which comprises five-lines by itself, obscures my argument due to its incoherence. But aside from being lengthy, I also started to expound upon very specific quotes and examples in the thesis itself. For example, instead of identifying the unified theme of the imagery, I stated very distinct examples of such imagery. Thus, it appears as if the structure of my essay is reversed: too many details in the thesis and not enough in the body paragraphs!

For example, when I mentioned the “archetypal, radiant sun rising over a sanguine wedding” I mentioned it engenders a hopeful tone; however, I stopped there. I didn’t elaborate upon the connotations of this image or how this picture of the sun is diametric to the images at the end of the poem. I didn’t “tie together” how the images compare to each other: I simply stated the images and their meaning. Another example of my depthless analysis is when I mentioned the “prosaic structure of the poem itself.” Here, I delineated how the poem appears insipid, but I failed to mention how it is actually synchronously chaotic (much like the speaker’s marriage). If I would have delved more assiduously into the meaning of the poem, I think I would have raised my grade