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No, I will not do your homework

I’ve been seeing a lot of Google searches finding this site looking for poetry analysis.

auden as i walked out analysis
auden o what is that sound poem analysis
as i walked out one evening analysis auden
look stranger at this island now auden
look stranger at this island now literary analysis
auden o what is that sound interpretation

I think the Googlebot is looking at this post, which is actually just a list of poems I memorized ten years ago. (Why is it all Auden? There’s pints and pints of Frost there.) The word “analysis” only comes up in the comment… which is a barely-grammatical plea for literary analysis of one of those poems.

Here’s some news for you. First, I don’t do poetry analysis. I did my share of lit-crit as an undergraduate, and I think I’m pretty much cured now. Besides, there are others who are much better at both the analysis and the writing. Second, I haven’t reread most of those poems since I memorized them ten years ago. Any analysis of them you got from me would be the Kiss of Poor Grades. (Per the Nobel laureate who assigned all those poems: “That’s better than I expected, but in an outlandish direction.”)

And third… hasn’t it occurred to you that your teacher can use an internet search, too? Suck it up and do your own homework. At least if you fail, it will be all your own. If you want my help, you’ll do a lot better by writing something first and asking me to do an editing pass. (Actual helpful comments are not guaranteed.)

Now Playing: Rainslicker from Hello Starling by Josh Ritter

Posted by pjm on April 14, 2005 11:04 AM |

Comments

I love that someone was even shameless enough to ask you outright:

“pls may i have some literary analysis and criticism of the poem titled ‘look, stranger at this island now’ by W.H.Auden. Thanks.

fola agboola— Feb 18, 2005 5:43 AM”

Yikes…I work at an ethics center that focuses on the education of teachers and it’s this kind of thing that makes me feel like we’re all just banging our heads against a brick wall… =)

Megan

Posted by: Megan | April 14, 2005 12:02 PM

My favorite FAQ comes right at the top of this page: http://www.bell-labs.com/faq.html

(I put that in there as a joke many years ago. I was surprised when the guy from PR let it pass through. I’m astonished that it’s still there lo! these many years later….)

Posted by: ralph | April 14, 2005 12:34 PM

But the comments were helpful, and with just that perfect dose of acerbic pjm humor. :) Thanks.

Posted by: Ms. Feverish | April 14, 2005 4:58 PM

i want a copy of look stranger & its summary & explanation

Posted by: som | November 13, 2005 11:08 PM

Som: Why? You clearly can’t read…

Posted by: pjm | November 14, 2005 8:53 AM

being fair i found this site wen i was looking for help…but i need an analysis to help with revision…..i hardly think thats cheating xx

Posted by: mikey | January 7, 2007 4:00 PM

Personally I think you’re being a bit harsh. While I do not search and steal other people’s essays, I DO do exactly what my teacher tells me to - which is to reasearch other opinions on the poem and use them to help develope my own. Or, pick up on someone else’s opinion and disprove it in my analysis. Cut people some slack, not all of us are looking for an easy answer.

Posted by: Jo | August 29, 2007 8:19 AM

um… yeh did it ever occur to you that some people look up poetry analysis for revision… so dont advertise that youve done a poetry analysis if you havnt

Posted by: Jim | May 20, 2008 6:05 AM

Last three commenters: yes, it has occurred to me that there are perfectly reasonable reasons for people to use those search strings. But please read the original entry, read mine more carefully (I’m not “advertising that I’ve done poetry analysis”; quite the opposite, in fact,) and notice comments from the likes of Som, and tell me, am I really that far off?

The people looking stuff up for legitimate reasons don’t post comments like that. They see that this isn’t what they need, and they move on. Using their existence to argue that the idiots don’t exist is a logical fallacy, and attempting to make the argument with sketchy punctuation and laughable spelling does not help you carry your point.

Posted by: pjm | May 20, 2008 9:48 AM

look, its hardly fair to suggest that all students that search for poetry analysis are doing it to be lazy and not putting effort into their own work. As it happens I’m an A level english student, who was searching for other people’s points of view on a poem, to help me get a wider understanding of the poem and to see how others interpreted it, not to cheat and get off doing my work! i do admit that there are some who would do this out of laziness, but i think you’ll find a lot of people do it because they simply need help! And to assume that everyone is lazy is just judgemental. Perhaps next time you are looking up something you don’t understand you will consider the people you are slating now with this website and have a more sympathetic attiutude.

Posted by: Emily | September 14, 2008 11:08 AM

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