Minutes a day n e w y o r k

Q u o t a t i o n s   f r o m   t h e  Tex t
When your essay is about literature, much of your evidence will come from the text itself. For example, imagine
that you’ve written the following thesis statement:
In his poem “Splinter,” Carl Sandburg uses metaphor and sound to suggest loss.
To support your assertion, you will need to discuss the poem’s content, structure, and style. But that’s only part
of the task. In addition to telling the readers why you think what you do about the poem, you also need to show
them the evidence that led you to your conclusion. Thus, you can tell readers that the poem suggests loss by the
repetition of the short i sound, known as a phonetic intensive, in line 4 (thin, splinter, singing). You can also explain
how metaphor is used to emphasize the same theme, and show evidence by quoting the last line, which describes
the voice of the last cricket by comparing it to a thin splinter.
The voice of the last cricket
across the first frost
is one kind of good-by.
It is so thin a splinter of singing.