A Messy Mass of Prewriting

1. Introduction to Poetry by Billy Collins is a concise poem that highlights the insights an instructor wishes his students would grasp about how to analyze poetry. This instructor is the narrator and he uses this poem to outline the items of poetry that he deems most important. An important item about this poem is that the narrator relies heavily on metaphors to create the idea that he seeks to construct.

While certainly poetic, this poem differs significantly from the other poems in the "Ars Poetica" genre. Billy Collins' poem is more concise, more compact, and altogether feels a little bit more like prose.This is perhaps a manifestation of the narrator attempting to make his knowledge easier to impart.

At its most basic level this poem is really just a series of metaphors used to describe what analyzing poetry should be like. None of these are necessarily more complex than any of the others, nor do they seem to build on each other in any significant way. They are simply different ways of looking at the analysis process.

2. (Policy Claim) Introduction to Poetry by Bills Collins should not be read as an instructional guide on analyzing poetry.

(Definition Claim) Introduction to Poetry by Billy Collins is a poem that showcases one instructor's most valuable insights into the process of analyzing poetry.

(Comparison Claim) Introduction to Poetry by Billy Collins is unlike many of the other Poems in the "Ars Poetica" tradition, in that it is more straightforward and prose-like.

(Evaluation Claim) Introduction to Poetry by Billy Collins is a wonderful poem for the individual desiring insights into how to analyze poetry well.

(Casual Claim) Introduction to Poetry by Billy Collins is a poem that helps individuals understand better the way that poetry is meant to be analyzed.