In the introduction to New and Collected Poems 1964-2007, Ishmael Reed describes the influences on his writing and discusses his growing awareness of the disparate cultures that make up his heritage, cultures that had been marginalized by “a cramped view of the world, in which something [cultural leaders] refer to as ‘The West’ towers above all civilizations past and present” (Reed xv). He describes his efforts to “[recall] this past literary and oral history” as Neo-Hoo-Dooism (Reed xiv). Part of that effort involves Reed’s use of humor and satire. In his poem “Tennessee’s Revenge” (Reed 324), Reed humorously responds to Wallace Steven’s famous poem “Anecdote of the Jar.” Study Steven’s poem, the “Overview” from the Literature Resource Center, and Reed’s poem “Tennessee Revenge.” Then write an essay that explicates each poem and explores Reed’s response.
Primary Sources
“Anecdote of the Jar” by Wallace Stevens 
Reed, Ishmael. "Tennessee's Revenge" New and Collected Poems 1964-2007. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 2007. Print. 324.
Secondary Source
"Overview: 'Anecdote of the Jar'." Poetry for Students. Ed. Sara Constantakis. Vol. 41. Detroit: Gale, 2012. Literature Resource Center. Web. 26 July 2012.
Requirements:
- Length: Your essay must be a minimum of 600 words.
- Documentation Format: You must include an MLA formatted Works Cited page that includes correctly formatted internal citations for all source material used.
- Sources: You are restricted to the assigned poem and the secondary sources..
- Number of sources: You must make frequent references to specific details in each poem (properly documented).
- Format: The essay must be in MSWord format (.doc or .docx)
- Warning: Do not read or refer to resources beyond those available in our course.
For this essay, do not use any sources other than the poems themselves. You may use a dictionary to help you with words with which you are not familiar, but do not refer to the dictionary definitions in your essay. Base your discussion of the theme on your own close reading of the poems you have selected.
Document your sources by identifying the poems (titles in quotation marks) and the authors. When referring to lines within each poem, you may identify them by line number. When quoting from the poems, quote exactly. Do not change punctuation or capitalization except, as needed, end punctuation. Be sure to use a slash ( / ) to indicate a line break in the original poem. Remember, if you do not need the punctuation at the end of your quote, you may eliminate it or replace it with the punctuation you need to end your sentence. For example, in the following sentence about Shakespeare's poem, "That Time of Year Thou Mayst in Me Behold," the comma at the end of the line from the poem is unneeded, but a period is needed to end the sentence:
Proofread carefully the final draft for spelling, grammar, and punctuation as well as clarity, conciseness, and completeness. The final draft should be typed, double spaced, one inch margins, in Arial or Times Roman 12 pt. Your essay should be a minimum of 600 words (two typewritten pages, about five handwritten pages) in length.
