Poetry analysis

McKay's "The Tropics in New York": a shop window and a memory

Unit 5
6 points
About 40 minutes

You read one poem and write an essay analyzing how the poet uses literary elements and techniques to develop a complex idea the prompt names. You need a defensible thesis, specific evidence from the poem, and commentary explaining how it supports your reading. On the exam: Free-response question 1 of 3 in Section II (3 essays in 2 hours, 55% of the exam score); about 40 minutes suggested; 6 points: thesis 1, evidence and commentary 4, sophistication 1.

The question and its sources

Suggested time: 40 minutes, including reading and planning. Read the poem, plan, then write your essay in the box. The poem's lines are numbered so you can point to them, for example (lines 3–4). Words you may not know: alligator pears (avocados), rills (small streams), benediction (a blessing).

The Tropics in New York

Bananas ripe and green, and ginger-root,

Cocoa in pods and alligator pears,

And tangerines and mangoes and grape fruit,

Fit for the highest prize at parish fairs,

Set in the window, bringing memories

Of fruit-trees laden by low-singing rills,

And dewy dawns, and mystical blue skies

In benediction over nun-like hills.

My eyes grew dim, and I could no more gaze;

A wave of longing through my body swept,

And, hungry for the old, familiar ways,

I turned aside and bowed my head and wept.

Source: Claude McKay, "The Tropics in New York," from Harlem Shadows (1922). Public domain.

Suggested time: 40 minutes

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The essay

6 points

In the following poem by Claude McKay, who was born in Jamaica and moved to the United States in 1912, the speaker sees tropical fruit displayed in a shop window in New York. Read the poem carefully. Then write a well-organized essay that analyzes how McKay uses literary elements and techniques to convey the speaker's complex response to what he sees. In your essay: • State a thesis that answers the prompt with a defensible interpretation. • Choose evidence from the poem that supports your line of reasoning. • Explain how that evidence supports your line of reasoning. • Use grammar and punctuation that make your argument clear.

Your essay

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