Edward Arlington Robinson and Edna St. Vincent Millay

1. In 1.5 pages, (a) explain the epiphany in “The Mill”; (b) explain the situation in “Mr. Flood’s Party,” explain the appropriateness AND the inappropriateness of Ebenezer (Links to an external site.) Flood (Links to an external site.)’s name; and explain three enigmatic (Links to an external site.) lines of your choice; and (c) offer your theory regarding Robinson’s view of life that is reflected in all three poems. NOTE: something that is both appropriate and inappropriate at the same time is “ironic.” You can read about irony in the literary terms.

2. In two pages, (a) explain how “First Fig” fits Millay’s bohemian image; (b) explain Millay’s attitude toward the restrictiveness of writing according to prescribed forms, such as the sonnet (note carefully the sonnet “I Will Put Chaos”–and note also that Millay is one of America’s great sonneteers); (c) explain 1-2 enigmatic lines from five other poems of your choosing and explain the overall message of each poem; and (d) give your theory regarding Millay’s outlook on life.

Note: It is important that you re-read each poem several times. You could read all these poems out loud five or six times in less than hour. You could also read the introductory material on these two authors in the text, and you could browse other poems from Robinson and Millay to see other poems that reflect on these.

You could also stand to do some research to help you understand parts of the poems that you don’t get. I highly recommend the American Poetry site