This fourtofive page essay consists of four parts:
1. Writing a classic funnel paragraph introduction
2. Writing an analytical paragraph about Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks
3. Writing a multiparagraph analysis of a poem based on that work of art
4. Writing a concluding paragraph that returns to your thesis and develops it.
1. Writing the introduction
The classic introductory paragraph is the FUNNEL PARAGRAPH, which starts off with a broad idea,
narrows from subject area to topic, and ends with the thesis. The THESIS restates the topic in
sentence form and makes an assertion or states an opinion.
Here is an example of a (slightly modified) funnel paragraph taken from our text, Literature and the
Writing Process:
Writers frequently find inspiration in what they see—the beauty of nature, the energy of a city street,
the image of an odd stranger or the message of a work of art. Each writer’s interpretation of a work
of art is highly individual because each of us sees through the lens of our own experience. In her
Poem “American Literature,” Lisel Mueller describes this process of poetic interpretation as she
ponders Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks (564).
Note that this introductory paragraph states the title of the work of art and the poem and ends with a
thesis statement that explains how the poet responds to the painting.
2. Writing about a work of art
The first body paragraph of your paper will consist of a close analysis of Edward Hopper’s
“Nighthawks” and may resemble your inclass draft.
3. Writing about a poem based on a work of art
The remainder of your paper will consist of your analysis of one of the poems inspired by Hopper’s
painting: Samuel Yellen’s “Nighthawks” or Susan Ludvigson’s “Inventing My Parents.”
You must support your analysis with concrete details. Be sure to quote the poem, indicating the line
numbers in parentheses. For example:
In the first stanza of Susan Ludvigson’s “Inventing My Parents,” the poet’s mother “says she imagines
[the American Dream] a hawk/flying over, its shadow sweeping every town” (911).
You should organize your analysis of the poem by following the poem’s organization. In your first
