The document labeled "commentary" describes the
process of composing a short formalist essay, that
English paper most often assigned that asks students
to interpret a text using only that text for the object of study. The other document is an example of one such essay, something I wrote to help illustrate the process of essay-writing. The essay is about the short poem "Mayflies," by Richard Wilbur, published in 2000. The two documents work best when read together.

To compare this "English" approach to the subject to
those of other disciplines, explore the webpage about
"Mayflies" (the bugs, not the poem) on the Allegheny
College Writing Center website.

download Commentary and Essay
view Commentary and Essay online