According to Fernando Martinho, «The decade of the seventies clearly stands out as a period of great changes in Portuguese cultural and political life». Write an essay discussing the changes prompted in this decade and their effects on contemporary Portuguese poetry. Analyze specific elements in the poems and explain how these elements relate to the historical context in which they were written. The goal of this assignment is to present a specific thesis on contemporary Portuguese poetry. Remember that you are expressing your opinion. In order to convince your reader, you should support your argument by drawing examples and evidence from the materials provided or from other critical sources. Don’t forget to cite the materials you use. There are a variety of places where you can start. You can discuss themes, cultural contexts and the author’s use of figures of speech (metaphor, simile, metonymy, synecdoche, irony, etc.). Whenever you use quotations, make sure you explain their significance to your argument.