Week 66: College Reading and Writing: Wayne Miller and Lee Keylock

Week 66: College Reading and Writing: Wayne Miller and Lee Keylock

Annotating, Summarizing, Imitating, Analyzing, Synthesizing

to annotate: to make notes on something to help you understand it better

to summarize: to put something in your own words

to imitate: to create an original piece of writing based on something you have read

to analyze: to consider a question on the text, providing supporting examples from the text

to synthesize: to connect two or more texts in your own writing

We are on page 119 of the book today.

Exercise: Read and annotate

1. Read the poem and response out loud and underline any words you need to look up

2. Write any questions you have in the margins or in your notebook

3. Put tricky sentences into your own words in notes in the margins or in your notebook

Exercise: Questions for Comprehension of the poem

1. What happened to the speaker?

2. Why do you think the speaker includes counterattack strategies?

3. What does the title teach the reader?

Exercise: Questions for Comprehension of the response

1. What happened to the speaker?

2. Why do you think the speaker says, “not even being safe can save you” (Keylock 121).

Exercise: Summarize the poem

Write a paragraph summarizing the poem in your own words, with quotations, in-text citation, and a Work Cited Page.  Don’t include your opinion, just summarize the poem.

Example too-short summary, incorporating quotation and in-text citation:

In Wayne Miller’s poem “Ballad (American, 21st Century)” Miller reflects on “That spring, [when] the shooter was everywhere” (119). The poem includes the speaker telling “Little Bear” about the time when “a bullet crossed...your car seat” and “glass covered you” (Miller 119).

Work Cited Page

Miller, Wayne. “Ballad (American, 21st Century)” Bullets Into Bells: Poets and Citizens Respond to Gun Violence. Ed. Brian Clements et al. Beacon Press, 2017.

Exercise: Summarize the response

Write a paragraph summarizing the response in your own words, with quotations, in-text citation, and a Work Cited Page.  Don’t include your opinion, just summarize the response.

example summary, incorporating quotation and in-text citation:

In Lee Keylock’s response to Wayne Miller’s poem “Ballad (American, 21st Century),” Keylock begins by naming how the reader should respond to the poem: “[it] terrifies. And it should” (121). He goes on to explain why the poem is so scary: “There are no safe havens...what if it was me” (Keylock 121)?  He concludes by reinforcing the terrifying reality that guns don’t stop “to ask how many ways there are to love” (Keylock 121).

Work Cited Page

Keylock, Lee. “Response to ‘Ballad (American, 21st Century)" Bullets Into Bells: Poets and Citizens Respond to Gun Violence. Ed. Brian Clements et al. Beacon Press, 2017.

Exercise: Synthesizing Analysis

Question for synthesizing analysis: What strategies do Miller and Keylock use to discuss the distance between “the abstract and the real” (Keylock 121)? Do you think there is a gap between the gun violence seen on TV and experience in real life?  Remember to use quotations from the poem to make your points, and cite them!

Exercise: Imitation

Write your own ballad. A ballad is a simple narrative poem composed in short stanzas and adapted for singing, it is usually sentimental. You can write a ballad to your favorite Air Jordans, Spring coming, yard time, whatever you like. Use elements from Miller’s poem that you admire to make your own story stronger. 

For homework, revise these in a blue book or on loose paper; do not turn in your notebook or rip out pages to turn in.

1.     Summary of Miller

2.     Summary of Keylock

3.     Synthesizing Analysis

4.     Imitation

About this class:

Your notebooks belong to you; you can write first drafts in them, and make notes for yourselves.  To turn in homework, revise your work in a blue book or sheets of paper you can get from your instructor. In this class, you are welcome to submit homework for a grade. If it’s not strong enough to earn an A, I’ll give you some comments to help you revise it, and let you do it over again. You have as many chances as you want to complete and perfect the work in this class, and you are welcome to do more than one week’s worksheet for homework at a time; ask me for sheets you’ve missed. Students who complete 15 weeks of graded assignments and a longer paper can qualify for college credit. When you get close to completing 15 weeks, I’ll help you get started on your longer paper.