Week 36: College Reading and Writing: German and Williams

Week 36: College Reading and Writing: German and Williams

Vanessa German and Camiella Williams: Annotating, Summarizing, Analyzing, Imitating

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

to summarize: to put something in your own words

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

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

We are doing the twenty-second poem and response in the book today, starting on page 70. 

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 parts into your own words in notes in the margins or in your notebook

Exercise: Questions for Comprehension of the poem

1.      What is the significance of the short, unfinished sentences in this poem?

2.     What is the significance of the blanks?

3.     How does the language impact the meaning of the poem?

Exercise: Summarize the poem

Write a paragraph summarizing the poem with quotations, in-text citation, and a Work Cited Page.

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

Kyle Dargan’s poem “Natural Causes” tells the story of a boy who purchases a gun “from a farm in Virginia” (31) from a farmer who “keeps his gaze down as to remember nothing of the boy’s face” (31). The speaker of the poem insinuates that the farmer has sold guns to other boys like this one, when they say, “His customers rarely return older” (31).

Work Cited Page (for today’s poem)

German, Vanessa. “[11 Gunshots].” Bullets Into Bells: Poets and Citizens Respond to Gun Violence. Ed. Brian Clements et al. Beacon Press, 2017.

Exercise: Questions for Comprehension of the response

1. How does Camiella Williams describe herself in this response?
2. How does Williams describe the difference between sexy and ugly gun violence in the third sentence?
3. What’s the solution, according to Williams, to not be scared?

Exercise: Summarize the response

Write a paragraph summarizing the response with quotations, in-text citation, and a Work Cited Page.

Exercise: Analysis

Question for analysis: In her response, Williams writes, “”in order to not be scared, you have to not be afraid to die” (74). This is not a solution to “ugly” gun violence, according to Williams, but a way to cope with trauma.  Write an analysis where you describe the methods that the speaker in the poem uses to cope with trauma. Use examples of coping from both the poem and the response.

Exercise: Imitation

Write a poem about a personal experience but write in a way to make it an experience in which your reader can participate. Examples would be leaving names blank or writing second person.

Homework:

1. Summary of Poem
2. Summary of Response
3. Analysis of Poem and Response
4. Imitation of Poem

About this class:

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.