Week 38: College Reading and Writing: Herrera and Risher

Week 38: College Reading and Writing: Herrera and Risher

Herrera and Risher: 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-fourth poem and response in the book today, starting on page 81. 

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 do you think is significant about the spaces between words in poem?

2.     What do you think the speaker means “we do not know/ you have a poem to offer”?

3.     What does the speaker mean “give your life to it”?

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)

Herrera, Juan Felipe. “Poem by Poem.” 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. Why do you think the poem is so affecting for Risher?
2. What does Risher not want us to forget?
3. What kinds of details does Risher focus on in her response?

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, Risher writes, “These souls died together, yet they have their own story. Please don’t forget that – individuals each one” (83). Risher than goes on to identify four of the victims whom she knew personally, citing qualities about their character. How is this sentiment of memorializing reflected inside of the poem? How can poetry be used to memorialize? How can language and description be important for change? Use both the poem and the response to support your answer.

Exercise: Imitation

Write a poem where you list the people you love. Include details you love about them.

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.