Week 43: College Reading and Writing: Major Jackson and Amber Goodwin




Major Jackson and Amber Goodwin: 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-seventh poem and response in the book today, starting on page 97.

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 going on with the boy in the poem?
2. What is the setting and why is it important?
3. Why is mythic language used?

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:  
  
Brenda Hillman’s poem “The Family Sells the Family Gun” tells the story of siblings getting rid of their father’s gun after “his ashes...were lying” (87). The speaker questions what it means to own and get rid of a gun in America, saying, “[w]e couldn’t take it to the cops even in my handbag” (Hillman 88).  
  
Work Cited Page (for today’s poem)  

Jackson, Major. “Ferguson.” 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.     What does “Ferguson changed everything” mean (Goodwin 99)?
2.     What is the debate in the response?
3.     What does the question in the response mean?
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: Do you agree with Goodwin that “Ferguson changed everything” ?(99). In what way? Does Jackson agree with Goodwin? Closely examine the two texts and write an analysis where you decide if you think the authors agree that “Ferguson changed everything” (Goodwin 99).


Exercise: Imitation

Write a poem about an event using mythical or fairytale language. Write from the perspective of something unexpected, like the road kill in the Jackson poem. Use other elements from Jackson’s poem that you admire to make your own poem stronger. 


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.



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