Week 47: College Reading and Writing: Maggie Dietz

Maggie Dietz: 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

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.     Why do you think the poem starts with “[s]how’s over, folks” (Dietz)? What’s the effect?

2.     Does the tone of the poem remain the same throughout? If not, when does it shift?

3.     What does the speaker asking with the question “[w]as I dazzled” (Dietz)?

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)

Dietz, Maggie. “November by Maggie Dietz.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, 2018, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/89599/november-5750abeaa77b4.

Exercise: Write a Response

What is the poem saying about what happens in November? Do you agree with Dietz? Why or why not? What does this poem remind you of? Do you relate to this poem’s message? Why or why not?

Exercise: Analysis

Question for analysis: What is the effect of the images in this poem? How do they add to the meaning of the poem? Do the images ever change tone? Examining closely the tone and images of this poem, write an analysis where you explore how the poet relies on images to make a statement.

Exercise: Imitation

Take your freewrite about November and turn it into a poem. Add your list of ten unexpected November images. Use elements from Dietz’s poem that you admire to make your own poem stronger.  

Homework:

1. Summary of Poem
2. Write a Response
3. Analysis of Poem
4. Imitation of Poem

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.