Week 64: College Reading and Writing: Jill McDonough and Kim Parker Russell

Week 64: College Reading and Writing

Jill McDonough and Kim Parker Russell: 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 117 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 is the speaker afraid of?

2. Why do you think the speaker isn’t afraid of getting shot?

3. What did the speaker do to “[keep] everybody safe” in the poem?

Exercise: Questions for Comprehension of the response

1. What happened to the speaker?

2. Why is it “sad” to realize it’s been twenty years since this event?

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 Jill McDonough’s poem “Afraid” McDonough reflects on things she is afraid of and “what [she] is supposed to fear” (117).  The poem includes someone telling her “you’re afraid of everything” and the “cheerful song” she sang to keep “everybody” safe on a ladder (McDonough 117). 

Work Cited Page

McDonough, Jill. “Afraid” 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 Kim Parker Russell’s response to Jill McDonough’s poem “Afraid,” Russell begins by reflecting on the time “before [she] became afraid” (118). She goes on to provide details of the night that changed: “[her] outfit, [her] hairstyle, [her] purse” (Russell 118).  She

concludes by remembering that she “was alive but [her] friend was not” (Russell 118).

Work Cited Page

Russell, Kim Parker. “Response to ‘Afraid" 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 are some techniques you see here for dealing with fear?  What are some techniques that work for you? Remember to use quotations from the poem to make your points, and cite them!

Exercise: Imitation

Write your own poem or short prose piece about fear.  Choose elements of the poem by McDonough or the prose piece by Russell to help shape your piece.  For example, you may choose to include a list, like McDonough, or to focus on details of a specific event, like Russell.

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 McDonough

2.     Summary of Russell

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.