Week 65: College Reading and Writing: Blas Falconer

Week 65: College Reading and Writing: Blas Falconer

  

Blas Falconer: 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 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. How does repetition work in this poem?

2. What do you think the speaker is feeling?

3. Why do you think the speaker ends the poem with counting?

  

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) 

  

Falconer, Blas. “My Son Wants to Know Who His Biological Father Is.” Poem-a-Day, Poets.org, 2019, https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/my-son-wants-know-who-his-biological-father

 

Exercise: Analysis 

Question for analysis: This poem is about fathers and sons and dealing with difficult things. Does the poem hint at a resolution? Remember to use quotation and citation to support your points.

  

Exercise: Imitation 

Write a strategy poem. What is your favorite strategy for dealing with difficult things? Include a memory to show us how you used the strategy successfully.  Use elements from Falconer’s poem that you admire to make your own story stronger. 

Homework: 

            

1.      Summary of Poem                     

2.      Analysis of Poem           

3.      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.

My Son Wants to Know Who His Biological Father Is

Blas Falconer

My son wants to know

his name. What does he look like? What does

he like? My son swims

four days a week. When my son swims

underwater, he glides

between strokes. When he glides underwater, he is

an arrow aimed

at a wall. Four days a week, his coach says,

Count—1…2…—before

coming up for air.

My father had blue eyes, blonde hair,

though mine are brown.

My father could not speak

Spanish and wondered, How can you love

another man? We rarely touched.

When my son

is counting, I count

with him. I say, I am

your father, too. 1…2…