Week 66: College Reading and Writing: Wayne Miller and Lee Keylock
Week 66: College
Reading and Writing: Wayne Miller and Lee Keylock
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 119 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 happened to the speaker?
2. Why do you think the speaker includes
counterattack strategies?
3. What does the title teach the reader?
Exercise: Questions for Comprehension of the response
1. What happened to the speaker?
2. Why do you think the speaker says,
“not even being safe can save you” (Keylock 121).
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 Wayne Miller’s poem “Ballad (American,
21st Century)” Miller reflects on “That spring, [when] the shooter was
everywhere” (119). The poem includes the speaker telling “Little Bear” about
the time when “a bullet crossed...your car seat” and “glass covered you”
(Miller 119).
Work Cited Page
Miller, Wayne. “Ballad (American, 21st
Century)” 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 Lee Keylock’s response to Wayne
Miller’s poem “Ballad (American, 21st Century),” Keylock begins by naming how
the reader should respond to the poem: “[it] terrifies. And it should” (121).
He goes on to explain why the poem is so scary: “There are no safe
havens...what if it was me” (Keylock 121)?
He concludes by reinforcing the terrifying reality that guns don’t stop
“to ask how many ways there are to love” (Keylock 121).
Work Cited Page
Keylock, Lee. “Response to ‘Ballad
(American, 21st Century)" 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
strategies do Miller and Keylock use to discuss the distance between “the
abstract and the real” (Keylock 121)? Do you think there is a gap between the
gun violence seen on TV and experience in real life? Remember
to use quotations from the poem to make your points, and cite them!
Exercise: Imitation
Write your own ballad. A ballad is a
simple narrative poem composed in short stanzas and adapted for singing, it is
usually sentimental. You can write a ballad to your favorite Air Jordans,
Spring coming, yard time, whatever you like. Use elements from Miller’s poem
that you admire to make your own story stronger.
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 Miller
2.
Summary of Keylock
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.
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