Week 69: College Reading and Writing: Naomi Shihab Nye and Stacey Newman

Week 69: College Reading and Writing: Naomi Shihab Nye and Stacey Newman

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 128 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 importance of the capitalized letters?

2. How does the punctuation in this poem work?

3. What does the speaker not know “how to absorb” (Nye 128)?

Exercise: Questions for Comprehension of the response

1. Is there a call to action? Who is it aimed at?

2. What burden does the speaker carry?

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:

Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem “To Jamyla Bolden of Ferguson, Missouri” tells the story of Ferguson “[f]ifty years before” Jamyla (128). The poem ends considering what Ferguson could have been: “giant meadows of corn... an S for Satisfactory” (Nye 128).

Work Cited Page

Nye, Naomi Shihab. “To Jamyla Bolden of Ferguson, Missouri” 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:

Stacey Newman’s response to Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem “To Jamyla Bolden of Ferguson, Missouri” begins by stating: “I am not a survivor or victim of gun violence” (129). She goes on to explain her responsibility as “a public official… mother and grandmother” to stand up and “plead for legislators to put kinds ahead of firearms” (Newman 129). She concludes by stating: “I must step up my efforts” (Newman 129).

Work Cited Page

Newman, Stacey. “Response to ‘To Jamyla Bolden of Ferguson, Missouri" 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: The poem and response explore the absurdity of kids being killed by stray bullets. Both authors write about kids’ awareness of gun violence in their communities. Do you think the poem and response have the same goals? Remember to use quotations from the poem to make your points, and cite them!

Exercise: Imitation

Write a letter poem. You’re in jail, I’m sure there are many things you want to say to many people; take this opportunity to compose your thoughts into a poetic letter. Use elements from Nye’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 Nye

2.         Summary of Newman

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.