Week 74: College Reading and Writing: Liz Rosenberg and Patricia Maisch

Week 74: College Reading and Writing: Liz Rosenberg and Patricia Maisch

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 145 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 will we “never know” (Rosenberg 145)?

2. How do questions work in the poem?

3. Who is the speaker addressing in this poem?

Exercise: Questions for Comprehension of the response

1. Who has been “stolen” and not “lost” (Maisch 146)?

2. What does the speaker say “it” is (Maisch 146)?

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:

Liz Rosenberg’s poem “The First Child Martyr at Illinois Elementary” tells the story of the “except,” the “boy who stumbled pushing his friend” out of the way (145). The poem ends questioning: “what...did he know” (Reeves 143).

Work Cited Page

Rosenberg, Liz. “The First Child Martyr at Illinois Elementary” 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:

Patricia Maisch’s response to Liz Rosenberg’s poem “The First Child Martyr at Illinois Elementary” opens with a declarative statement: “[t]hat martyred child was where he was supposed to be” (146).  She continues with the memory of being able to “reach the loaded magazine” even though she couldn't “reach the gun” when Gabby Giffords was shot (Maisch 146). In Maisch’s experience “the child’s age doesn’t matter”; she still doesn’t “have any words...to fit the need” (146).

Work Cited Page

Maisch, Patricia. “Response to ‘The First Child Martyr at Illinois Elementary” 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: this week the term “martyr” is the entry point for the discussion of kids getting killed. "Martyr" is defined as someone killed because of their beliefs. Do you think “martyr” is the right word to describe these murdered children? Why do you think the authors’ use the word “martyr” in particular? Remember to use quotations from the poem to make your points, and cite them!

Exercise: Imitation

Write an “except” poem, a poem which changes direction with an exception. You could say the sky is blue except when it’s full of clouds. You could say you love to laugh except when you are the only one laughing. You could say you don’t have a favorite song except for that one that gets you through the day. You know the “excepts” in your life. It’s up to you. Use elements from Rosenberg’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 Rosenberg

2.         Summary of Maisch

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.