Week 75: College Reading and Writing: Smith and Pfleger

Week 75: College Reading and Writing: Smith and Pfleger

Danez Smith and Michael L. Pfleger: 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

We are doing a poem and response in the book today, starting on page 147. 

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 parts into your own words in notes in the margins or in your notebook.

Exercise: Questions for Comprehension of the poem

1.      What do you think Smith means that the bullet was “on its way” from birth?

2.     How can a bullet have a gender?

3.     Who exactly is Smith referring to when he says “they.”

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:

Danez Smith’s poem “the bullet was a girl” begins with a fact: “the bullet is his whole life” (147). Then the second line moves onto describe the birth of a child, implying that the child’s destiny was always to die from a bullet: “his mother named him and the bullet was on its way” (147). In the third line, Smith then gives context to the bullet, a hint at a possibility behind this shooting death: “the bullet was a girl and his skin was a boy with a sad laugh” (148).

Work Cited Page (for today’s poem)

Smith, Danez “the bullet was a girl.” Bullets Into Bells: Poets and Citizens Respond to Gun Violence. Ed. Brian Clements et al. Beacon Press, 2017.

Exercise: Questions for Comprehension of the response

1. What does Pfleger mean “the other abortion”?
2. What is the connection between the death in the poem and abortion?
3. What does Pfleger mean that the other abortion is “much more prevalent than the one done in a clinic”?

Exercise: Summarize the response

Write a paragraph summarizing the response with quotations, in-text citation, and a Work Cited Page.

Exercise: Analysis

Question for analysis: In his response, Pfleger defines gun deaths as “the other abortion of poverty, racism, and sexism” (148). He argues that “for many of our children, a bullet has been waiting for them since birth” (148). Ultimately, I think Pfleger is questioning how abortion is such a hot button political issue, but yet so many more lives are taken from gun deaths. Pfleger also names “society” as responsible for these shooting deaths (148). For your analysis, perform a close reading of Smith’s poem. Consider the blame associated with shooting deaths. How does blame manifest in “the bullet was a girl”? In Smith’s poem, who gets blamed for these deaths? Does Smith agree or disagree with this assignment of blame? As you answer these questions, be careful not to ignore the poem’s form and structure (lower case letters, ending on dialogue) and how Smith’s poetic choices contribute to the poem’s meaning.

Exercise: Imitation

Create a metaphor that stands in as a motive or reason for a life-changing decision you’ve made. The last four lines of your poem should be dialogue (someone speaking).

Homework:

1. Summary of Poem
2. Summary of Response
3. Analysis of Poem and Response
4. Imitation of Poem

About this class:

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.