Week 94: College Reading and Writing: Jericho Brown and Michael Skolnik

Week 94: College Reading and Writing

Jericho Brown and Michael Skolnik: 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 the seventh poem and response in our book today, starting on page 22.

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: Respond to Poem

Write a response to this poem. What are your first impressions? How do you connect or disconnect to the subject and speaker? Does the poem remind you of anything from your own life and experience?

Exercise: Questions for Comprehension of the Poem

1.     How is the title functioning with the poem?

2.     What is the repetition doing in the poem?

3.     What are the ways “most Americans” kill themselves?

4.     What does Brown mean when he says his body is “greater than the settlement a city can pay?”

Exercise: Questions for Comprehension of the Response

1.     Why didn’t Skolnik fear the police when he was a young boy?

2.     How does Brown’s poem make him feel?

3.     What do you think Skolnik means by “bad seed” theory?

4.     What do you think Skolnik means by “an entire system that is propped up by the fear and interrogation” of people of color?

                                                                                                             

Homework Assignment: Summarize the Poem

Write a 7-9 sentence paragraph summarizing the poem with quotations, in-text citation, and a Work Cited Page.

Example Summary: Too short, but incorporates quotation and in-text citation:

Jericho Brown’s poem “Bullet Points” lists all the ways he won’t “shoot” or “hang” himself, particularly “in a police car…[o]r in the jail cell” of a strange town (Brown 22). He admits he “may be at risk,” but if he dies at home he “trust[s] the maggots” and other creatures under his house more than the police to care for his corpse (Brown 22). Brown concludes by promising that if his body is found “dead anywhere near [a] cop,” then that cop killed him (Brown 22). He concludes by pointing out that his body is worth more than any wrongful death “settlement,” and “more beautiful” than a bullet (Brown 22).

Work Cited Page (for today’s poem)

Brown, Jericho. “Bullet Points” Bullets Into Bells: Poets and Citizens Respond to Gun Violence. Ed. Brian Clements et al. Beacon Press, 2017.+

Homework Assignment: Summarize the Response

Write a 7-9 sentence paragraph summarizing the response with quotations, in-text citations, and a Work Cited Page.

Homework Assignment: Analysis

Question for analysis: Brown and Skolnik agree that “people of color…have good reason to fear for their lives during encounters with law enforcement” (Skolnik 24). They come at it from different perspectives, however, and seem to be speaking to multiple audiences. Point out places in the texts you see those perspectives being revealed. Use quotation and summary to support your answer, which should be 7-9 sentences.

Homework Assignment: Imitation

Write your own poem about something you will never do. It can be something you don’t want to do, or something you’ll never get a chance to do, or something you’ll never do again. Use Brown’s techniques of internal rhyme and repetition.

Homework:

1. Summary of Poem
2. Summary of Response
3. Analysis of Poem/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.