Week 101: College Reading and Writing: Rita Dove and Marie Delus

Week 101: College Reading and Writing

Rita Dove and Marie Delus: 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 fourteenth poem and response in our book today, starting on page 46.

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.     What is the effect of point of view shift in the poem?

2.     What does Dove mean by “especially when you know it isn’t” (Dove 46)?

3.     What is the significance of the section titles? What would change if they weren’t there?

4.     What is the significance of the shift in diction in the last stanza?

Exercise: Questions for Comprehension of the Response

1.     What is the joy describing in the first paragraph?

2.     What is the guilt describing in the second paragraph?

3.     What does Deluth mean by “we have another battle entirely on our hands” (Delus 49)?

                                                                                                             

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:

Rita Dove’s poem “Meditation at Fifty Yards, Moving Target” is broken up into four sections, spanning from safety procedures, like “assume a loaded barrel” (Dove 46), through the differences in gun preferences between men and women, where “guys like noise” and women “prefer precision” (Dove 47). The last stanza personifies a bullet, giving it a desire in the line “beautiful body i am coming i am yours” (Dove 48)

Work Cited Page (for today’s poem)

Dove, Rita. “Meditation at Fifty Yards, Moving Target” 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: How does the joy and guilt that Delus speaks of in her response connect to the poem? Where does the power and accomplishment that Delus speaks of fit in? Use quotation and in-text citation to support your answer.

Homework Assignment: Imitation

Write your own poem giving instructions on how to perform a task. Make the last stanza from the perspective of the object.

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.