Week 99: College Reading and Writing Natalie Diaz and Reverend Henry Brown

Week 99: College Reading and Writing

Natalie Diaz and Reverend Henry Brown: 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 twelfth poem and response in our book today, starting on page 37.

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 Diaz utilizing line breaks to draw attention to certain concepts in the poem?

2.     How is repetition functioning within the poem?

3.     How does the concept of the bullet evolve throughout the poem?

4.     What does the speaker mean that the bullet is for “living brothers” (Diaz 39)?

Exercise: Questions for Comprehension of the Response

1.     Who was the first person in Brown’s family affected by gun violence?

2.     What incident of gun violence compelled Brown to take action against gun violence?

3.     What does Brown consider a grave injustice?

                                                                                                             

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:

The poem “Catching Copper” by Natalie Diaz starts off by introducing us to the subject of the poem with the line “My brothers have / a bullet” (Diaz 37). The speaker then uses multiple descriptions in multiple stanzas to fully explore the concept of their brother’s bullet and the many forms the bullet takes. The poem ends with a statement by the brothers, “we wouldn’t go so far / as to call our bullet / a prophet…” (Diaz 40), being pitted against the idea that the bullet “cleans them, makes them / ready for god” (Diaz 40).

Work Cited Page (for today’s poem)

Diaz, Natalie. “Catching Copper.” 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: In what ways do the bullets in Brown’s response refer to the bullet in Diaz’s poem? Use quotation and summary to support your answer, which should be 7-9 sentences.

Homework Assignment: Imitation

Use an object as a metaphor for an issue in your life and write a poem where you describe your relationship to it.

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.