Week 103: College Reading and Writing Martín Espada and David and Francine Wheeler

Week 103: College Reading and Writing

Martín Espada and David and Francine Wheeler: 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 sixteenth poem and response in our book today, starting on page 53.

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 personifying the bells, giving them a voice?

2.     What does Espada mean by “the bells a world away” (Espada 53)?

3.     What is the significance of “bullets into bells” (Espada 53)?

4.     What is the significance of the word “now” in the poem?

5.     Who is being addressed in the poem?

Exercise: Questions for Comprehension of the Response

1.     What is the irony of “the location of our loss” (Wheeler 55)?

2.     What is the “unwanted permanent texture” of their lives (Wheeler 55)?

3.     Why do the Wheeler’s stay in the town where their son was murdered?

                                                                                                             

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:

Martín Espada’s poem “Heal the Cracks in the Bell of the World” begins with an image of “bells speak[ing] with their tongues of bronze” (Espada 53). We find out that the bells were “born of bullets” but now they “sing of a world where bullets melt into bells” (Espada 53). The speaker then implores us to “Listen to the bells in a town with a flagpole on Main Street,” and ends with the idea that the chimes of the bells “heal the cracks in the bell of the world” (Espada 54).

Work Cited Page (for today’s poem)

Espada, Martín. “Heal the Cracks in the Bell of the World” 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: The Wheeler’s response states that while moving “through this landscape” where their son was killed is an “unwanted permanent texture” in their lives, it is “eclipsed in dimension by the support, assistance, and love of our community” (Wheeler 55). How is this statement echoed in the poem’s imagery of bullets turning into bells? Use quotation and in-text citation to support your answer.

Homework Assignment: Imitation

Write your own poem where the speaker takes back power from an image that is traumatizing and painful and transforms it into a peaceful and healing image.

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.