Friday: The Basics of Reading a Poem.

Basics of reading a poem:


1. Identify the speaker. What can you tell about the speaker? You may not know a name or gender or anything else, but identify the perspective: poems, at some level, will always have a consistent perspective if they have nothing else. The lines do not drop from the sky but from a perspective.

2. Identify the audience. Often the audience is the general reader, but just as often there is an audience for the speaker within the poem, a person or idea that the speaker addresses. Occasionally, as in Hughes, the audience will be white Americans or black Americans specifically. Determine which, and be clear and consistent.

3. Identify the subject. The subject of the poem is literal and clear. Be sure you recognize it and give it a name.

4. Identify the plot. In a poem, this task can be a little tricky, and the plot, or narrative, might not be very strong or complete, but something happens. What?

5. Identify the big structural components of the poem. Does it have a beginning, middle, and end? How do you know where the poem progresses from one part to another? There might be more than three parts. What does each part do, or what is its function?

6. When identifying structural components, explain how the poem works as it progresses from one part to another. If “God” appears in the first part, and “Lucifer” appears in the next, explain the connection, or how the first part moves into the second with contrast or opposition as one organizing principle.

7. Identify key small structural components. Are there patterns of line length, of repetition, of rhyme? What patterns do you notice at the “micro” level, and if they have an effect you can identify, make that effect explicit and explain.

8. Identify the theme. How does the poem’s concrete language suggest universal abstractions or social commentary? (Social commentary is a poet’s judgment of some aspect of society).

9. Identify the mood. The mood can shift as the poem progresses. A definition of mood and a great many words to describe mood can be found here. Explain how you know the mood using evidence from the poem.

10. Identify the tone. Tone is usually quite consistent. A definition of tone and many useful words for describing it are also here. Explain how you know the tone using evidence from the poem.

11. What part do musical devices (sound devices, like alliteration, assonance, consonance, repetition, internal and end rhyme, caesuras, end stops, line length, meter) play in accomplishing any of the poem's effects? Do not emphasize these without pointing out their effects!

Friday: Instructor rubric

Here is the "Instructor for a Day" rubric. Please LOOK at this rubric as you prepare.

Here is the list of poems and instructors and their order. I have updated this list to include the numbers for B-day, which had originally been written outside the margins of the flipchart page.

Thursday: Daily rubric

Here is the daily rubric, which I will use to determine 20% of the quarter grade -- along with other daily grades that may come up from time to time.

Poetry choice for absentees

If you want to claim a poem, email me. See the final list on the earlier post, and you may not teach a claimed poem. A-day claims are in orange, B-day claims are in red.

Wednesday

A-day made poem choices. All choices are shown here.

Tuesday: Final 20

B-day has finalized the twenty poems by Hughes, and here is the list with each student's choice to teach. "Instructor for a Day" begins on November 20. A-day students may teach the same poem as B-day students.

Monday: Poetry choices

Here is the flipchart (in .pdf format) with B-day's choices on the first two pages highlighted in yellow. There are twenty of them. On the third page are A-day's choices. The poems both classes chose are highlighted in orange. A-day's other chosen poems are highlighted in yellow.

See, B-day picked twenty, A-day picked twenty, and there were six poems on both lists. Those six are in, no further debate. Twenty minus six equals fourteen. Half of fourteen is seven. Therefore, A-day picked, from its original twenty, seven more poems. Thirteen poems are now in the final list. Now B-day should, from its original twenty, select its seven favorites to complete the final twenty.

Monday

Here is today's handout on "Harlem: Whatever Happens to a Dream Deferred?" and "Dreams."

Friday

Here is B-day's list of titles from Langston Hughes. The twenty finals are highlighted in yellow.

Thursday

Here is today's markup of Langston Hughes' "Mother to Son." Your homework is to determine which twenty poems you would like to study. Keep a thought on the calendar.

Grades

A-day grades are not complete on the report cards. The district office declared that grades should be due at 11 am on the work day rather than at the end of the work day. I will supply you with a printout in the morning if you wish, but about half of you will have an incomplete until I enter a grade change, which I will do as soon as the office says I can. This incomplete will be printed on the report card, but of course the changed grade will be the transcript grade.

 

Late papers or papers without all the requisite parts (prior drafts and my printed feedback) also ended as incompletes for the quarter. Incompletes for these students are appropriate until I get to them or until they get the missing pieces in place.

 

JKoon

Friday

For your presentations next week, be sure you meet the rubric criteria!




Here is a good web site instructing you how to compose and structure body paragraphs in literary analysis -- you know, like commentary papers.

Here is a simple guide for constructing paragraphs in literary analysis. The "comment" part can be many sentences long:
1. Topic containing critical concept
2. Transition and set up: provides context for quote.
3. Quote from book punctuated correctly, or a very clear, direct reference to the literary work
4. Explanation and comment: what does your quote prove about your topic?
5. Wrap: last sentence says something worthwhile AND contains a key word from the topic sentence AND transitions forward.

Wednesday

Hope you're having a good day job shadowing (wink). See the post to the right: examine the rubric and see if you can pinpoint problelms or make suggestions on it. (The two-person and four-person rubrics are combined into one .pdf document).Otherwise, use it to structure your presentations. You might need Flash or a computer to see the embedded file. Or you can use the link right here.

Note that there is an element set aside for professional attire.

Friday -- about due dates and requirements

1. On Monday for A-day, and on Tuesday for B-day, revise your commentary drafts. Your papers are due regardless of other activities such as history tests. Bring me your papers on the due date. Late papers will be docked 20 points, and I do not guarantee in-depth feedback for them. After the due date for the final, the second draft will not receive credit at all.


2. Bring in the entire packet: your first draft, the feedback you received from another student, and the second draft. Put the first draft on the bottom, the feedback in the middle, and the second draft on top. Staple all of it together. Failure to follow this instruction means you have NOT turned in your drafts on time. Failure to staple them together in order, but with all elements present, will result in a 10-point dock for not following the assignment instructions. Why would anyone not do this as instructed?

3. Format your paper according to MLA style. I have a sample paper on the blog. It is a commentary on Arna Bontemps’ “Southern Mansion.” Better yet, you can look up “mla style” and choose “The OWL at Purdue” for a great resource on writing. There is an MLA section that gives examples and explanations, though formatting does not really require a lot of expertise. Just do it as it says. Failure to format according to MLA style, including the use of 12-point, Times New Roman font and double spacing, will result in a 10-point dock of your second draft grade. Express your individuality in the content and thought, not in your font selection.

4. On my end, I will do my best to give you in-depth, personal feedback on each of your papers in a very timely fashion with plenty of time for revision before the final due date of October 22/23.

Wednesday

For a grade: all students should have their commentary files with them or easily accessible on the web (email, web lockers, Google docs, Dropbox) so that they can work productively during class.

Wednesday

Somebody -- let's call him X for short -- has book #39...

Three of you have still not claimed any text for your commentary.

Here is my suggestion for your introduction:

The beginning should contain the title, the author, the genre, and general comments about setting and subject. It should contain the specific context of the passage you choose: This passage comes from a middle scene when Boy Willie brings a girl home from a night out and Berniece sends her out. It should contain the significance of the scene you have chosen: The extract serves to introduce the need the characters have for love and physical comfort and contrasts Boy Willie’s lively desires with Berniece’s rule-bound, self-restricted behavior. Finally, it should introduce the principles of division you intend to employ: First, this passage employs disruptive sound effects and actions in the stage directions to intrude on the peace of the house. Second, the language of Boy Willie contrasts with the language of Berniece, emphasizing the difference in their views of their own selves and their culture. Finally, the stage’s physical arrangement provides further information about Boy Willie, Berniece, and their relationships to each other and their history.

Tuesday

Hardly anyone from A-day has chosen a passage for commentary. If you simply show up on Friday with a passage, do NOT expect credit. Your parts must be run through an approval process to be sure there are not endless repetitions. Part of the reason for this assignment is to teach each other about various sections of the play. Not everyone can have the first page.

The Commentary Slideshow as Video

IB English Written Commentary from Michelle Alspaugh

First deadline

First draft of written commentary is due on Thursday 27/Friday 28. Pick your passages and some backups.

Thursday/Friday

Preliminary notice of quarter assignments:

      A. Choose 30-60 lines on which to do a written commentary of 4-6 pages in length (MLA format, Times New Roman 12 point font). No more than two people may do a single extract.

AND

B. Choose one of the following (or devise one of your own) to present in teams of two or four (four people per team simply means you prepare both sides with two "lawyers" per team):

1. Make a case for or against

Boy Willie's rights to the piano

Berniece's rights to the piano

Present with an opposing team in the form of a trial

• Introductory arguments (generalities that you intend to prove)
• Presentation of evidence
• Visual aid to enhance arguments (not to replace or substitute for them)
• Cross examination of the opposing team
• Closing arguments

2. Make a case for or against

The piano as blessing

The piano as curse (you may change the dichotomy if you like)

Follow form of trial as above.

3. With a partner, present an argument detailing the roles of dreams, visions, and mysterious monologues in the play. You must present with a visual aid that enhances your argument but does not replace or substitute for it. You must build a case for a purposeful role.

4. With a partner or not, present an argument detailing the role of songs in the play. You must use a visual or audio-visual aid. You must build a case for a purposeful role.

5. With a partner or not, present an argument detailing Berniece's role in the play with regard to her various relationships. You must use a visual or audio-visual aid.You must build a case for a purposeful role.

6. Develop a case on a topic of your own device. You must use a visual or audio-visual aid. You must build a case for a purposeful role. (ghosts, trains, money, burdens, or  others).

Presentation of trials should last for 20-30 minutes. Presentations of roles should last for 10-15 minutes.

If you have wishes or desires to contribute to the rubrics and timelines, think of them for next class (Thursday/Friday). You may also choose parts and teams on those days. These will be the major grades of the nine weeks.