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General News
Be sure to check out our winners for the "Telling Our Tales" Thomas Wolfe Student Essay contest here. You can read their winning essays there too. We had three winners from our group! Congratulations to ALL who stepped up to participate. We will participate in another competition 2nd semester.Progress reports will be out for both classes sometime in the next few days. I will send them via email to both parents and students. Please keep an eye out for this email and be sure to review your performance in the various areas (classwork, homework, assessments, participation) to see where you can strengthen your work. I'm always happy to talk with parents or students about ways to be more successful in class, but honestly much of success in this class boils down to:
A) Consistency--are you completing your homework faithfully each week?
B) Quality--are you following the often explicit directions I've provided?
C) Involvement--are you participating, taking good notes, and engaged during class?
Many of you are doing these things already and are doing very well in my class. If you are not, then challenge yourself to step up and take responsibility for improving your work. These are qualities that will help you to succeed not only in my class but in life. Your parents and I can encourage and help, but in the end, YOU must accept responsibility for your education.
This Weeks' Work---19th Century Poetry
This week you will be studying and memorizing a 19th Century poem from either Emily Dickinson or Walt Whitman.This assignment will count twice--once as a classwork grade (since it will be the bulk of our class time next week) and once as a homework grade. If you have not signed up for a poem yet, here are the sign up sheets again. You can add your name to whichever poem you'd like, but only one student per poem. First come, first serve.
10:00 Sign Ups
12:15 Sign Ups
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| Illustration by Jedi Noordegraaf |
First, please watch the following videos about Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman. Take notes while you watch.
Finding Emily Dickinson in the power of her poetry (6 minutes)
Emily Dickinson: The Poet in Her Bedroom (4 minutes)
Walt Whitman: Mini Biography (3 minutes)
Then read the following poems from Whitman and Dickinson:
Read from "Song of Myself" by Walt Whitman p. 442-445
Read Dickinson's poems pp. 426-434
Next, there are three components to your poem assignment:
1. Memorize your poem.
Next, there are three components to your poem assignment:
1. Memorize your poem.
You should be able to recite your poem fluidly without any notes or helps. Here are some videos you need to watch to help you:
2. Create a script or "reading map" for your poem.
How to Memorize a Poem (5 minutes)
5 Tips for Memorizing Poetry (7 minutes)
In the second video, she makes some excellent points about slowing down and using diction effectively. Practice these skills.
On a blank piece of computer paper, write out your poem so that it is centered in the middle of the paper. Then, go through and annotate the poem as we did for the example poem in class, "She Sweeps With Many Colored Brooms."
Again, here is my example from class which has many but not all of the things listed below.
Here are some things you should do on your reading map:
- Bracket each stanza and paraphrase the stanza next to the bracket. What is the core idea of each stanza?
- Define any terms that may need clarity or definition. In my poem, I looked up "duds", "aprons," and "ply" because she uses these words somewhat differently. I defined these words by looking them up in the Emily Dickinson Lexicon which you can find here. What is a lexicon? Use this Emily Dickinson dictionary of sorts to determine how she uses words.
- Read and re-read the poem carefully a number of times. Label anything else of significance. This includes poetic terms, repetition, rhyme scheme, figurative language, etc. Look on pp. 422-423 to familiarize yourself with common poetic devices that may be applicable. You will not find all of them in any one poem--just use this as a guide. Also, use this Guide to Reading Dickinson's Poetry for help.
- Optional but nice---can you add any creative element to your reading map? Colored pencil, etc.
3. Write a paragraph about the theme of your poem. Follow this very specific format. The paragraph should be word processed and follow MLA format. If you need a refresher on MLA format, look for the link on the right of this blog under "Helpful Documents."
Bring all of this work and your textbook to class.
Your class poem recitation/explanation will follow the following format:
1. Introduce yourself and the title of your poem (which is either the first line or the number of the poem).
2. Recite the poem---SLOWLY--no notes. ; )
3. Briefly tell in your own word what the poem means, what you noticed, etc. Your goal is to help the class understand the poem better (1-2 minutes, may have notes).
I've decided to have you only recite the poem ONCE in the interest of time. You may not have helps for the recitation but may have note cards for part #3.
Your class poem recitation/explanation will follow the following format:
1. Introduce yourself and the title of your poem (which is either the first line or the number of the poem).
2. Recite the poem---SLOWLY--no notes. ; )
3. Briefly tell in your own word what the poem means, what you noticed, etc. Your goal is to help the class understand the poem better (1-2 minutes, may have notes).
I've decided to have you only recite the poem ONCE in the interest of time. You may not have helps for the recitation but may have note cards for part #3.
Thought for the week from Emily Dickinson:
