Prompts to Get You Going if You Haven't Written Anything Yet...

You all have a deadline tomorrow.  To bring something on paper to class that you've written and want response on.  If you haven't written anything yet, you might consider these options:

What are you passionate about?
What kind of change would you like to see at IHS?
In Indianola?
In Iowa?
In the U.S.?
In the world?
What are your pet peeves?
Tell the story of a powerful moment in your life.
A touching moment.
An angry moment.
An embarrassing or annoying or hilarious moment.
Define an abstract concept--love, beauty, peace, value, music--and argue what it should mean to people.
Define a political concept--marriage, entitlement, gay, family, life, fetus, Republican, Democrat, liberal, conservative--and argue how that should impact votes and/or lawmakers.
Compare and contrast--school vs. life, liberal vs. conservative, straight vs. gay, life vs. death, sick vs. healthy--argue either for one over the other or argue the similarities between things viewed as dichotomous.
Write about your scars--physical or emotional.
Write about your name--what it means, who you are.
Write about your opinions on any given topic--food, people, music, movies, boyfriends, sports, stupid people, whatever!

Poetry Criticism

One of the requirements for your poetry project is to read two articles of professional criticism. 

Criticism is literary analysis by a literary scholar published by a reputable publishing company or an educational institution.  DO NOT use a Google search to find criticism--I will not honor that as fulfilling the expectation of the assignment.

Here are acceptable sources for criticism:

1. EBSCO has a database called the Literary Reference Center.  This will likely be the easiest, most convenient choice since you can do it right in my room from the iPad.  It will have criticism for most of your poet choice.  Merely choose the Literary Reference Center, search your poet's name, choose the criticism tab, and find an article about your poem in particular OR about your poet's general style, use of various devices, etc.  The tricky part of this convenient source is citing an EBSCO articles.  Keep in mind, the vast majority of critical essays (including those reprinted online via EBSCO) are originally published as works in an anthology.  You must keep that in mind when it is time to cite your EBSCO sources.
2.  Critical essays in a poetry anthology are another source.  Some of you are using books for your poems that also contain essays of criticism.  These are also viable sources.  You would cite them as a work in an anthology.
3. Books of critical essays are perhaps the best source of criticism.  They are usually organized by author and contain many essays by several different authors, making it easy for both you and your partner to find articles that help each of you all in one source.  This type of source is the trickiest to find:  our MC has a small but well-marked section of literary criticism that may contain books on your poet OR Dunn Library at Simpson has a very large collection of literary criticism which will likely take care of any and all of the poets you might be studying.  Anyone with an Indianola Public Library card may check out books from Simpson.  Dunn is located where Euclid deadends into Buxton, just to the south of the Great Hall/cafeteria.  You can search for the books you want online before you go, write down the call number, and have a far more efficient trip to the library.  Again, these essays would be cited as works in an anthology.

In-Depth Poet Project

AP Lang In-Depth Poet Study

Your Individual Study:

1.  Choose a partner and a poet.  I will okay these.

2.  Find several of your poet’s poems (in book form at Dunn, Indianola Public Library, or my book collection or online at a site that offers free access to your poet’s work).

3.  Read several poems by your selected poet (at least 5), looking for one poem you really get—you know, the one where you “meet at the top of the mountain” or establish that “closeness.” =)

4.  Read the poem closely several times, noticing the poet’s use of rhetorical devices.  Common rhetorical devices in poetry include figures of speech, metaphor/simile, irony, symbols, personification, rhythm and rhyme, sound devices (like onomatopoeia, consonance, alliteration), interesting word choice, and even form/shape. Spend time coming up with an educated interpretation of the poet’s argument.  Make sure you can back it up with the details you noticed, keeping Perrine’s essay in mind.  Take notes--you will verbally explain your OWN interpretation.

5.  Research your poet’s biographical information and the historical/societal context in which they wrote.  Cite your sources.

6.  Read at least two pieces of professional criticism on the poet in general or the poem you’re presenting.  Do this AFTER you’ve completed your own reading and interpretation.  If you have a solid understanding of the poem yourself, criticism should help you clarify and figure out how to present those ideas to the class.  Take notes--in your presentation you will present a summary of each of your critics’ arguments and explain how it affected your own thinking about the poet/poem.  Again, cite your sources.

7.  Complete a correctly formatted works cited page in which you document the sources you used above AND the poem you’ll be presenting.  (A minimum of four sources—at least one bio/historical, two critical, and one poem.)

Your Partner:

Your partner is your moral support—NOT part of your grade!  Poetry is difficult and I realize that some of you are not very comfortable or confident with it.  Your partner will be reading the same poet as you and should be a chance for you to discuss what you’re reading.  You will each choose your own poem, read your own criticism, present your own findings—you are working independently.  However, you can discuss your poet, poems, biographical info, and critical sources either to help each other understand the information better or to get ideas for sources.  Also check to be sure that you’ll be presenting different poems to the class.  You will each have your OWN works cited page with your OWN sources, though you may share a couple.

Your Presentation:

Plan a 5-10 minute presentation in which you and your partner share the poet’s background.  That is the only part you complete together; you'll divide up the info as you like.  Then, individually, you'll read your poem aloud, point out the poet’s rhetorical devices and appeals, and explain your interpretation of the poem, and summarize and respond to the criticism you read.  Be sure that you give credit to the critics that helped you, clearly pointing out where you got your ideas/information if it wasn't your own brainchild. =) 

Your Grade:

Your grade is individual.  I’ll grade your analysis and interpretation of the poem and your ability to present it to the class.  I’ll also grade your choice of quality criticism.  The only thing you will hand in is your works cited page.

Independent Reading

First quarter is well underway so it's time to pick your independent reading book for first semester.  Here are the guidelines we'll go over in class.  Make sure you choose a book and have it in your possession ASAP.  It will need to be approved by me so you might do that before your first reading day on Friday.

Fast Food Nation Re-Write

First of all, this is a revision assignment in Turnitin.com and is due by Monday at midnight.

Rewrite Requirements:

• Expand to 750-1000 words
• Include multiple examples of each tenet with explanation of how each works, why Schlosser used that technique/piece of info, and the effect it has on his argument
• Show both strengths and weaknesses in each appeal.
• MLA style with correct textual citations
• Clean mechanics

How I will grade you:

A  successfully fulfills all requirements

A- successfully fulfills all requirements with some minor errors

B  successfully fulfills most requirements--missing something or major errors (level of B determined by this)

C  unsuccessful, unacceptable attempt

Considerations:

• MLA format--use the Purdue OWL if you do not remember how to do this for both formatting of your paper AND documenting of your sources.  One note regarding citations:  you only need the page number since all of your citations are coming from one source.  Example:  "About one-quarter of American children between the ages of two and five have a TV in their room" (51).  Do not use long quotes (four typed lines or longer) as you don't have room in this paper.
• Third person--this is an objective analysis and you're looking at the effect on readers, not you personally.  Argument is always stronger without "I think" or "I believe."
• Intro and conclusion can be short.  Intro should introduce title (books are italicized) and author (whole name) and give some kind of statement about Schlosser using the tenets of rhetoric.  Conclusion should wrap up the argument, make some kind of judgment on how strong/effective the argument is, and feel like the end.
• Once you introduce Schlosser in the beginning, refer to him by only his last name for the rest of the paper.  No Eric or Mr. please. =)
• Logos is singular, as is pathos and ethos. There's no such thing as an etho.
• Remember the hamburger method for quotes:  you always need to introduce the quote, include the quote, and then explain the quote.  Therefore, you would never begin or end a paragraph with a quote.
• To help with your mechanics, go back and look at the document you submitted to Turnitin.  The website has run its own e-grading check for mechanics.  If you hover over the purple boxes, it will tell you the problem.  If you don't understand the problem, you can click on a link and it will take you to a website that explains the rule.