Jerome/Recitation and Short Talk
ENGL 225
Recitation & Short Talk 15%
You can choose to either recite a lyric poem or present to the class a concrete or conceptual poem for this assignment. Either way, you must deliver a 5-minute (total) short, lively talk about how the poem works and what it means. This can be personal but it must also be analytical. You must bring to class on presentation day enough copies of your poem for everyone. You must sign up for a performance time.
ENGL 110 Performance Rubric
Student:
Poem:
| Rhetorical Skill
The reader must memorize and recite the lyric/narrative poem. Her voice is clear, audible and attentive to pitch, rhythm, tone, and movement. She creates and builds a connection with her audience. The overall delivery is thoughtful and convincing.
|
/5 |
| Content
Interpretation
The critic interprets the poem in an interesting way by focusing on one or two particularly compelling formal aspects of the poem. When speaking, the reader engages with the audience in clear, articulate & persuasive ways.
Organization
The reader begins promptly and demonstrates organization of all materials. Argument(s) are logical, thoughtful, and clear.
TOTAL |
/5
/5
/15 |
Close Reading Assignment Sheet
ENGL 225/Jerome
Purpose: To read the language of the poem very closely so that you better understand its multiple layers of meaning. You will present an argument about how the poems works—by focusing on one or two of its formal features—and what it means.
While called a “Short Talk” these kinds of assignments have also been called close readings, one-page responses, critical analyses and slow writings. You are doing literary analysis by means of inductive reasoning, i.e. reading the poem very closely and thinking about how a particular formal element of two make meaning of the text. Notice that the naming vocabulary, while different, tends to suggest similar qualities:
- That the reader is in charge of unpacking the meaning in the text;
- That the reader is encouraged to understand the assumptions and implications in the text and make arguments about them;
- That in order for the reading to be clear and concise the reader/writer is encouraged to attend to something small;
- That the reader is encouraged to set his/her mind loose on the material;
- That writing happens in a 4:1 ratio (if not 10:1): four hours of thinking for every hour of writing (which is not to exclude the act of writing from thinking)
Length: ONE PAGE (ONE AND A HALF MAX.); use 12 pt. New Roman Font and either double or 1.5 spacing; use no title page but your name, course number and section and the date in the upper right corner
Content & Organization:
- It’s important first to make a clear and original statement of thesis for your paper. In other words, you will argue as to how this poem creates meaning. Your entire introduction, albeit short, should aim to engage your reader.
- In the body of your paper, you will discuss one or two formal literary devices that actively make meaning of the text for you.
- Each paragraph must offer the reader an argument to about how a particular formal phenomenon functions to make meaning. Ensure that you answer the questions WHAT?, HOW? and/or WHY? this device generates meaning in each topic sentences of each paragraph. Remember that each paragraph must attempt to persuade the reader of ONE idea and no more.
- You must provide clear and specific examples from the text to back up each paragraph’s central claim, and every claim should be devoted to proving your thesis. You should quote from the text to provide evidence but don’t copy out large excerpts; quote resonant words and phrases instead.
- A close reading is critical and interpretative. Do not summarize the text.
You will be graded upon….
- The creativity and originality of your central argument and subsidiary ideas
- How well you engage your reader in a conversation about the text
- How closely you look at the language of the text
- The strength and variety of your sentences
- How well you support your interpretation of the text
- How thoroughly and persuasively you explain your illustrations
- Grammar, punctuation and spelling
Checklist:
- Have I articulated a clear, interesting “reading” of the poem (i.e. ARGUMENT) in my introduction? Do I offer an argument about what and how the poem means? Have I made clear the relationship between the particular aspect of form I’ll focus on and how it generates meaning?
- Does each topic sentence develop my central position?
- Do I offer language from the text to support my claim?
- Do I pause to think carefully and creatively about what these words mean?
- Am I clear?
- Am I saying what’s obvious?
- Am I being creative in my interpretation? Could I return to a point and develop it?
- Do I take any risks?
- Have I made the distinction between the author and the speaker? Do I avoid biographical assumptions? Do I avoid assumptions about reader response and affect?
- Have I really set my mind loose on this material or am I just getting it done?
Jerome/English 225
Assignment Sheet for ENGL 255 Research Paper
For this paper you must: 1) read the text closely, as always, and 2) support your analysis with context (research). So you must not only read the text closely, but you must bring to that text a deeper analysis of the conditions that produced it. You might, for example, write an analysis of a “A Cry for an Indian Wife” by looking at either its historical, political or sociological context(s).
Most of your paper, however, will focus on a close reading of the primary text you choose. The primary text must be selected from 1) any of the texts we’ve read in class 2) any text listed within the syllabus or 3) another poem of your choice that has been approved by me. The way in which you choose to deepen your close reading with context (research) is up to you.
Close Reading is Always the Thing
First, you must work with the primary text: read it closely, annotate it, paraphrase it and then development more detailed assertions about how particular formal features of the text generate meaning. What interests you most about the text and its possible meanings? Which formal aspects capture your attention? Is there an issue or angle we didn’t cover in class? What troubles you or intrigues you about this text? Is there an idea or subject we covered in class that you would like to explore on your own?
After you have worked closely with the text, go and do some research and then return to your primary text with that research in mind. You will understand and appreciate the poem, play or novel in new and deeper ways. In this case, you’re looking at context (theory/research) as way of presenting an enriched understanding of the primary text to your reader—it’s an act of generosity and an intellectual exercise: you are gathering the best evidence you can to make a careful, compelling argument as you deepen your reading of the poem.
BE sure to make your “reading” or thesis—your critical interpretation of the text—very clear and, hopefully, compelling and brilliant! And be sure to develop your argumentative case carefully, paragraph by paragraph, argument by argument. Remember what I taught about the importance of framing each paragraph with a clear, interesting topic sentence (topic argument) that presents an idea that you’ll illustrate with textual evidence. Be sure to pause and carefully examine the textual evidence. You must make it clear how and why this evidence illustrates your claim.
Contexts and Research
Write the essay that you would like to read. You will want to choose a focus and avoid summarizing the text. Moreover, your particular take on the text—the central thesis you discern from your research and your thinking—should be compelling and original. Think about what your point is and why it matters. All texts present inquiries and/or problems, so which one do you want to investigate?
Research Requirements: You must cite at least two academic sources in your paper in addition to your primary text. The two main scholarly sources that you choose must be either from the library in the form of books or articles found in discipline-specific databases. To research in the discipline of English, use the general Summons search, JSTOR, MLA, Artemis, etc.
Length: no more than four pages, double-spaced + title page + bibliography in proper MLA format
No exceptions will be made to the timeline for this paper. It’s a very good idea to come and see me with a draft of this paper.
Due Date: last day of class
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