English 101: Spring 2010: Week 1

Today’s Agenda Review Syllabus

Purchase Textbook

Literature: Personal Response and Critical Thinking

Preparing a First Response Paper

Using the Class Blog / Website

Homework Assignment

8:00 AM: Class Begins

9:30-9:45 AM: Break

10:55 AM: Class Ends

Why Literature and Composition Together?

Reading, and writing about reading, connects us at a deeper level of understanding of our own experiences

“Students learn that the process of crafting a persuasive argument about a work of literature requires close reading and reflection, and that the quality of their writing will be measured by the strength of the evidence they bring to support it.” (Exploring Literature author, Dr. Frank Madden)

The Reader as Participant

The exploration of literature begins with YOU

Your engagement with the literature creates the literary experience

A piece of literature is only words on a page until YOU read the words, bring them to life, and give them meaning

YOU give meaning to the literature

background (national origin, race, creed, gender, etc.)

personality

prior experiences with literature

knowledge of the world

The Reader as Participant

Literature demands our attention, our reflection, our examination

Literature requires an investment of emotion and the connection of knowledge and experience

When we learn to appreciate the naunces of literature, we develop the ability to think and to write critically about it

Personal Response and Critical Thinking

To think critically about literature, we build on our personal responses –

record our responses

review our responses

discuss our responses with peers

support our responses with valid evidence

Critical thinking does not mean searching for one right answer. There may be as many answers as there are readers.

Your best answers are those that analyze and articulate your response in light of supporting evidence.

Personal Response and Critical

Thinking: Written Response

A written response IS NOT:

a summary of a particular literary work that you’ve read

A written response IS:

a short essay that expresses your personal reaction to a particular literary work

a short essay that conveys your thoughts and feelings about an aspect of a particular literary work

a short essay that discusses how a particular literary work affected you as you read it

Personal Response and Critical

Thinking: Written Response

A written response DOES NOT:

require you to do outside research

A written response DOES

require a careful reading of the literature, clear thinking about what the author has written, and honest writing in response to the what you’ve thought, felt, questioned, disagreed with, agreed with, were touched by – i.e., how you were affected by / how you connected to the particular piece of literature

present your point of view in a clear and organized manner

First Response: Checklist (p. 5)

Write down your first impressions, both during and after the reading

Write down questions that come to mind, both during and after the reading

What confuses you? What do you want to know more about?

What words or phrases are unknown to you? How can you find our their meaning?

What words or phrases affect you most?


Do any of the characters remind you of yourself or people you know? If so, how does this association help or interfere with your response to the literature?

Do any of the events remind you of ones in your own life? If so, how does this association help or interfere with your response to the literature?

Is there anything you particularly like about the work? If so, what is it and why do you like it?

Is there anything you particularly dislike about the work? If so, what is it and why do you dislike it?


What do you find most interesting or compelling about the work? Explain.

Do any of the characters especially appeal to you or bother you? Explain.

Do you find any of the events especially pleasing or disturbing? Explain.

Tips for a Successful Response Paper

Make quick notes as you read or reread the work

Consider which aspect of the work affected you the most

Be candid in expressing your reaction

Justify and explain why you have reacted the way you did

Refer to the text in your paper

Responding to Literature

From the surface level to the core

“Surface” Level Evaluation / Response

“Meat” Level Evaluation / Response

“Core” Level Evaluation / Response


“Surface” Level Title (consider its import)

Narrator (point of view)

First person (“I”)

Third person (“he,” “she”, “they”)

Character

Who is the protagonist?

Who is the antagonist?

Who are the minor characters?


Comments at the Surface Level

From the title, I thought the story was about . . .

When I first met _____, I thought he/she/it was . . .

__________ (someone or something) reminded me . . .

I don’t understand . . .

I want to learn more about . . .


“Meat” Level Character

Goals

Motives

Behavior

Dialogue

Inner thoughts

Who says what to whom?

Who says what about whom?

Flashback(s)

Have there been any?


“Meat” Level Mood

What is the psychological “feeling” of the literature?

Does the setting contribute to the “feeling” of the literature?

Irony

Have there been any surprises? Outcomes that were the opposite of what you expected?

Symbols

What has more than one meaning?


Comments at the Meat Level

I liked / I didn’t like . . . because . . .

I understood / didn’t understand why . . . because . . .

I felt ___ when ___ said, “. . .,” because . . .

I was surprised . . .

I thought ____ should / should not have . . .

The story made me feel . . .

I liked / didn’t like when the author used _____ to symbolize . . . because . . .


“Core” Level:

Has the author “met” you with his/her writing?

Have you had a change of attitude?

Has the writing challenged your beliefs?

Has the writing reinforced your beliefs?

Has the writing affected you in any other way?


Comments at the Core Level

The story made me feel . . .

I don’t understand why . . .

I could relate to . . .

I could not relate to . . .

__________ reminds me of . . .

This story compares with . . .

I felt _____ when . . .


A response paper IS NOT:

a summary of a particular literary work that you’ve read

A response paper IS:

a short essay that expresses your personal reaction to a particular literary work

a short essay that conveys your thoughts and feelings about an aspect of a particular literary work

a short essay that discusses how a particular literary work affected you as you read it


A response paper DOES NOT:

require you to do outside research

A response paper DOES

require a careful reading of the literature, clear thinking about what the author has written, and honest writing in response to the what you’ve thought, felt, questioned, disagreed with, agreed with, were touched by – i.e., how you were affected by / how you connected to the particular piece of literature

present your point of view in a clear and organized manner

Class Blog / Website

Homework Due 1/27/2010

Assignment One:

Read the New York Times article "Birmingham Bomb Kills 4 Negro Girls in Church; Riots Flare; 2 Boys Slain" (Birmingham, Alabama; September 15, 1963) (pages 15-17)

Look at the article as it appeared on the front page of the "New York Times" on Monday, September 16, 1963:http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0915.html

Prepare a first response to the newspaper articleFirst Response: “Birmingham Bomb Kills 4 Negro Girls”

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0915.html


Assignment Two:

Read the poem "Ballad of Birmingham," by Dudley Randall (pages 17-18)

Prepare a first response to the poemFirst Response: “Ballad of Birmingham”


Assignment Three:

Read the lyrics to the song "Birmingham Sunday," and watch the video of the song performed by Joan Baez:Lyrics: http://www.stlyrics.com/songs/j/joanb

aez2038/birminghamsunday96500.html

Song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sh

gSLKb-onA

Write a first response to the lyrics/ songFirst Response: Birmingham Sunday

http://www.stlyrics.com/songs/j/joanbaez2038/birminghamsunday96500.html

http://www.stlyrics.com/songs/j/joanbaez2038/birminghamsunday96500.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shgSLKb-onA





Assignment Four:

Read "Oral History: Claude Sitton" Interview: http://civilrightsandthepress.syr.edu/pdfs/Claude%20Sitton.pdf

Write a first response to the interviewFirst Response: “Claude Sitton Interview”

http://civilrightsandthepress.syr.edu/pdfs/Claude Sitton.pdf

First Response Paper:Guidelines

8.5x11-inch paper

1-inch margins

typed, double-spaced, Cambria 12 font

minimum one (1) page; maximum two (2) pages

IMPORTANT NOTE: Papers that do not meet these guidelines will not be accepted. See your syllabus for further specific details.


Upper left-hand corner of the paper, single-spaced:FIRST AND LAST NAMEJanuary 8, 2010Professor Melinda RobertsEnglish 101 (Wednesdays): Spring 2010

Centered Title (all caps and bolded):RESPONSE PAPER: ”BIRMINGHAM BOMB KILLS 4 NEGRO GIRLS”



First Response is not a summary – do not summarize what you have read

First Response is a minimum of one (1) page and a maximum of two (2) pages. If the First Response is two pages, it must be stapled together.

First Response should have a minimum of three (3) and a maximum of five (5) direct quotes from the literature.


Documents

English 101: Spring 2010: Week 1