Weeks 2-3
Mon 8/27 (S): Quotation assignment (summary and analysis) of "Raymond's Run."
Please do the assignment on Canvas
If you're unclear how to use Canvas, just do the assignment on a Word doc and I'll explain next week how to post it
Assignment:
Please select 3 of the following 5 quotations and do both a summary and an analysis of them. Re-write the quotations followed by summaries and analyses.
Summary: You summarize or re-tell what the quotation says. You don’t supply any new information about it.
Analysis: What does the quotation tell us about the narrator’s character? In your analysis, tell us something about the quotation that is implied but not directly stated about the story or about the narrator’s character. In a sense, you’re telling us what’s going on underneath the words. A rich quotation will give the reader much more information than it directly states on the surface. In the following example, we learn a lot more about the narrator’s personality than simply what she says.
Example:
“I don’t play the dozens or believe in standing around with somebody in my face doing a lot of talking. I much rather just knock you down and take my chances even if I am a little girl with skinny arms and a squeaky voice, which is how I got the name Squeaky” (1).
Summary: In this quotation, the narrator says that she doesn’t believe in insulting other people—“play[ing] the dozens”—or “standing around” listening to insults about her; she would prefer to fight the other person physically even though she’s small and has a “squeaky” voice.
Analysis: Here, the narrator shows she’s tough. Despite being a small girl with a “squeaky” voice, she’s not afraid of “tak[ing] her chances” and getting beaten up. Being tough for Squeaky therefore means being willing to fight and being unafraid of getting hurt. What she really dislikes is people “standing around... in [her] face” and insulting her. Squeaky is very direct; she doesn’t want to bother wasting her time with words and she won’t tolerate any nonsense.
Note: In your analysis, be sure to include actual words from the quotation to explain how you reached the conclusions you did. Look at the above example to see how this is done.
1) “But once I spread my fingers in the dirt and crouch over the Get on Your Mark, the dream goes and I am solid again and am telling myself, Squeaky you must win, you must win, you are the fastest thing in the world, you can even beat your father up Amsterdam if you really try” (5).
2) “And what do you know—Chopin’s waltzes just spring out of her fingertips and she’s the most surprised thing in the world. A regular prodigy. I could kill people like that” (2).
3) “The biggest thing on the program is the Maypole dancing, which I can do without, thank you, even if my mother thinks it’s a shame I don’t take part and act like a girl for a change” (3).
4) “You’d think they’d know better than to encourage that kind of nonsense. I am not a strawberry. I do not dance on my toes. I run. That is what I am all about” (3)
5) “We stand there with this big smile of respect between us. It’s about as real a smile as girls can do for each other, considering we don’t practice real smiling every day, you know, cause maybe we too busy being flowers or fairies or strawberries instead of something honest and worthy of respect . . . you know . . . like being people” (6).
Tu 8/28, W 8/29 (L): Read and take notes on "Man of the House" in reader, pp. 31-34.
Th 8/30, Fri 8/31 (L): Quotation assignment on "Man of the House": "Man of the House" quotation assignment
Time for assignment (assuming you’ve put away your phone and any other devices that might distract you): 30-40 minutes
Word count: 225-300 words total (75-100 words per quotation)Note that the quotations themselves do not count towards your total words.
Note also that you can do more than 300 words, but not fewer than 225.
Please read about how to quote here: info on quoting
Also here are the steps for analyzing a quotation that we discussed in class:
Steps for Analyzing:
Identify “loud” words or short (2-4 word) phrases in the quotation
Write down any associations you have with these loud words/phrases
Eliminate associations that don’t apply to the quotation
Connect remaining associations with the quotation
Look for how these words reveal a theme of the quotation
Your written analysis should incorporate the loud words you identified and state how their associations apply to the quotation
Analysis should finish with a “deeper” insight into a theme of the text or into a character
Mon 9/3--No school
Tu 9/4 (S):Topic Sentence Writing Exercise on "Man of the House." Assignment is here: "Man of the House" topic sentence assignment
Please read about topic sentences here
W 9/5, Th 9/6 (L): Grammar Day!
Read about nouns on pp. 8-12 of How Grammar Works and do the exercises on pp. 9 & 12.
Click here: How Grammar Works: Nouns
Note: you can do the exercises on your computer (on the PDF or on a Google doc--no need to share the doc with me) or you can print out the exercises and do them on paper. Either way is fine.
Read about pronouns in the pink Grammar Workbook, pp. 5-6.
Also, read about verbs in the pink Grammar Workbook, pp. 9-12.
Bring pink workbook with you to class
Fri 9/7 (S): Read and take notes on "Cell One" in your reader. Additional copy of the story to be found here: "Cell One"
Some questions to consider as you do the reading:
*** What are the themes or topics of this story?
What is the narrator's relationship with her brother like before, during, and after his incarceration?
Contrast Nnamabia's attitude in prison before and after he begins to witness the guards' treatment of the old man.
Despite his faults, how is Nnamabia a sympathetic character?
Whose story is this, Nnamabia's or his sister's? Explain your response?
Also, please read/review the writing tips on quoting and topic sentences: