1.1 Course Introduction

Wednesday August 13

Welcome to our exploration of literature! My plan for today is to guide you to:

• Examine and discuss how literary practice can influence our lives.

• Access online course materials including Google Classroom.

• Create your writing portfolio folder in Google Drive and share it with me.

Agenda Items

• Greetings & Introductions - M&M Game

• Intro to Literary Practice - read, annotate, reflect, discuss

  • What words and phrases stand out to you? Why?

  • What does it make you wonder? 

  • What are your key takeaways? What are you excited to try in your own literary practice? 

  • What conversations do you hope to inspire through your writing?

• Online Materials

  • Google Classroom

• Google Drive Writing Portfolios (see video)

• Syllabus Review & Discussion

Assignments

• Share your Writing Portfolio folder in Google Drive to Ms. Ntoso

1.2 Intro to Journal Writing & Mentor Texts

Thursday August 14 & Friday August 15

Essential Question: How can we use our journal writing as a way to practice freedom?

Welcome back! My plan for today is to guide you to:

• Explore and discuss ideas for your journal writing.

• Use a mentor text to help you experiment in your journal writing.

• Practice freewriting as a critical first step in the creative writing process.

• Share your writing and give specific positive feedback on a classmate's writing.

Agenda Items

• Overview of the Creative Writing Process

• Intro to Journal Writing

  • Read & Annotate: ‘Messy attics of the mind’: what’s inside a writer’s notebook

  • Reflection & Discussion

  • Mentor Texts: Journal Writing 

  • Vocabulary: digress, disjunction, reflexive writing, extensive writing

•  Journal Writing: Freewriting

• Sharing & Feedback

Assignments

• Journal Writing: Freewriting using a mentor text to experiment with writing style

1.3 POV & Four Roles in a Literary Encounter: Author, Narrator, Character, Reader

Monday August 18

Essential Question: How can we use POV to help convey complex experiences and emotions?

Welcome back! My plan for today is to guide you to:

• Define first person, second person and third person narrator point of view (POV). 

• Explain how choices in narrator POV influence the reader's experience of a piece.

• Use a mentor text to help you experiment with POV in your writing.

Agenda Items

• Mentor Texts - annotate & examine POV & literary techniques

  • How does the choice in narrator POV influence our experience of reading the piece? How might this piece feel different if we change the narrator POV?

•  Journal Writing: POV

• Sharing & Feedback

Assignments

• Journal Writing: Freewriting using a mentor text to experiment with POV and literary techniques

1.5 Details & Imagery

Tuesday August 19

Essential Question: Why do specific details and imagery tell us so much more than generalizations and abstractions?

Welcome back! My plan for today is to guide you to:

• Examine and discuss examples of specific concrete details and imagery that works on "two levels."

• Write for at least 10 minutes, incorporating imagery and specific concrete details, using a mentor text as a guide.

• Share your writing and give specific positive feedback on a classmate's writing.

Agenda Items

• Mentor Text: "One Day Tiff Was Sad Because It Was the Tenth Anniversary of Her Mother's Death & She Just Really Wanted to Go See Michael Jackson" by Khadijah Queen

  • What do you notice about the writing style?

    • Word choice

    • Punctuation

    • Sentence structure

  • How does the writing style contribute to the narrator’s voice? How does it reveal the narrator’s perspective?

  • How does it influence the mood of the story?

  • In what ways does each specific detail in the story work on "two levels"? How does it help the reader visualize the world, and how does it also focus the reader on a particular perspective? Give an example and explain. What additional information does this detail convey?

  • How do the details conjure physical sensations in the reader? Give an example and explain.

• Notes on Imagery & Specific Details:

  • Concrete vs. Abstract -The Making of a Story by Alice LaPlante, pg 109

  • Start with the particulars -The Making of a Story by Alice LaPlante, pg 113-116

  • Sensory language & how emotions are experienced -From Where You Dream by Robert Olen Butler

  • Imagery works on two levels -The Making of a Story by Alice LaPlante, pg 111-112

• Journal Writing: Imagery & Specific Details

• Small Group Sharing & Feedback

Assignments

• Journal Writing: specific concrete details & imagery

1.6 Rhetorical Situation: Author, Purpose, Context & Audience

Wednesday August 20 & Friday August 22

Essential Question: How do we use our voices to speak up about injustice without contributing to an atmosphere of polarization and violence?

Welcome back! My plan for today is to guide you to:

• Name the elements of the rhetorical situation: exigence, author, purpose, audience, context, and message.

• Analyze and critique authors' explanations of the relationship between poetry, politics, and social consciousness.  

• Discuss what makes a poem "work."

• Collaborate to develop a definition and rubric for critiquing poetry.

Agenda Items

• Rhetorical Situation Overview

• Notes on poetry, politics, and social consciousness 

  • • Why Poetry by Matthew Zapruder (excerpts/quotes)

    • "The Purpose of Poetry" by Jared Carter

    • “The Hour of Poetry” (excerpt) in And Our Faces, My Heart, Brief as Photos by John Berger

    • "The Voice of Authority" (excerpt) from Poetry as Persuasion by Carl Dennis

    • What Is Found There by Adrienne Rich (excerpt/quotes)

    • “The Writer’s Commitment” by Claribel Alegria (excerpt/quotes)

• Small Group Discussion

  • What does Berger mean when he says, “poetry speaks to the immediate wound”?

  • What makes poetry unique as a form of language?

  • What does it mean for a poem to be authentic?

  • What is the "labor" of a poem? What work does a poem do?

  • How does putting something into words become a form of hope?

  • What is "politics"? What is "political"? Where does politics show up in our personal lives and our social relationships? Is there a such thing as "apolitical"? How can "apolitical" poetry still be a form of caring? Does the caring make it political?

  • What makes a poem "work"? Come up with your own definition or guidelines for what makes a poem "work."

  • What common themes emerge between ideas discussed by Zapruder, Berger, Dennis, and Rich?

  • What makes a poem “good”? What makes it “work”? What might we notice in poems that “work”? How can we state this in a way that allows us to evaluate our own poems?

• Whole Group Discussion - Co-Creating a Poetry Rubric

  • What makes a poem "work"?

  • What questions can we ask of ourselves when we are revising and critiquing our own poems?

Assignments

• Poetry Rubric - due Monday 8/25 on whiteboard & shared Google Doc

1.7 Exploring Social Issues through Poetry

Monday August 25 & Tuesday August 26

Welcome back! My plan for today is to guide you to:

• Read and annotate a poem, identifying craft choices that influence meaning. 

• Identify and discuss examples of imagery, metaphor, and word choice that reflect the theme of the poem.

• Write a one-sentence statement of the theme of a poem.

• Research and take notes on the historical, geographical, social, and biographical context for a literary work.

• Generate questions for discussing context, craft, ideas, meaning, and connections inspired by the text.

• Analyze and discuss observations and insights related to context, craft, ideas, meaning, and connections inspired by a poem. 

• Reflect and respond in writing or audio recording with your thoughts inspired by the reading and discussion.

Agenda Items

• Review the rhetorical situation for each mentor text option

• Choose one of the following poems to read & take notes on your mentor text

  • •  “We Lived Happily During the War” by Ilya Kaminsky

    • Night by Ennio Moltedo, translated by Marguerite Feitlowitz (excerpt)

    • "[...]" by Fady Joudah (selected poem)

    • "Gate A-4" by Naomi Shihab Nye

    • “Football Season” by Jericho Brown

  • Write the title and the poet's name

  • Describe content, structure and style of the opening line

    • Write the opening line in your journal (don't forget to use quotation marks)

    • What parts of this line do you admire?

    • What words stand out to you in the opening line? Why? 

  • List examples of imagery and specific concrete details (Write down the exact quotes) How does this image or concrete detail work on two levels? 

  • What do you notice about punctuation, spacing, line breaks, grammar, literary techniques or word choice? How does this craft choice influence meaning or mood in the piece?

• Exploring Social Issues

  • In what ways does the speaker display passion, discrimination, and inclusiveness?

  • In what way does this poem “speak to the immediate wound”?

  • In what ways does this poem “bring together what life has separated or violence has torn apart”?

  • What political work does this poem do?

  • How does this poem close indifference and “incite caring”?

  • In what ways is this poem evidence of hope?

• Online Discussion

• Poetry Rubric Review

  • Review our poetry rubric. Does this poem work? Use text evidence to explain.

• Small Group Discussion

Assignments

• 1.7 Online Discussion - Exploring Social Issues through Poetry - Literary Reflection & Comments to consider in revising our rubric - due Thursday 8/22, respond in Google Classroom

  • Write at least two paragraphs in response to the questions below. Be sure to proofread your writing and correct errors in capitalization, punctuation, spelling and grammar.

  • The poem you studied: How does the poem you studied reflect one of the ideas discussed by Matthew Zapruder, John Berger, Carl Dennis, or Adrienne Rich?

    • Introduce the title of poem and the poet's name.

    • Use text evidence (quotes) to support your claim.

    • Explain your thinking... how does the text evidence reflect this idea? 

  • Your own writing: What "great question of our time" do you want to explore in your own writing? What craft moves do you want to try as you explore this question?

  • Rubric

• Poetry Rubric - due Monday 8/25 on whiteboard & shared Google Doc

1.8 Writing a First Draft

Wednesday August 27 & Thursday August 28

Welcome back! My plan for today is to guide you to:

• Write a first draft of a poem, essay, story, or play that includes imagery and specific concrete details.

Agenda Items

• Mentor text reading & response

• Write your first draft

  • Identify words, phrases and sentences from your journal writing that you want to incorporate in your draft

  • What POV will you try using?

  • What mentor text(s) do you want to use? What technique do you want to start off with?

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Assignments

• 1.8 First Draft w/ Imagery & Concrete Details - due Sunday August 25 by 11:59pm, submit scanned notes & typed draft in Google Classroom

• Poetry Rubric - due Monday 8/25 on whiteboard & shared Google Doc

1.9 Writing Workshop: Second Draft

TBD

Welcome back! My plan for today is to guide you to:

Agenda Items

• Terminology: "triggering" subject, "real" subject, center of gravity

• Structure

• Word Choice

• Details & Concrete Imagery

Assignments

• Poetry Rubric - due Monday 8/25 on whiteboard & shared Google Doc

1.10 Exploring Identity as a Writer

TBD

Welcome back! My plan for today is to guide you to:

• Read and annotate a literary nonfiction text, commenting on ideas and craft choices that influence meaning. 

Agenda Items

• Choose one of the following texts to read & annotate: 

  • James Baldwin essay

  • A Life of Meaning by James Hollis (excerpt)

  • Borderlands | La Frontera by Gloria Anzaldua (excerpt) 

  • Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl (excerpt)

• 
  

Assignments

1.11 Complexity & Nuance Questions

TBD

Welcome back! My plan for today is to guide you to:

• 
  

• Suggest names for our literary blog.

Agenda Items

• Suggest a Name for Our Literary Blog

• Individual Conferences re: complexity & nuance questions

• Discussion Board posts with Complexity & Nuance Questions

Assignments

• 1.11 Complexity & Nuance Questions Discussion Board Post due Thursday 8/28, respond in Google Classroom

1.12 Epistolary Writing

TBD

Welcome back! My plan for today is to guide you to:

Agenda Items

• 
  

• Individual Conferences re: complexity & nuance questions

• Discussion Board posts with Complexity & Nuance Questions

Assignments

• 1.13 Deep Conversation Letter to an Author due Friday 9/5

1.13 Embedding Quotes

Tuesday September 3

Welcome back! My plan for today is to guide you to:

• Embed quotes from the text using appropriate signal phrase verbs, punctuation and transitions

• Proofread and correct errors in capitalization, punctuation, spelling and grammar.

• Draft your letter.

Agenda Items

• Review Signal Phrases

Assignments

• 1.14 Deep Conversation Letter to an Author due Monday 9/8

1.14 Deep Conversation Letter to an Author

Friday September 5

Welcome back! My plan for today is to guide you to:

Agenda Items

• Type up your letter

• 
  

Assignments

• 1.14 Deep Conversation Letter to an Author due Monday 9/8

1.15 Socratic Seminar / Literary Discussion & Synthesis

Monday September 8

Welcome back! My plan for today is to guide you to:

• Write at least one paragraph responding to ideas in the text.

• Discuss and explain your understanding of a topic using text evidence and commentary to support and explain your ideas.

• Discuss and evaluate the quality and productivity of your group's discussion.

Agenda Items

• Synthesis

  • Review and reflect on the texts we have read:

    • 
      

  • Write your reading reflection - consider creating a mind map or list

    • 
      

• Overview of group discussion notes & evaluation

• Small group discussion

  • 
    

Assignments

• Practice: Small Group Discussion Notes & Evaluation

• Literary Discussion & Synthesis Notes 

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1.16 Writing Workshop: Revision 

Wednesday September 10 

Welcome back! My plan for today is to guide you to:

• Write a poem that incorporates imagery and concrete details.

Agenda Items

• Revise second draft or complexity & nuance reflection or letter

• Universal & Profound -- seeing the general in the particular (LaPlante 113-116)

• Details -- depth charging, getting more specific

• Mentor Text: Shift

• Write Your Poem 

Assignments

• 1.17 Author's Commentary - due Friday 9/12

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1.17 Author's Commentary with Complexity & Nuance Questions

Thursday September 11

Welcome back! My plan for today is to guide you to:

• Write at least 3 paragraphs of author’s commentary. Be sure to: 

  • Explain how highly specific details reflect and imagery reflect themes and ideas explored in the text

  • Use accurate literary terminology in explaining craft choices

  • Use appropriate capitalization, punctuation, spelling, and grammar

Agenda Items

• Journal Writing - Freewriting

• Mentor Text - Imagery & Shift

• Write Your Poem 

Assignments

• 1.17 Author's Commentary - due Friday 9/12

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1.18 Feedback Letter

Friday September 12

Welcome back! My plan for today is to guide you to:

• Write a literary interpretation paragraph that includes text evidence and commentary to support and explain your claim.

  • Write a one sentence thesis statement that presents a defensible claim about your interpretation of the literary piece.

  • Discuss the theme of a story and the author’s use of literary techniques (characterization, imagery/sensory details, context details) to achieve meaning.

• Write a paragraph using appropriate capitalization, punctuation, spelling, and grammar.

• Use text evidence to generate thoughtful observations and questions inspired by a text. 

Agenda Items

• Journal Writing: experiment with POV, voice, structure, pacing, psychic distance

• Literature as mirror/window/door

• Read & annotate

• Claim, evidence, commentary, question

• Online Discussion Posts

Assignments

• 1.16 Feedback Letter due Sunday September 14 by 11:59pm in Google Classroom