AMERICAN LIT

PART A

For part A, choose one literary text/poem from weeks 5 and 6 and examine it in about 2-3 full paragraphs (8-15 sentences long per paragraph), quoting at least twice from the work(s) for support. As a reader, I want you to think critically about the texts assigned, choose one aspect of it (setting, characters, author’s argument, its theme on war, women, race, sex, violence, culture, patriarchy, conflict, feminism, addiction, etc.), and examine it with textual support. Think of this as a 
reader response that asks you to examine, explain, and defend your 
reaction to a 
reading. You can explore why you like or dislike the reading, explain whether you agree or disagree with the author’s points, identify the 
reading’s purpose, and critique the text. Do not waste any time summarizing the story to us. We have all read it, so introduce the title, the author’s full name, and jump straight into analysis with a focus on ONE idea, argument, position. Review the model reading responses I provide in Week 1: Orientation folder.  

This will be graded on a 20-point scale. Make sure to adhere to MLA in-text citation rules when writing about and quoting from the literary text. When you are done, please respond to two people’s work for support; I am not asking you to correct their ideas or writing. I am requiring you to “enter the conversation” someone else is having and explore their ideas by quoting from the material, exchanging ideas, or sharing knowledge acquired. Show me you are engaged, as the comments section for each discussion is graded separately on a 10-point scale (5 points per response).

Search entries or author
(USE ANY ONE OF THE POEMS BELOW FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT

PART B

Option 1: Langston Hughes’ “Theme for English B”

Following the structure and focus of this poem, write your own version of this assignment as if we have given it to you. Begin with:

The instructor said, 

       Go home and write

       a page tonight.

       And let that page come out of you —

      Then, it will be true.

I wonder if it’s that simple?

I am…..(and then write your own version about who you are and what story will come out of you.) 

Option 2: Countee Cullen’s “Incident”

Using the rhyming scheme and four-line stanzas with an exact rhythm and pacing, write your own version of this poem about the first time someone called you a derogatory name or decided to put you in a box. How old were you?  How did this “naming” of you make you feel? For example, in class, I told you about the first time someone referred to me as a bastard because my mother was single and I grew up without a father. What’s your story?

Option 3: Zora Neale Hurston’s “How It Feels to Be Colored Me”

Your title should be “How It Feels to Be ______________ Me”

Begin with this line: I remember the very day that I became _______________. And then tell us about this experience, how it makes you feel, how you embrace or reject this part of yourself, etc. Try to use some of her language — some of the lines that show she is empowered by the color of her skin and by her strength: “How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company?”; At certain times, I have no race (fill in your own identifier), I am me”; I am not tragically colored” (fill in your own identifier).  

Submit your assignment both as a document and as a video/audio, so add two links to the Forum assignment.