Handout on Paragraphing

Handout on Essay Organization

Thesis I & II

Thesis III & IV

References:

• Dictionary of Literary Symbols
• The World of Myth–guide to Greek myths, origin stories, archetypal stories and figures, and further information about the symbolism of places
• Information about Gauchito Gil

Databases for Argument Sources

JSTOR

MLA International Bibliography – Index from EBSCO

MLA citation style for video

NOTE: Watch the first part of the Annotated Playlist video even if you intend to complete a different creative analysis option.

Link for the study materials HERE. Also found on schedule.

I believe that watching poets read their poetry helps readers understand it. Please check out these short videos:

Reading is found in the Session Materials tab in Blackboard. Read theses I-II in the PDF and watch the following presentation–they’ll each make more sense together than separately.

The Sick Rose: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43682/the-sick-rose

The Sick Rose

BY WILLIAM BLAKEO Rose thou art sick. 
The invisible worm, 
That flies in the night 
In the howling storm: 

Has found out thy bed 
Of crimson joy: 
And his dark secret love 
Does thy life destroy.

Poem below starts at 2:05:

Poem text: https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20170808/loop/gwendolyn-brooks-picasso-poem-explained-sculpture

Defining the courtesan

Wanda Coleman, “The Saturday Afternoon Blues”

The Saturday Afternoon Blues

BY WANDA COLEMANcan kill you
can fade your life away
friends are all out shopping
ain’t nobody home
suicide hotline is busy
and here i am on my own
with a pill and a bottle for company
and heart full of been done wrong
i’m a candidate for the coroner, a lyric for a song

saturday afternoons are killers
when the air is brisk and warm
ol’ sun he steady whispers
soon the life you know will be done
suicide line i can’t get you
best friend out of town
alone with a pill and a bottle
i drink my troubles down

the man i love is a killer
the man i love is  thief
the man i love is a junky
the man i love is grief

some call saturday the sabbath
it’s the bottom of the line some say
whether last or first, my heart’s gonna burst
and there ain’t no help my way
here with a pill and a bottle
and a life full of been done wrong
i’m a candidate for the coroner, a lyric
for a song

Wanda Coleman, “The Saturday Afternoon Blues” from Imagoes. Copyright © 1983 by Wanda Coleman. Reprinted by permission of Black Sparrow Press (Godine).Source: Imagoes (Black Sparrow Press, 1983

Sonnet 130

by William Shakespeare

My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;
If snow be white why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress when she walks treads on the ground.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied by false compare.

Dim Lady

by Harryette Mullen

My honeybunch’s peepers are nothing like neon. Today’s special at Red Lobster is redder than her kisser. If Liquid Paper is white, her racks are institutional beige. If her mop were Slinkys, dishwater Slinkys would grow on her noggin. I have seen tablecloths in Shakey’s Pizza Parlors, red and white, but no such picnic colors do I see in her mug. And in some minty-fresh mouthwashes there is more sweetness than in the garlic breeze my main squeeze wheezes. I love to hear her rap, yet I’m aware that Muzak has a hipper beat. I don’t know any Marilyn Monroes. My ball and chain is plain from head to toe. And yet, by gosh, my scrumptious Twinkie has as much sex appeal for me as any lanky model or platinum movie idol who’s hyped beyond belief.

• Go through the presentation on essay writing basics (above). Pay special attention to “what writing about literature isn’t.”

• Listen to this podcast, “Words.” https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/episodes/91725-words 
  • BONUS POINTS: post a brief (Twitter-sized) response to the discussion forum on Blackboard, explaining how this podcast’s arguments about language and literacy applies to our work in this class, Writing through Literature. 

• Discussion post: Identify at least one metaphor, symbol, or analogy in one of the five homework poems from Week 1. Explain how the figurative language operates–the image, what idea, quality, or thing it represents or “borrows”–and how it contributes to the idea(s) of the poem. 
• Homework reading: Chapter 4 in textbook.