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300-Level Understanding Poetry (Writing-Intensive)
UNCOVERING THE MYSTERY OF POETRY THROUGH WRITING
Virtually all students do revisions of
their essays. I purposely don't compare the one I get [draft] with the
one I grade [final]. I don't want that to influence me one way or
another until I write the final comment. Then I look back and see
whose it is because I want to write a personal comment. I still don't
try to figure out what specific changes are made between the draft and
final paper. But I guess the theory is that every time you get students
to rewrite there's going to be some improvement. Most students get
better at writing. -- Professor Todd Sammons
The writing helped me to learn the
content because just sitting in class and discussing it is helpful,
but when you actually write it down and understand it, that's really
when you learn and remember it . . . those are the things that stick
with me and that really make me think . . . -- Student
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COURSE GOALS |
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| The primary objective of the
course is to learn how to read, talk about, and write on poetry.
Students survey the history of English lyric poetry from the
Middle English through modern periods and discuss in-depth the
variety and range of the poetry. Through peer letter-writing,
essays, and individual projects, students develop
analytical skills to understand and appreciate an
often-misunderstood, perplexing genre. |
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WRITING ACTIVITIES |
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1. MONDAY/WEDNESDAY/FRIDAY
LETTERS
Students write
Monday/Wednesday/Friday letters for one another and the
instructor. They decide on the content of their letters, though
the discussion must be analytical and relevant to the assigned
poems. Students write their letters on poems and readings
assigned by the instructor. He recommends that students write
something they find personally appealing. Each letter should be
a one-page, single-spaced letter addressed to the class and
instructor, duplicated and distributed to the class on the day
the class meets. Letters need not be polished pieces of writing
such as essays; however, letters should be focused, clear, and
grammatically correct. (Click here to
see Instructor's Guidelines for the M/W/F letters.) |
In the beginning letter writing
was a chore, but I began to realize how much it was helping me
to be more objective. I've learned to be more thoughtful in both
reading and writing. --Student
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| Students read the letters on their
own time; occasionally, the ideas in the letters are discussed
in class.
The letters are graded on
quantity and quality. For the quantitative portion of the grade,
the instructor constructs a scale determining the number of
letters required to earn from an A+ to F. For example, students
who write twelve of the twenty-one letters possible earn an A+;
six letters equals a C; four or fewer letters are equivalent to
an F. The qualitative portion of the grade is determined by the
analytical discussion in each letter. The instructor grades all
the letters, then computes the qualitative grade by averaging
the grades on each student's five best letters. |
The peer letters
are a terrific disciplinary device. The student is encouraged to
read, analyze, and synthesize the material. Since I am a
creative writer, the letters afford me the opportunity to write
for an audience. Practice. Practice. Practice. -- Student |
| PURPOSE: The letters
provide students with frequent practice in poetic analysis and
the use of technical vocabulary. Students engage in
conversations about the study of poetry with their peers and the
instructor. When students write for audiences other than the
instructor only, they exert more effort in the crafting of the
writing so that careful editing and proofreading are natural
steps in the process. The letter format also frees students to
be more imaginative, more willing to risk ideas, even more eager
to read the interpretations of others in the classroom.
Since there are twenty-one
possible letters that can be written during the semester,
students may choose which poems to write about and still earn an
A+ for the quantitative grade. The one-page limit not only
forces students to be focused and succinct, but also makes the
reading of a number of letters manageable. |
Letter writing
helped me the most in learning the content of the course. We
needed to know about the different authors and their works and
be able to analyze them. –Student
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2. SEQUENCE OF
ESSAYS |
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Students are required to write
three essays, each increasingly more difficult than the prior
essay and all based on analytical skills learned through the
semester. The first three-page essay is an explication of a poem
each student selects from among three possibilities. Students
determine the central situation of the poem, the audience, and
the poetic techniques employed by the author. These three
objectives are derived from a heuristic the instructor uses for
the reading of a poem and introduced early in the semester.
The second essay is a five-page
analysis of the metrical and sound patterns of a poem selected
by the student from the course text, an anthology. The third
essay is a seven-page summary and evaluation of a critical
article on a specific poem. Students prepare drafts of each
essay, meet in peer review groups (see Related
Activities below), and receive instructor feedback. Students
are strongly encouraged to revise their essays before submitting
a final copy. Essays 1 and 2 are worth up to five points each
for the course grade; Essay 3 is worth up to ten points.
PURPOSE: In each of the
essays, students demonstrate their understanding and evaluation
of a poem. Specifically, they apply strategies for reading
poetry such as trying to determine a poem's context, imagery,
language, musical devices, metrical patterns, and poetic form.
The essays, a more formal analysis compared to the weekly peer
letters, are an evaluative tool to determine if students are
really learning the course content. The essay becomes the mode
for more detailed discussions of a poem's sense and methods. |
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3. INDIVIDUAL PROJECT |
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For their last major out-of-class
writing, students select from several options a
"creative" project worth ten points of the course
grade. For example, students may select at least twelve poems (a
"mini-anthology") grouped together for reasons
discussed by the student in a five- to ten-page essay. The
students may also read a book of poems by any single poet,
select one of the poems to represent the poet, and write an
essay justifying their selection in terms of the rest of the
poems in the book. Or students read a book of poems selected
from a particular era or dealing with a special topic or
printing only a certain kind of poem. The student selects one of
the poems to represent the era, the topic, or the genre, and
writes a lengthy essay justifying the selection. Other options
are writing a parody of a poem with an accompanying essay
explaining the parody and justification for its effectiveness,
or writing a poem and explaining the student's writing process,
the poem's intended meaning, and any influences on the writing
of the poem.
PURPOSE: The main intent
of the individual project is to have students select a project
of personal interest and to extend the analytical skills learned
in the course. Students have a broader, less confining menu of
options and can apply lessons in form, structure, and language
sense by composing their own poems. Interestingly, each of the
options requires a detailed essay requiring the student to
explain and justify his/her choice(s) or poem in the language
characteristic of poetic analysis. |
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4. READING LOGS |
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| Students keep a written
record, usually a few sentences, of their reactions to personal
reading in the anthology. In addition to the assigned reading,
they are expected to read and respond briefly to other poems in
the text. The logs are graded by the number of pages the student
has read by the mid-term date and by the last day of class. For
example, only five pages read per class session earns a D,
whereas twenty-five or more pages per class session results in
an A+ for this portion of the course grade.
PURPOSE: Students' daily
log of reactions, questions, comments about this self-selected
reading provides a record of their ongoing growth in
understanding poetry. The grade, determined by quantity of pages
read, is not punitive, and rewards students for going beyond the
course requirements. Students are constantly practicing their
analytical skills in an informal, fairly easy format. |
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5. MIDTERM & FINAL
EXAMINATION |
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The midterm consists of
multiple-choice items and essay questions. In the final
examination students are given two poems and asked to explain
what characterizes one poem as pre-twentieth century and the
other as written during the twentieth century. Students are
given additional poems to evaluate. The midterm and final exam
are each worth ten points for the course grade.
PURPOSE: Students
demonstrate their ability to use the analytic tools to read
poems carefully, to identify the traits of pre-modern and modern
poetry, and to evaluate ineffective versus effective poetry. |
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RELATED
ACTIVITIES |
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1. PEER REVIEW
OF WRITING |
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| After each essay students
apply variations of peer review techniques to their writing. In
a procedure directed by the instructor, students read each
other's drafts quickly and write comments about the drafts. (Click
here to see the Peer Response Sheet .) When the instructor
calls time, students must pass the draft and comment sheet to
the next reader. However, students are not permitted during the
session to discuss verbally the drafts they are reading. The
intent is to read and to respond to as many student drafts
possible during the class period. Students also submit to the
instructor photocopies of their essays with their names written
on the copies. After students have peer reviewed essays in
class, they receive the written feedback from their peers the
same day, and the instructor takes home the photocopies. The
instructor turns over the title page before reading each essay
so that the identity of each student does not influence his
feedback. His comments, written on a separate sheet attached to
the draft, are returned with drafts to the students at another
session. |
It's good to see
other people's writing in the peer review. It was helpful to see
how they wrote the essay and then being able to critique someone
else's writing. Once those of us who wrote about the same poem
got together to discuss how we wrote the essay and our different
approaches to the poem. That was even more helpful because you
could have the give-and-take of questions or say, 'I see that's
what you meant,' or ask 'Well, what about this?'-- Student |
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For the first essay the instructor places
students into groups that have read and written about the same
poem. They are directed specifically to discuss the student's
analysis of the poem and to overlook format and conventions.
After reading the first paragraph of a student's essay, students
state what they think is the central idea of the essay. Students
switch papers and read only the last paragraph, then compare it
to the opening paragraph for similar ideas. The papers are
switched again, read entirely, then students select the least
effective paragraph. All comments/suggestions are written on
individual sheets of paper attached to each essay under
analysis. The draft and comment sheet are handed to the next
reader. Finally students each take home another student's essay
and write a letter to the student proposing suggestions for
improvement. The process usually takes the entire class period.
For the second essay students undergo the same process of peer
evaluation as they did for the first essay.
The peer review process for the third
essay differs from the review on previous essays. Students are
provided a "peer editing sheet" with specific instructions to
read a student's essay thoroughly, then to summarize the
student's use of articles supporting his/her interpretation of a
poem. In the second part of the peer review, students evaluate
the essay using a rubric developed by the instructor. The
criteria include an evaluation of the essay's organization, use
of examples, cohesiveness, writing style, and reader-interest.
The remaining directions to the students are to cite the essay's
most convincing paragraph, then to select the least effective
paragraph and suggest ways to revise this paragraph. If there is
time, students analyze the use of quotations in the essay. As
essays are passed from student to student, each student responds
to the next set of directions on the peer editing sheet. When
the original essay returns to the writer, he/she receives one
peer editing sheet with feedback from up to five different
students.
At the end of each peer review
session, students have the option of submitting the essay as is
or revising the essay after reading the feedback from their
peers and the instructor. Even after receiving a grade, students
may revise an essay based on consultation with the instructor.
PURPOSE:
Through
peer review, students learn from their peers the multiple
interpretations or readings of a poem, varied applications of
strategies for reading a poem ( e.g. imagery, context,
figurative language), and different writing styles. Students
also receive immediate, specific feedback from their peers, as
well as the instructor, which may be consulted in the revision
of essays. Many students gain self-confidence about their
writing while those less-skilled learn how to write essays by
reading the competent work of others in the class. Peer review
is collaborative, allowing for many voices to be heard and
consulted. |
I must compliment
our instructor for the care with which he assigned the peer
review to our drafts. I received excellent reader feedback,
which helped me to target the less competent areas of my essay.
Then when I later read my instructor's feedback, I noticed
several weaknesses cited in common with those of my peers.
Furthermore, the excellent peer review sheet helped me to
explicate a rather tricky metaphysical poem. His neatly typed
comments and suggestions about style show a dedication to the
teaching profession which is too often lacking. The care with
which he reads our work inspires us to take greater care with
the work we turn in. --Student |
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2. CONFERENCES |
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| Students are required to meet
with the instructor at the beginning of the semester to discuss
what they perceive are their writing strengths and weaknesses,
and any other concerns. Throughout the semester students are
invited to continue talking with the instructor to discuss their
written work with him. Very often students bring to the
conferences their drafts, the feedback received during peer
review, and the instructor's written comments.
PURPOSE: In a class where
writing is the primary mode of evaluation and record of one's
learning, periodic meetings with the instructor are most helpful
to the student in addition to specific written feedback.
Students can ask the instructor to clarify the written feedback
or to ask for help with points not addressed by his/her peers or
the instructor (e.g. references to articles, specific grammar
problems). In the initial conference, the instructor begins to
establish rapport with his students and conveys the idea that
his role is to guide and encourage students to build on their
writing weaknesses and develop their writing strengths. From
self-awareness and self-assessment students can work toward
improving their writing skills. |
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Professor Sammons comments on his class (excerpts from an
interview):
The history of peer letters
actually stems from problems dealing with lower-level literature
classes. How do you get students to do the reading before they
come to class? My first solution to this problem was to give
quizzes. I started to do that . . . but it seemed that there
were problems with the quizzes. You had to design the quiz, you
had to use class time to give it, then you had to grade it. Plus
it's punitive. My next step was to go to something I learned
about journals. So I told students to write in their journals
before class, usually on a topic I assigned before the next
class meeting, like 'pre-reading' exercises. Then I found out
from Roger Whitlock, a colleague in the English Department, that
he assigns 'Monday' letters. It was a very simple idea--students
write a letter for distribution to class at the beginning of
every week. It didn't have to be analytic writing. These are
distributed to everyone, and it was a way of getting other
voices in the classroom. It also had the effect of getting
students to do the reading. This was a wonderful idea. I started
doing this about six years ago. At the sophomore level I
frequently use the letters as the basis of class discussion.
I do something that Roger doesn't
which is grade the letters. . . I decided that these letters
took so much of the student's time that I really wanted to
reward them for it. I split the grade into two parts: frequency
and quality. . . Even if they get a B, which is very rare, the
average together [quantity and quality] is a pretty good grade.
. . . Sometimes for some students it's just an exercise to get a
grade, but most of the students really care about the writing of
their letter, which they are writing to the class and not
necessarily me. They don't want to look foolish. It's a good way
of getting other interpretations and other voices in the
classroom. . . . What I do for the first couple of letters is
try to indicate which ones are best and why. The other thing is
that writing these letters is really self-correcting. . . . They
can see which letters are the better ones. Everyone gets a B or
an A. I save my stringency for the essays.
Frankly, one of the things that
really surprises me about this whole business of reading their
peers' papers in class is just the whole P.R. of reading other
students' papers, the sort of confidence that inspires them.
They'll say, 'Mine's not so bad' or 'Mine is better than that'
or 'I really should have done it that way.' I want them to read
many different papers rather than just one quickly -- it's
almost like holistic scoring. Some feedback is good, some not so
good. That may not be the most important thing.
I'm leaning toward some sort of
structured feedback in the peer review. I think that's the way
to go. Sometimes I think there are real obstacles to students
taking instructors' feedback, obstacles that have nothing to do
with anything except some sort of problem with authority. . . .
One of the things I'm inching toward is identifying mentors
among the class to help students who are having some trouble. |
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