Wednesday/Thursday Reminder

Reactions for a different Billy Collin's poem and adaptation than you did the first part of the week is due at the beginning of class.  Remember that you CANNOT choose the poem that we discussed in class after the group work ("The Dead" for 11am Monday and 12:30pm Tuesday, and "Walking Across the Atlantic" for 11am Tuesday). While doing your reactions, think about the various elements of poetry that we identified during class and apply them to the second Collin's poem.

This exercise will help prepare you for writing your third and final portfolio essay, which is a Reader Response explication of a poem of your choice (ideally from one of your bi-weekly reactions).  The main difference between a standard explication and this assignment is the focus on your own, subjective reaction and analysis rather than a more objective analysis. To help you anticipate that essay, here is the assignment, which can also be found in Portfolio Assignments folder:

Write an essay which focuses on your personal interaction with a poem (i.e. reader response), analyzing WHY you think the poem works the way it does for you.  In order to support this analysis, you will need to incorporate the various Elements of Poetry to help explain the reaction that you had from the poem (simply stating "it made me feel happy" would be too vague and nondescript).  Break down the language to understand specifically what caused your reaction, essentially providing a personal explication of the poem. IF you happen to have looked up any information about the poet, poem, etc. discuss how that effected your initial interpretation, if relevant.  The MAIN thing to consider in this essay is the creation of a cohesive argument, not simply a random collection of disconnected interpretations; in essence, what was the overall impact on you (e.g. the imagery brought back memories of playing baseball with your dad)--then explain in detail why by using the elements for support.