Term 2
In this section, I have posted summaries of my Unit 4 and Unit 5 annotations for the term. One of my focuses this term was to delve deeper into my analysis and develop theses statement in my annotations as practice to prepare for timed writings. I felt that my annotation details and accuracy has greatly improved since term 1, and that I am starting to get the hang of reading these detailed works in a short amount of time.
Unit 5
Unit 5 covered poems. One of the unique moments from this unit was comparing a Snodgrass poem with a Shakespeare poem in order to compare the techniques of good and bad poets. By doing so, I've learned that one of the many important aspects of writing a good poem is subtly within the writing-- not blatantly stating the message. Using this knowledge, in the future, it will help me understand how to better look for messages in between the lines of poems.
Unit 4
Unit 4 covered short stories. On this unit, I tried to look for themes within the writing as well focusing on the setting when considering my analysis. For each of the short stories, I connected them back to a chapter from "How to Read Literature Like a Professor" in order to improve my annotations and understanding of the work.
Term 1
Below, I have listed all the short story and poem annotations we have completed in class during our first term. From stories that explore complex gender roles within relationships, to poems that focus on the powerful symbolism birds play in literature, these annotations served as exercises for analyzing literature.
October 27, 2019
This summary is part of the work I have completed during my first Lit Circle. In my first it Circle, my group and I read and discussed the book "The Awakening", written by Katie Chopin. Every week, each group member was tasked with a different assignment to analyze and discuss the sections we were supposed to read for each meeting. While my task changed every week, this summary I wrote covers the overall work I completed in the lit circle.
October 27, 2019
These annotations are part of a Unit 3 assignment in which we read a play called "A Doll's House". In these annotations, I provide a context and short description of each character in the play, and included general commentary on the first paragraph of Act 1 that sets the scene for the entire play.
October 22, 2019
This entry is of my "Dreamwood" poem annotations. In these annotations, I talk about how the typing stand and desk relate to the creation of stories and how they speak to one's imagination. I decided to include these annotations because I wrote a timed writing on this poem which is showcased in the "Writing Samples" section of this website.
October 22, 2019
"Double Dutch" is a poem that describes a scene in which girls are jump-roping together. The author of the poem writes in a way that shows the perspective of the from the girls' point of view; by doing so, the author shows how a simple event can be much more complex when looking at it in a different way. In context of the poem, jump-roping can be much more fun when thinking of it as "boxers pulling punches" and "dust-heavy bee[s] retracing its travels". My interpretation of the poem, and what I wrote in my annotations, is that when looking at something from a child's perspective, solving problems can become much easier.
October 4, 2019
These are annotations for the poem, "Lives of the Heart" by Jane Hirshfield. For this assignment, we had to read two poems, then choose which out of the two poems we wanted to do a timed writing on. I chose this poem because of the ambiguity and complexity in its subject. I felt that the wide range of descriptions in the poem left the interpretation very open to the reader, thus I was drawn to further analyze the writing by doing a timed writing on it.
October 3, 2019
In the poem, "Hawk Roosting", Ted Hughes uses the symbolism of a hawk to describe the nature of man compared to the rest of the world. In these annotations, I commented on the powerful words Hughes uses to describe the hawk, such as "I hold Creation in my foot" and "I kill where I please because it is all mine". Hughes uses the hawk to represent man and describe how man thinks so highly of himself when he lives in a world with other beings inhabiting it. This poem is another example of the powerful role birds have symbolically in nature.
September 30, 2019
Here is another example of a poem we annotated as a class entitled, "Latin Night at the Pawnshop". While I had trouble discerning the meaning of this poem at first, I soon began to understand its meaning the more we discussed it. This poem has a theme that speaks to the death of a musical genre and the feelings of a disappearing culture.
September 27, 2019
"The Eagle" is a short but meaningful poem that uses contrast and personification to establish a theme of power vs domain within the natural world. In these annotations, I separated possible themes with subsections A, B, and C, since the poem was up for multiple interpretations. However, I most identified with the theme written in section A, describing the bird as a kind/monarch within the hierarchy of his kingdom.
September 26, 2019
"A barred Owl" is a poem with the theme that tells of the protective nature of parents with their children. The story of the poem begins with a child who hears an owl's hoot outside his or her window. While the child is initially scared of this sound, the parents try to calm the child with a humorous spin on the event. In my annotations, I commented on the various themes this poem could have, as well as discuss who the speaker of the poem could possibly be.
September 26, 2019
"Hawk" is a poem written by Stephen Dunn that focuses on a shift in tone within the structure of the poem in order to convey a message. The last two stanzas stand out compared to the rest of the poem because they return back to present tense, while the majority of the poem is in past tense. By doing so, Dunn is able to emphasize his main message of the selfish nature of humanity utilizing the structure of the poem-- which is one of the sub units discussed during our poetry unit.
September 24, 2019
This is an example of annotations we have done for the short-story unit. In this excerpt, an Italian soldier fell in love with a nurse, but at the end of poem she ends up leaving him for an American solider. I wanted to include this as a sample of annotation because I liked the shocking ending of this piece of literature.
September 23, 2019
These are annotations for the short story entitled, "Birthday Party". This poem is about a married couple celebrating the husband's birthday at a little restaurant. Within the poem, the author contrasts the character and appearance of the husband and wife, describing the wife as "fadingly pretty" and the husband as having a "round, self-satisfied face". "Birthday Party" is a story that explores the inter-mechanisms of a complex, mature relationship and how gender, especially during the time period in which the poem was written, can affect a relationship.
September 20, 2019
Here is an example of annotations we have done in class on an excerpt from "Claire of the Sea of Light". In these annotations, I focused on how height within the setting enhances the meaning and overall interpretation of the poem. The higher she climbs on the mountain, the more free Claire feels.