Corral on "To Robert Hayden"

Here is an interview in which the poet gives, in essence, a reading of his own poem.

Annotated Bibliography Redux (Due 12/1)

Due: Wednesday, November 19, 2014  Now, Monday, 12/1 (FOLLOW DIRECTIONS)

Worth: 25 points 

Requirements:

• One complete page, minimum
• MLA Format, including: 12 point font size in either Times New Roman or Cambria font; double space
• Two proper MLA end citations, each annotated in two paragraphs
• MLA in-text citationà Make sure to acknowledge authors, and to insert parentheses with proper information in the annotated paragraphs

What is an annotated bibliography? An AB can be considered a reflective Work Cited page. Instead of simply listing the publishing details, you follow each end citation with an annotation of the source’s topic and its thesis point, followed by the source’s importance/application to your research.

The basic information found in the annotation: (paragraph 1) what is the source’s main point, and (paragraph 2) how is it important to your research.

Generic Format

Proper Work Cited citation of your source  (Review Rules for Writers)

            A paragraph that provides analytical summary of the source: provides context for the source; provides its main point, and its main example used to support its thesis.

            A paragraph that connects the source’s main point to your research. How do you see the article supporting your essay? How are the author’s points helpful?

Student Example:

Weber, Ian. “Shanghai Baby: Negotiating Youth Self-Identity in Urban China.” Social Identities. 8.2

            (2002): 347-368. Web. 14 Apr. 2011.

            Ian Weber’s “Shanghai Baby” is a cultural analysis of Wei Hui’s novel Shanghai Baby, especially its impact on urban youth identity construction in modern China (348). Weber posits that Wei Hui’s narrator’s journey is “a metaphor for the ongoing struggle by Chinese youth to reconcile individualistic and collectivist orientations” (366). The reconciliation Weber refers to is between Chinese teenagers – especially females – wrestling with their sexuality and individuality and the government’s vision for submissive citizenship. Weber comments frequently about the sexual encounters experienced by Wei Hui’s narrator being counter to the type of citizen China wants to portray (349; 355). The Chinese government has debated censorship (350) of the novel, and Weber argues that it is because sexual freedom contradicts socialist equality (366).

            Weber’s analysis supports one of the assumptions that I had going into my research of the rebellious first generation American youths in Amy Tan’s short stories: that there is a cultural conflict in regards to the Chinese elders’ views of individuality and their sons and daughters. One cultural difference I need to consider in my analysis of Tan’s portrayals of Chinese youth is that equality in the US is based on a democratic system, not socialist one, and this allows me to analyze characters’ behaviors in regards to this difference. Weber has helped me better show that Tan’s teenagers live in a new society, one that supports individual expression, which is in direct conflict with their family heritage. I now understand that there are reasons the Chinese elders have their beliefs.

HW for 11/24

With your 1.5 Response 1 due and being a poetry explication, you will need to read these webpages further for more clarity:

1. Duke University's explanation of what explication means.

2. University of North Carolina's model (scroll down) for how to write an explication.


For Group A, B, and C: be ready to lead the discussion on your poems, based on explications!

• Make sure to contact each other over the weekend (use e-mail and Canvas, etc.)

• Discuss your readings of the same poems. Help each other see things in the poems (that is one of the main reasons we are doing this--teamwork). 

• Your entire group will take the front of the class. Each of you needs to contribute to the discussion.
• You can ask the class questions about the poems, but make sure you have your own answers to those questions.

•  If you need to use the computer to show anything, please e-mail Professor A. ahead of time so that he can either post it to the blog or have it ready for you at the start of your presentation. 

Groups for Poetry Leads

Group A: Diaz, "When My Brother Was An Aztec" (1), "Downhill Triolets" (52) & "A Brother Named Gethsemane" (64)

• Ana Colon
• Connor Chaney
• Rebecca Steinberg

Group B : Corral, "Self-Portrait with Tumbling and Lasso" (21), "& both Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome" poems (4, 71)

• Kayla Boucek
• Ruth Cachola
• Michael Garfield

Group C: Diaz, "Mariposa Noctorna" (60), "Monday Aubade" (83), & Corral, "To Robert Hayden" (63)

• Stephanie Horchler
• Corrin Johnson
• Haley O'Shea

Group D: Corral, "To the Beastangel" (53), "To the Angelbeast" (55), & "To a Jornalero Cleaning Out My Neighbor's Garage" (61)

• Barbara Cheakalos
• Levi Peresta
• Rachel Rasicot

Group E: Corral, "Monologue of a Vulture's Shadow" (73); Diaz, "Of Course She Looked Back" (88) &"A Wild Life Zoo"(101) 

• Marissa Colea
• Rylee Rucker
• Austin Weller

HW for Wed., 11/19

Work on your Annotated Bibliography. Read the post over on how to cite poetry, and incorporate those points in your bibliographies.

On Wednesday, I will assign each of you to a Group (ABCD or E) and you will be given specific poems to explicate. 

Citing Poetry: some easy rules

• The ideas about any quoting of sources are still relevant with poetry. You still need to lead-in to your quotes, attaching them to your own ideas with a sentence. Never drop a quote! 

• Use the line number in your in-text ( ) citation, rather than page. The line of a poem never changes! 

• Don't quote more than three lines of poetry at a time, within a sentence. Your points will be harder to understand because there will be way too much language to unpack in those lines. Plus, quoting too much takes up your thought space. 

• You don't have to, nor should you want to, always quote entire lines. With poems, you can practice quoting just important images or a figures of speech within a line or lines.

• Example:  The speaker's first piece of advice includes the idiom to "keep your head" (line 1). The idiom refers to the listeners need to stay calm and focused.

• Example: A major theme of the poem includes self control, as seen in the speaker's advice to the son to "trust yourself" (3), "don't give way to hating" (7), and do not "make dreams your master" (9). Such advice continues for the rest of the poem, including in the final stanza, where the speaker reminds his son not to let neither "foes nor loving friends" (27) emotionally change the way he acts. 

• Mechanically, if you are integrating two lines of poetry into your own sentence, you need to indicate the line break with a forward slash:   .../ ...

• Example:  "The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock" beings with the command, "Let us go now, you and I, / When the clouds are spread out against the sky/ Like a patient etherized upon a table," with that image setting the poem's sombre tone (lines 1-3).

• If the first word of each line is capitalized, make sure you do so in your own quote. Here, all three lines begin with words capitalized: Let, When, Like.  

• If you are quoting the last line of one stanza and the first line of the next stanza in the same quote, you use a double forward slash: ...// ...

• Example: Look at Robert Hayden's poem "Those Winter Sundays."  (Hayden is a Corral favorite)

• The son shows the tense childhood relationship with his father, "and slowly I would rise and dress,/ fearing the chronic angers of that house,// Speaking indifferently to him" (lines 8-10).

Studying Reviews for concepts

A good source of both understanding an unfamiliar text and for modeling your own analytical sentences is to look for direct reviews of your subject--with your poetry collections, you should have been able to find one on-line pretty easily. 


Here is a review of Natalie Diaz' collection at MUZZLE. Though you will NOT use first person in your Research Essay, and though the review is not 'perfect,' you can still learn a lot about your subject from reading a few of these such reviews

• Pay attention to how a reviewer discusses theme and imagery on a sentence level
• Pay attention to how a reviewer summarizes a text
• Pay attention to how a reviewer integrates quotes into their own claims (as we have discussed) and how he or she mechanically cites poem line and stanza breaks.

Warnings

• Reviews often give the short end of any one poem. The purpose for reviews is to be more generic, and though they often concern themselves with a writer's themes they often ignore an in-depth look at that theme. 

• Instead, reviewers spend more time on craft and on making a decision on whether the book is great or not. Your job is to not get lost in the "greatness" or lack thereof of the work. Your job is to focus your research more on unpacking the subject matter's actual social statement.

• For instance, the reviewer does not go in-depth in her statements such as: "Image driven poems like “Cloud Watching” (“Betsy Ross needled hot stars to Mr. Washington’s bedspread— / they weren’t hers to give. So, when the cavalry came, / we ate their horses. Then, unfortunately, our bellies were filled / with bullet holes”) and “Dome Riddle” sit well alongside the more narrative pieces. The poems about the speaker’s family range from the myth- and fantasy-laced title poem to the brutally direct and unornamented “Why I Hate Raisins.” Your Research essay would want to address what makes those images powerful--what do they comment on. Your job would be to discuss what the myth-like quality of Diaz' poetry is being used for.

Research: Breaking Down Language

With Eduardo Corral's work, we must work hard to understand its code-switching and its allusions to other artists if we want to get a fuller understanding of his poetry and its contributions.

One of the central poems of the collection is "Variations On A Them By Jose Montoya," which is actually smack-dab in the middle of the book! We must learn to read Corral's work using this poem's various forms as research challenge:

• switching language
• allusion to another artist  (Jose Montoya)
• Italicized lines--where do they come from? 
• outside sources used
• section breaks and different stanza forms
• the poems repetition of the opening stanza

Looking the poem up, one can find this review of Corral's work: "Our Man In New York:..."

• From this article, Munoz uncovers more about Montoya. Therefore, to get the reference, one must look up this Jose Montoya and his work, too. That leads to an essay on Montoya: "By the People and For the People"

HW for Monday, 11/17

We will discuss Corral's "Variation on a Theme by Jose Montoya" (33) and a few poems from the first section.  From Diaz' collection, we will discuss "Cloud Watching" (21), "My Brother at 3am" (43) and "Zoology" (45).

We will be continuing discussion of themes and poetic techniques seen in each poet's work.

Next week you will be assigned Essay 3 that will be a comparison of Corral and Diaz's work.

On Corral's "Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome" poems

These two poems invoke metaphor, as we have discussed, which beg us to ask the question, how is AIDS anything like those images presented in the poem? What connotations result from the various images that we encounter?

What types of ideas do you have about the juxtaposition of different images as seen in the first of the two poems (page 4-5)?

As a reader whose is intimately familiar with HIV/AIDS, having written extensively about my relationship to sexual practices using condoms, to Tony Kushner’s Angels in America, and to the relatively recent death of my great uncle to complications from AIDS, these two pieces stood out for their ability to reinvent gayness through the uniqueness of Corral’s vision. In the piece of writing I penned at the residency, it became clear these poems used metaphor as way of creating a disjunctive twisting of memory into the present. This is to say, in the dreamlike imaginings on AIDS, Corral is able to pull the memories of loss—whether it’s for communities or specific individuals remains unclear—from the virus into ways in which he (or better yet) his body can hold onto this loss as he dreams of new possibilities beyond it.

HW for Wed., and cancellation of today's class

Due to an emergency, we will not be having class today. You will still be responsible for the homework for Wednesday.

1. Check Canvas for Essay 2 grades. Please e-mail me with any concerns about finishing or polishing up the Research Proposal.

2. Make sure to respond to the discussion questions posed on Canvas. I am listing them below for you to get a head start. Answering these questions will allow us to efficiently start our delayed discussion of the poetry of both authors and how they represent our last unit: Marginalized American Voices. 

Canvas Questions (Answer questions ASAP):

1. What are some powerful images of white culture impacts on Indian life from at least three of Natalie Diaz' poems? How are each of the images amongst the three poems similar in theme (don't just restate that phrase of "white cultural impact"--but define what those impacts are, thematically)?

2. What does a "coyote" symbolize? How do Diaz and Corral use the symbol of the coyote differently? Of course, cite the poems and their lines in your answers.

3. How do the speakers in Corral's poems maintain a sense of their ethnic identity? Cite a few supporting examples. 

4. Who are the marginalized (socially disadvantaged) communities explored in these two poets' work, and what are two disadvantages expressed in the poems? Again, cite specific poems that support specific disadvantages. 

another interesting article that may be of use

If not "Devotions: Coming Out on Matters of Faith," Southern Humanities Review may have another article on contemporary poetry that may be of use in the following weeks. Check back there for more.

HW for 11/10

1. Research Proposals

2. Read "Natalie Diaz, selected by Adrian Matejka" (click the link)

3. Read Carl Phillips introduction to Corral's work in the book.

4. Read the rest of the first section of each poet's collection.

Starting Research

Planning a Research Project

·       Guiding Research Question à inspired by essay prompt’s question(s), but that is more specific and allows you to analyze a specific aspect of subject

o   From American culture (what is “culture”?), what do you want to focus on that is one aspect that makes up culture? Some examples:

§  Views of mental health & family; mental illness; disability

§  Class & economics

§  Racism

§  Appropriation of Language

§  Educationà educational opportunity; education & class; education & gender

§  Christianity

§  Social Networks

§  Pop Culture/Media and impact on society

§  Privilege

o   Break down the prompt’s language to help clarify purpose: What is “social commentary”?

·       Pre-Writing Strategies: Brainstorming Terms for a “Research Word Bank”

o   What are some of the words that come to mind in thinking about the subject matter?

o   What are some other words come to mind when you think of “culture” or “society” or more? 

Finding Sources

·       Start library search for texts with the key words from Word Bank à literary criticism databases, sociology databases; ethnic/gender studies databases; documentary films

o   Record vital information of sources found on databases à

o   Eating a text à skimming a text for cues of relevance to your research project

o   Actively Read your sources: annotate, pose questions, write down main ideas, other authors cited

o   What types of sources to go for in academic research? (Guide to research sources)

o   COLLECT NEW TERMS from indexes, T o C’s, and from the texts themselves…

Analytical Insight

·       A bulk of your Research Essay should be you a FOCUSED ANALYSIS of a major social commentary theme in the poet’s collection, including how they use poetic techniques to engage in that subject matter

·       Use found articles to further research questions and answers. Look for the many types of claims – about culture, about contemporary poetics, about your author’s work!

o   Example: “A Machine Ate My Language” by Carmen Gimenez Smith

§  “contemporary vanguard poetry”

§  “In my poetry I attempt to disturb the surface of the canonical affect with my race and gender (inevitably and more often than not tied to class) through the signals that popular culture make of me.”

§  “the diction of resistance”

§  “the material culture that a hyper-capitalist culture”

Research Proposal Further Considerations:

Introductions

• Identifying the subject (author and book) and subject matter (what themes are relevant in their work).
• What is your GRQ? Why do you want to study this poet and this book of poems? 

Prior Knowledge & Making Sure You Cite with Summary and Paraphrasing

Whether you have or haven’t used summary or paraphrasing, you are to revise your prior knowledge paragraph with cited sources. To get better at integrating sources without quoting, use today’s class to experiment with summary and paraphrase.

• Make sure you boil down the articles related to your essay subject into 1-3 sentences of pertinent info. Don’t let your summary of an entire article be over three sentences in your proposal.
• Accuracy is key to not getting long-winded and going into too much detail on sources. If you can really understand the article thesis statement, you can rephrase that into your proposal and focus on how that author’s thesis connects to your GRQ…

Last Paragraph of Proposal: Significance of Research àthe “Why” others should care about the findings

• More than likely, you could say more about why anyone should care about your research. However, this part of a proposal is extremely important to your research. You have to explain what the value of your project is!
• What are reasons your research will help others, not just you?  Be a bit risky and creative in explaining the importance of what you hope to find. Also, be practical in thinking about what happens to people when we don’t know or don’t think about the subject.
• Example reasoning:  “With Native American tribes being the original people to this land, Americans must not ignore the negative impacts the US government and white culture has had, intentionally or not. Christians who are afraid of Muslims attacking America should be able to understand the mindset of a Native American, whose life was terrorized by European men. Furthermore, anyone who has seen a movie like Independence Day where aliens come to take over Earth should be interested in learning about how an indigenous writer views history from that position of defense.”

Reading a Poem

"Reading a Poem: 20 Strategies"

HW for Wed., 11/5

1. Read over the Research Proposal and do some initial background into the authors and books on the back. Which ones most interest you, and why?

2. Read from Natalie Diaz' collection: "Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination..." (5), "A Woman with No Legs" (16), and "Why I Hate Raisins" (9-10).

Read from Eduardo C. Corral's collection: "In Colorado My Father Scoured and Stacked Dishes" (9-10), "Border Triptych" (12-14), and "Immigration and Naturalization Service Report #46" (16).

• What subject matter(s) do these poems deal with? 
• What commonalities do Diaz' speakers have with each other?
• What commonalities do Corral's speakers have with each other?
• What are differences in the character traits of the speakers in Corral's poems?
• What are the most arresting images in each poem? What makes them memorable and comprehendible? 

3. Read in Rules for Writers: Chapters 53 and 54 (420-447).

Basic Questions for Understanding a Poem

What does an image denote and connote? 

What does a description tell you? 

What is the situation, and what happens/what results?

What philosophical ideas get asked or stated?

Research Essay: Secondary Sources

There are quite a few valuable on-line resources that you can find essays on contemporary American poetry. Below are a few of the websites that have been vetted (evaluated) by your professor:

1. The Poetry Foundation has a database of essays on Poetic Theory

• "Use This Word in a Sentence: "Experimental"" Ann Lauterbach

2. Boston Review also has a large selection of essays.

• "A Machine Ate My Language" by Carmen Gimenez Smith

3. Poetry Daily's Newsroom often links to viable sources, from magazines, interviews, and other periodicals.

4. Poets.org  (The Academy of American Poets)

5. The Poetry Society of America

6. The Rumpus Room 

7. NPR

8. Lana Turner Journal

9. The Best American Poetry blog

Other websites that are vital, yet they have limited access to articles (subscriptions). See if any of these are available through our college library databases:

1. The Paris Review

2. Virginia Quarterly

3. American Poetry Review

4. Kenyon Review