Contemporary Literature Section 01 & 02 Homework Week One

T Introduction.
Discussion of Course goals and readings. Your readings will be posted by author and title and you will be expected to locate the text.* This is my compromise in exchange for a textbook and I will be expected you to take full responsibility for finding the posted works. Please note that this course will be heavier in poetry content, as it is easy to discuss a smaller piece fully in class and to teach close reading through it. We will look at other genres, but if you have a real aversion to verse, this may not be the section for you. Homework: Re-Read: http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/013.html and come in with a 250 word minimum analysis of the poem. Note any literary techniques it employs. Rhyme scheme or lack. Everything you notice about its structure and construction. Then address content. What is a one line plot summary for the poem? What is the tone? Is any stanza more sincere than any other?

H Discussion of close reading. Literary techniques. How to read and discuss literature.
Homework: Come in with one title of a piece of writing that affected you.
Write down what it was and why, as well as anything you notice about its form and construction. We will discuss each of these in class next week.
Read: As a summer send-off, I thought we’d look at this poem by John Tobias (it gets taught in high schools, and you might have read it. If so, check it out again for discussion.)

http://www.cise.ufl.edu/~hsiao/verse/watermelon.html
Reflections On a Gift of Watermelon Pickle Received from a Friend Called Felicity

Also, this biographical essay on Walt Whitman http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/walt-whitman

and this one:
Adventures in Anaphora http://www.poetryfoundation.org/learning/article/246170

and this essay: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/article/246218

PLUS the following poems:
O Captain! My Captain! http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174742

When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer Speak http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174747

Song of Myself 36 http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/182375

Please come to class “quiz ready” on these materials. Take notes for discussion. The more you participate, the more likely your grade will reflect that boost.