Hi Everyone,

It was great to hear about the texts you analyzed over the weekend. Keep up the great work!

I’ll pass out your first writing assignment in class on Wednesday but before then please take a look at it here. After you read the assignment, please roughly decide what you want your topic to be. Be prepared to discuss your rough plan for your essay with a partner on Wednesday. In addition, make sure to bring composition materials, like a pen/paper, pencil/paper,  or a laptop. You’ll have some time in the second half of class to “ideate” on your own.

In addition, please either print or download (just make sure to bring your print-out or download to class) Camille Paglia’s creative analysis of “Woodstock” here. Read it closely and write down brief responses to these prompts:

-What are her analytic techniques? You don’t have to know the technical terms. Just make note of her strategies like “She alludes to the Bible” or “She analyzes a phrase in the poem for an entire paragraph” Write down at least 3 examples.
-Describe her analytic style. Is she subjective or objective? A little bit of both? Easy to read or difficult to read?
-If you had to steal one technique or stylistic feature of her writing (to use in your own writing), what would it be?

Finally, click here for the Joni Mitchell version and here for the Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young version of “Woodstock” if you want more context for Paglia’s analysis.