1.) Listen to Layli Long Soldier read her poem “38,” linked here. Follow along, using hypothes.is to make annotations of your immediate responses (these should be private annotations, i.e. with the lock icon). These responses can consist of feelings, questions, moments of confusion or doubt, connections to other texts or things you’ve learned in other contexts, etc. Don’t overthink them—I’m imagining at least ten private comments per person.
2.) Sift through your responses, noticing patterns and insights that you’d like to retain. Make one to three of these responses available to the class group.
3.) Choose a central analytical question that helps you include several of your own patterns and insights. Then write an argument-driven essay that uses evidence from the text to make its claim, answering your analytical question. Bring this essay to class.
4.) In class, we will reread and discuss the poem. Try to put forward your analytical question for discussion. Take notes as your classmates talk.
5.) Revisit your essay draft with your notes from discussion as well as your classmates’ annotations in mind. Think about whether you want to revise your analytical question and claim. Whether you do or not, supplement your essay with direct quotations from your classmates. Use the “quote sandwich” structure we’ve talked about, making sure to embed your quotations seamlessly in order to make them useful for your own argument. You don’t have to choose quotations that support your claim—in fact, you may find that including and engaging with a “naysayer” could make your essay more dynamic.
6.) If you would like to propose your essay (for extra credit) as one of the three that we will workshop in class, send it to me separately. Otherwise, simply include this essay in your ongoing Google doc. As usual, you will receive ten points out of ten for completion. Feel free to highlight moments that you’d like me to respond to as I read! This will be one of the texts you can choose to revise and extend for Major Graded Assignment 2.