You'll be using the highlighting tool and the "insert comment" function in the Google Drive. Hover over the toolbar in the Google Doc to see where these tools live. It will also be helpful to have read chapter 6 in Gardner's Reading and Writing about Literature, with particular attention to the poetic markup on pp. 104-111, and the tips on reading poetry page on the course website.
After you have read the poem and reviewed the, follow the steps below to complete the assignment:
- Copy the text of the poem into a new Google Doc labeled "south close reading." Put this file in your essay 1 folder.
- Select at least five words you don't know, or words whose meaning might be different from what you expect. Insert a comment for each of these words to further discuss their meaning.
- To insert a comment in Google Docs, select the word, then right-click or find the "add comment" button in the toolbar.
- Nature imagery appears a lot in this poem. Pick one of the scenes Tretheway describes, and tell me what it means. Insert comments to select specific words or phrases that need additional explanation.
- Answer the following questions by typing responses below the copied poem. Use complete sentences, and quote from the lines of the poem to prove your point. Practice MLA formatting by using line numbers in parentheses. Unsure about MLA formatting for poetry? Check the Purdue OWL.
- What is the plot? What is going on in this poem?
- What is the tone?
- What information can you find about Tretheway and her background? How might you read "South" as a biographical poem?
- What do you notice about the punctuation? How might that be important?
- What is the point of view?
- What imagery and/or figurative language does Tretheway use? Provide at least two concrete examples and explain their meaning.
- How does the form of the poem shape the way we read it? How would you describe the form? I'm not looking for technical terms here. What do you see?
- Tretheway uses an epigraph at the beginning of the poem. What does it mean?
