ENG1300 Composition III/Literature
Week 1 Discussion
Imagery and the Language of Poetry
By the due date assigned, post your response of one or two paragraphs (at least 150-200 words) to the Discussion Area. To support your comments, your discussion answers should include specific information and quotations from the readings. By the end of Week 1, comment on at least two of your classmates’ submissions. Your replies to classmates should be at least a paragraph in length and made with an eye to expand, clarify, defend, and/or refine their thoughts. Consider asking questions to further meaningful conversation. Be clear and concise, referring to specific ideas and words from your classmates’ postings. Participation must be completed by the end of the first week to earn credit.
Prompt:
Choose a poem from the assigned readings listed below, and identify some of the key imagery or other kinds of poetic language used in the poem, which you believe are vital to understanding it. Here are some possible approaches:
Provide a detailed discussion of how the images function in the poem.
Do the images work together to form a coherent pattern?
What ideas or feelings are conveyed by the images or figurative language?
How do the images contribute to the overall meaning of the poem?
Our course eBook (Portable Literature) should be your only source. Do not use outside sources.
Title your discussion response with the poem’s title. This will help other students see which poems have been discussed. Once a poem has been discussed twice, please do not choose it for analysis.
Read the following poems and choose one to discuss:
Alvarez, “Dusting”
Bradstreet, “To My Dear and Loving Husband”
Browning, “How Do I Love Thee”
Burns, “Oh, My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose”
Cummings, “Buffalo Bill”
Cummings, “Next to of Course God America I”
Cummings, “Since Feeling is First”
Dunbar, “We Wear the Mask”
Hayden, “Those Winter Sundays”
Heaney, “Digging”
Heaney, “Mid-Term Break”
Herrick, “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time”
Hopkins, “Spring and Fall”
Jarrell, “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner”
Komunyakaa, “Facing It”
MacLeish, “Ars Poetica”
Marlowe, “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love”
McKay, “The White City”
Pastan, “Ethics”
Plath, “Daddy”
Pound, “The River-Merchant’s Wife: A Letter”
Randall, “Ballad of Birmingham”
Rich, “Living in Sin”
Robinson, “Miniver Cheevy”
Roethke, “My Papa’s Waltz”
Shakespeare, “Let Me Not to the Marriage of True Minds”
Shakespeare, “My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun”
Shakespeare, “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?”
Smith, “Not Waving but Drowning”
Stevens, “Anecdote of the Jar”
Stevens, “The Snow Man”
Yeats, “The Second Coming”
Yeats, “When You Are Old”
Tips
Remember to provide evidence for your claims in the form of quoted passages from the poem. Quotations, paraphrases, and summaries should be cited according to APA rules of style, including in-text and reference citations. Quoted material should not exceed 25% of the document.
Visit the South University Online Citation Resources: APA Style page for information regarding properly citing resources.
Post directly to the discussion; do not attach a document. Make sure you check spelling and grammar, and use APA style for citations.
ENG1300 Composition III/Literature
Week 2 Discussion
Symbolism and Metaphor in Four Poets’ Work: Brooks, Dickinson, Frost, and Hughes
By the due date assigned, post a one- or two-paragraph response of at least 150-200 words to the Discussion Area. By the end of Week 2, comment on at least two of your classmates’ submissions.
Prompt:
Choose a poem to analyze from this week’s assigned reading list (see below). We are reading and discussing the works of Gwendolyn Brooks, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, and Langston Hughes.
Create a written response of a paragraph or two of at least 150-200 words.
You may use the following questions to develop a response to your poem, or you may discuss another more appropriate literary element (e.g., imagery, characterization, theme) as best fits your selection:
What are some of the key symbols or metaphors in the poem, and how are they used to convey meaning to the reader?
How do these elements enrich the poem and deepen your understanding of its themes?
What is your reaction to the poem’s content and language? Would you recommend this poem to friends?
Read the following poems and choose one to discuss:
Dickinson:
“After Great Pain, a Formal Feeling Comes”
“Because I Could Not Stop for Death”
“’Faith’ Is A Fine Invention”
“’Hope’ Is the Thing with Feathers”
“I Heard A Fly Buzz When I Died”
“I Like to See It Lap the Miles”
“Much Madness Is Divinest Sense”
“My Life Had Stood—A Loaded Gun”
“There’s A Certain Slant of Light”
“This Is My Letter to the World”
Frost:
“Birches”
“Fire and Ice”
“Mending Wall”
“Nothing Gold Can Stay”
“For Once, Then, Something”
“Out, Out”
“The Road Not Taken”
“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”
Brooks:
“The Mother”
“Sadie and Maud”
“A Song in the Front Yard”
“We Real Cool”
Hughes:
“Cross”
“Harlem”
“Negro”
“Suicide’s Note”
“The Negro Speaks of Rivers”
“Theme for English B”
Tips
Remember to provide evidence for your claims in the form of quoted passages from the poem. Quotations, paraphrases, and summaries should be cited according to APA rules of style, including in-text and reference citations. Quoted material should not exceed 25% of the document. Check grammar and spelling before posting.
Example APA Reference:
Frost, R. (1916). The oven bird. Cengage: Gale College Collection.
https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=GCCO&u=gale_9827877&id=GALE|BRGOHW412836445&v=2.1&it=r&sPage=13883791&sid=mindtap-embedView&asid=94ec534a
When you are responding to the posts of your classmates:
Discuss any similarities or differences you have with their interpretations.
Did their conclusions help you to see the poem any differently than your first impression of the work?
Elaborate on any key points.
ENG1300 Composition III/Literature
Week 3 Discussion
Drama Discussion
By the due date assigned, post your response of at least 150-200 words to the Discussion Area. By the end of the week, comment on at least two of your classmates’ submissions.
Before beginning this assignment, read Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie.
Prompt: You may choose to discuss a character or the setting of the play. Choose ONE of the following:
Option 1: In one or two well-developed paragraphs, analyze a character, explaining the person’s actions, conflicts, and motivations. Include examples and at least one quotation from the play as supporting evidence.
Option 2: In one or two well-developed paragraphs, discuss some aspect of the setting (space, place, and time) and how it forms the backdrop and defines the atmosphere for the play. Setting can include props, as well. If you would like to focus on the symbolism of some of these stage elements, you may do so. In your response, include examples and at least one quotation from the play as supporting evidence.
Resource: Refresher on Character
A reader or viewer of a play can learn about a character in a number of ways. Here are some questions to think about before drafting your response:
Dialogue/monologue – How do the words the character says reveal information about who he/she is? Does the character have a noticeable speech pattern? Does the character’s use of language reveal his/her emotional state? What is revealed through what others say about the character?
Action – What is shown through the character’s actions or lack of action?
Stage directions/movement/props – What is revealed through the character’s placement on the stage, movements, and use of props?
Relationships/interactions – What is understood about the character through relationships and interactions with other characters?
Development – Does the character grow and change during the play, or is the character static and unchanged? How developed or round is the character?
Role – Is this character the narrator? If so, is he/she reliable or unreliable?
Resource: Refresher on Setting
Settings can symbolically present character issues. For example, a locked door could represent an obstacle within a character’s life. At other times, the setting can limit or allow the characters’ actions.
Setting can be the physical space in which the story is placed (confined or open, small or large, limited to one place or not).
Setting can be the cultural and social landscape in which the story is situated, including the time in which the action takes place (time of day, year, era, or century).
Setting can include the stage directions, including lighting, music, and placement of props.
Tips: Remember to provide evidence for your claims in the form of quoted passages from the play. Quotations, paraphrases, and summaries should be cited according to APA rules of style, including in-text and reference citations. Quoted material should not exceed 25% of the document.
Check grammar and spelling before posting.
Your replies to classmates should be at least a paragraph in length and made with an eye to expand, clarify, defend, and/or refine their thoughts. Consider asking questions to further meaningful conversation. Participation must be completed by the end of the third week to earn credit.
Post directly to the discussion; do not attach a document.
ENG1300 Composition III/Literature
Week 4 Discussion
Theme
By the due date assigned, post your response of at least 150-200 words to the Discussion Area. By the end of the week, comment on at least two of your classmates’ submissions.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Your instructor will assign five short stories for the class to read and discuss this week. Check the Week 4 Announcement for a list of the assigned stories. You must choose one of these stories to earn credit on the assignment.
Prompt:
Select one of the stories assigned by your instructor, and develop a one- or two-paragraph response to the following:
Identify one of the main themes used in the story. Explain the message the author is conveying by telling the story in this way.
Provide at least one specific example and at least one quotation from the story to illustrate your point.
Discuss how this message affects your reading and interpretation of the story. Is the story more effective or powerful because this theme is included?
Theme refers to the underlying messages or major ideas presented in the story. The author presents some belief about life by telling the story in a certain way. You, as the reader, can interpret what message you received from reading the story, but you must be able to offer evidence to support your viewpoint by sharing examples and quotations from the story.
Tips
Remember to provide evidence for your claims in the form of quoted passages from the story. Quotations, paraphrases, and summaries should be cited according to APA rules of style, including in-text and reference citations. Quoted material should not exceed 25% of the document.
Check grammar and spelling before posting.
Your replies to classmates should be at least a paragraph in length and made with an eye to expand, clarify, defend, and/or refine their thoughts. Consider asking questions to further meaningful conversation. Participation must be completed by the end of the week to earn credit.Post directly to the discussion; do not attach a document.
ENG1300 Composition III/Literature
Week 5 Discussion
Scholarly Article Annotation
By the due date assigned, post your annotated bibliography entry for a scholarly article to the discussion area. By the end of the week, respond to your classmates’ posts with your feedback, questions, and suggestions.
For this assignment, find a scholarly article on your Week 4 short story in the SUO Library. First, complete the lecture on conducting research in the SUO Library. Next, enter the online library and find one credible, scholarly source examining the short story that was the focus of your Week 4 rough draft. Do not use popular publications, such as summaries from Masterplots or The Introduction to Literary Context, or other media that are not research oriented.
Post an annotation of your source to the discussion board. Your annotation should include:
A complete APA citation of your scholarly article
A paragraph of summary of the key points presented in your source
A paragraph explaining the source’s quality and how it is relevant to your analytical essay
Here is an example of an annotated APA entry (not an actual source):
Smith, A. (2016). Journey into the unknown. American Literature, 22(3), 4-5.
This article compares Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” and Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path,” discussing the protagonists’ journeys as a focal point. The article examines these two main characters and their different paths in life. Those paths led Young Goodman Brown and Phoenix Jackson into the forest on very different quests, but both were determined to take these journeys that were emotional, meaningful, and dangerous.
Smith’s article offered a fascinating perspective on the motives and outcomes of these two disparate characters and their life paths that led them into the unknown. I gained a better understanding of my character, Phoenix Jackson, by reading this article and contrasting her with Young Goodman Brown. There are several quotations and ideas I will be able to incorporate into my final draft.
Examples of Journals with Scholarly Articles:
Studies in Short Fiction
The Explicator
Modern Fiction Studies
Language and Literature
Critique
Modern Language Notes
Nineteenth-Century Fiction
Twentieth-Century Literature Your replies to classmates should be at least a paragraph in length and made with an eye to expand, clarify, defend, and/or refine their thoughts. Consider asking questions to further meaningful conversation. Participation must be completed by the end of the week to earn credit.
