Reading Engagement 1

Instructions
ILOs

Understand the general nature, purposes, and techniques of literature with a sense of its relationship to life and culture.
Understand the biographical, historical, and cultural contexts of a representative selection of works by major writers.
Identify the relationships among the literary works studied and the philosophical, religious, political, social, and economic milieus of the cultures and subcultures within and among which they were written.
Engage and respond to literary texts personally and creatively.
Think, write, and speak about literary texts critically and effectively.

For weeks 3-6 you will be completing a variety of creative or analytical reading engagements. There are nine choices for this assignment. Choose a different one to do for each week; you may not repeat choices.
Each week the content for your RE must be drawn from the week’s assigned readings:
For the week 3 RE: Use the week 3 short stories

Choice 1: Collection of Poems
Write a collection of poems (three minimum) that demonstrate reflection upon and engagement with the short story or stories. You may write about a setting, about a theme, or from a character’s point of view. Each poem must be a minimum of ten lines, and you must complete two drafts. Share the first draft with a friend or family member for review feedback. Please ensure the reader writes or types his or her feedback as you will need to submit proof of your outside review. In your submission, include the first drafts (with commentary for revision) and the final drafts. Make sure that the poems demonstrate strong specific connections with and to the text—they should convince your grader of a critical engagement with the text. Alternately, if you are musical, you can record three short songs. You would submit the lyrics (two drafts, demonstrating revisions) and a video of you (or an appointed performer) performing the songs.
Choice 2: Draw a Map
Draw a map that captures, in detail, the setting of a text. This could be a house, town, or roadside event. You may need to draw more than one map to capture multiple scenes from a text. Fill in all the details you can identify from the story or poem and add details that you find plausible and that connect to the plot. Write a paragraph that explains how place functions in your story. How is it important? Symbolic? Thematic? You will likely need to be able to scan in your work for this project or submit a photo file.
Choice 3: Draw a Collection of Pieces of Art
Draw a collection of pieces of art and record a talk that reflects upon how the pieces (a minimum of three) connect to the literature. Make sure that you can locate five or more points of connections in each piece of art. (Some ideas: the black and white images represent the piano Sonny played; the cross that has fallen on the floor represents Grace, the child who has died.) The drawings can be realistic or symbolic. You do not need to be an excellent artist to complete this assignment, but you do need to be thoughtful and neat. To submit this assignment, video yourself presenting the pictures and discussing each one. This could be done on a cell phone, or you could create a PowerPoint. Share with your audience how your pictures reflect upon and engage with the literary texts. The talk should be two to five minutes.
You can submit the video to your own YouTube channel and submit the link for the assignment or simply submit the video file.

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Choice 4: Short Biographical Talk
Research and deliver a short biographical talk on how an author’s life informs your understanding or appreciation of the text. Consult two-three sources. Connect specific events from the author’s life to specifics in a text. Consider discussing style, themes, and content. For this assignment, you will need to record your speech. You may do so on a cell phone or other recording device and then upload your file to the assignment. Include a reference page, formatted in APA or Turabian, for your sources either as the last screen of your video or as a separate file. Use a minimum of two sources.
You can submit the video to your own YouTube channel and submit the link for the assignment or simply submit the video file.

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Choice 5: Write a Scene
Write a scene that fills in the background knowledge of a character or that adds a new scene to the story or poem (two pages). The scene must seek to employ the style of the author and connect to elements of plot from the story. It can come before the story, in the story’s middle, or after the story. After your scene, include a well-developed paragraph-length analysis that explains what elements of the author’s style you aimed to emulate and why you chose to write the specific “fill-in” scene.
Choice 6: Analyze a Story Plot
Consider the Freytag plot model and narratology. Analyze how one story moves through the elements of plot. How does it adhere to or deviate from the model? How does it order and control the elements of plot to create suspense and interest? Does it employ foreshadowing or flashback? How do these fit into the Freytag order of plot elements? Write a two- to three-page analysis of how one or two texts employ the elements of plot. Include a works cited page if you use research in your paper.
Choice 7: Turn Figurative Language Expressions into Art
Turn five or six figurative language expressions into art (note that weeks 5 and 6 feature poetry readings). Find five or six examples of figurative language in a text or collection of texts. Give concrete expression to these examples by expressing them through art. Your art can be sculpture, collage, painting, drawing, or graphic art. Include the quoted figurative language with each piece. To submit this assignment, you can create a PowerPoint (or other presentation format) of your art, accompanied by your recorded commentary on the art and figurative language. Alternately, you can scan pictures or photograph your art and include a written commentary on each piece. Please prepare work to be submitted as one document.
Choice 8: Literary Analysis
This choice is a shortened version of what you practiced in weeks 1-4 and is a good option for those who enjoy writing and who write well. Write a focused two-page, double-spaced literary analysis on a key element or theme in a single text. Be sure to refer to the text to support your discussion. Quote key words and phrases so you can discuss the author’s language, and refer to specific events so you can discuss plot. Seek to present a sophisticated exploration of your topic. Submit your two-page analysis.
Choice 9: Historic and Cultural Contextualization through an Annotated Bibliography
Write a four-source annotated bibliography, reviewing intelligent sources that allow you to historically and culturally contextualize one of the week’s texts (For example, in week 3, you work with a text read in week 3 to complete the RE. In week 4, you use a text you read in week 4, and so on). Each of the sources you review should help you to situate your text in terms of its culture and history. Your sources can be primary and secondary. Consider the following research points for your four sources: time period, writing style or school, dress, geography, author, objects or artifacts mentioned in the text, and culture. The annotation (summary) of each source should include a summary of the source and a 2-3 sentence statement explaining how this information enriches your understanding of the text. This assignment is predicated upon the premise that you wrote an annotated bibliography in English Composition II. If you did not write an annotated bibliography, please see the OWL at Purdue for models. An annotated bibliography should be half a page and follow APA or Turabian conventions. This is a good option for someone who likes to read about literature and who can follow APA or Turabian standards.

readings, PLEASE SOURCE:
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1952/1952-h/1952-h.htm
https://www.angelfire.com/psy/amurderofscarecrows/thelivesofthedead.html
https://rhinehartadvancedenglish.weebly.com/uploads/2/2/1/0/22108252/the-complete-persepolis-by.pdf
https://genius.com/Toni-morrison-recitatif-annotated?referent_id=8975700#note-8975700
https://www.austincc.edu/andreac/imagery

Characterization