Read and annotate the poems by McKay, Smith, and Huges.

After you have made ample notes on all three, select one of them and complete the following:

1. In a paragraph, describe what “happens” in the poem. Or, put another way, describe what you think the poem means. What is the poet attempting to communicate in writing this poem? Remember, it is completely fine to be speculative! But also remember that you are making an INTERPRETIVE CLAIM, an ARGUMENT about the meaning of the poem.
2. Once you have written this brief summary, identify TWO poetic devices that you believe to be the most striking and/or significant and explicate how each of these devices develop or complicate the overall meaning of the poem. Be sure to effectively quote from the poem. Your explication for each device should be at least a paragraph. Make sure that you are quoting these devices directly and, thus, engaging directly with the language of the poem.
3. SO IN TOTAL, YOU SHOULD HAVE THREE WELL DEVELOPED PARAGRAPHS, EACH CONTAINING AT LEAST 6 COMPLETE SENTENCES.

Ensure you have completed your post assignment by Tuesday, 2/15, @ 2:00 PM.

For class on Thursday, 2/10, you will be reading three poems by Claude McKay [see course schedule] and completing your first discussion post.

Please ensure that you submit your discussion post by 2:00 PM on Thursday, 2/10.

This will ensure that I have enough time to read through them before we meet

Instructions:

Identify 3 to 4 poetic devices in one of our assigned Claude McKay poems. Write out the lines of the poem with which you are engaging. (You may format this as a list.)

For TWO of the poetic devices you select, please compose 4-5 sentences FOR EACH DEVICE (so you will have a total of 2 short paragraphs), explaining how the specific device you have identified shapes or relates to the meaning of the poem as a whole as YOU understand it. Please note that your responses will be visible to everyone in the class.

After posting, please read through any posts that have been put up thus far and be ready to discuss your response in class.