Overview
In this class, I am frequently going to ask you to read actively and take notes on a text (a poem, an
article, a short-story, etc.). One way to take notes is through a process
called annotation. We are practicing annotation in this
assignment, where you will be working with a poem by Diane Burns, an Indigenous
American poet. Usually, you will not be required to submit your notes
since they are written by and for you, but I am asking you all to submit your
annotations this time so that I can give you feedback that may improve your note-taking
abilities for future assignments. If you’ve never annotated anything
before, please watch this video about annotating in Microsoft Word before
starting this assignment:
Instructions
1. Read “Sure You Can Ask Me A Personal
Question” by Diane Burns
at least once.
2. Annotate a copy of the
poem with your own original thoughts and questions about it; if you do choose
to look up any information about the author or the poem, you must identify the
sources you consult in your notes. Then, upload your annotation document
for this assignment. Here are just a few options for submitting your annotation
(you have the ability to upload multiple files for this particular assignment
in case that helps you):
·
annotate this .pdf Download this .pdf, and and then save and submit it;
·
annotate this MS Word document Download this MS Word
document, and then save and
submit it;
·
annotate a printed or handwritten copy of the poem, and then
take and submit a picture of your work.
Citing Help for Future Assignments
When you use ideas from this poem in Essay #1, you will need to
document those ideas with both in-text citations and a Works Cited entry.
This helps our readers follow along and verify information for themselves, and
it’s an important part of academic integrity.
Works Cited entry
It’s usually easiest
to begin with the Works Cited entry. Purdue’s OWLLinks to an external site. show us how to cite a short work from an
anthology (a book that is a collection of shorter works like poems, short
stories, and essays), which is how I accessed this poem for our class (to keep
things simple for this assignment, we’ll set aside the fact that you’re
accessing this electronically). We begin with the authors last and then
first name, the name of the short work (in quotation marks), the name of the
anthology (italicized), edited by Editor’s name(s), publisher, year, page range
for short work.
Burns, Diane. “Sure You Can Ask Me A Personal
Question.” When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs
Came Through: A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry, Edited by
Joy Harjo, LeAnne Howe, and Jennifer Foerster, Norton, 2020, 77-79.
Please note that the necessary hanging indent (used whenever an
the Works Cited entry is longer than one line in your document) is missing
here; in most word processing programs, you can find the setting for that under
paragraphing settings (look for “special” indentation options).
In-text citations
Once you have the Works Cited entry, it’s fairly easy to figure
out the in-text citation, since they should align. Since we’re working
with a poem here, however, we have some special rules to follow; a comma and
the word “lines” are both included to help show that the numbers
provided are for lines and not pages.
·
The first citation for the poem should look like this: (Burns,
lines 1-4) or (lines 1-4). The second version is used when the
author has been named. The period for the sentence goes after the
parentheses unless you have a very long quotation.
·
The second and subsequent citations for the poem should look
like this: (Burns 9-10) or (9-10). The second version is used when
the author has been named. The period for the sentence goes after the
parentheses unless you have a very long quotation.
Please note that commas are not a usual feature
of MLA in-text citations; they are reserved for unusual citing situations.
