Quote Responses

On days indicated on the calendar, you will submit a quote response on an assigned work. I say "submit," but because you will be writing these assignments in Google Drive, I will be able to see your work on them even before the due date. So the deadline is actually when you should be finished so that I can evaluate your writing.

The goal is to think about a work we are reading and write short paragraph responses to three different quotations. The exercise, therefore, has three sections. To earn credit for the assignment, please follow the requirements and guidelines. If the quote response is optional, you will not be penalized for not doing it; however, a higher grade on an optional Quote Response can replace a lower grade on a required one. However, optional quote responses cannot replace zeros on required quote responses.

1. Concern: Choose a sentence or two from the work that reveals the concern of a character or narrator (fiction) or the speaker (poetry). After typing your selection, describe how your selection helps you see that concern. Demonstrate your thought process. Do not identify a personality trait of the person--I am not asking you to explain what someone is like. Instead, identify an idea that motivates his or her behavior. For example, "This passage suggests that Edna wants the men in her life to serve her, just as she has been expected to serve them." This kind of direct statement should start your response. Then you would explain how your chosen passage actually reveals that idea to you. Where in the language does the author communicate that idea? How can you tell that the character of speaker has that concern? Be careful here. Don't chose a passage that reports a concern directly. Simply repeating what the passage says will not be enough. Look for implications.
2. Conflict: Choose a different sentence or two that contain evidence of an important conflict within or around a character, narrator, or speaker. After typing your selection, identify the conflict you see and how the language in your selection reveals it to you. Make sure you understand what "conflict" means before attempting this one. You need to internalize the following expression: "conflict between      A      and      B     ," the two blanks containing the specific concerns, choices, or attitudes that are in disharmony. It's not enough to write "conflict between Edna and Leonce." Be more specific: "This passage underscores a conflict between Edna's desire to free herself from social expectations and Leonce's need to maintain the status quo to secure his financial stability." This kind of direct statement should start your response. Then you would explain how your chosen passage actually helps you see that conflict. Again, be careful to look for implications, not direct reports.
3. Craft: Choose another sentence or two that showcases an interesting way that the author uses words to express an idea. After typing the quotation, describe the feature that attracted your attention and explain the effect it has on your experience as a reader. Do not interpret the passage; instead, show how the author's use of words creates an experience of meaning. For example, "This passage contains a metaphor comparing Edna's longing for freedom to the act of swimming in a great expanse of water." This kind of direct statement should start your response. Then you would have to explain how that comparison makes sense and affects your experience as a reader. Simply interpreting the passage will not be enough.

concern: an idea that guides an individual's behavior and choices. Concerns demonstrate our definitions of right and wrong, helpful and hurtful, etc. There is always a value system in or behind a work, and one way to make sense of a story is to identify the shape and size of that system. Even if we happen to disagree with the concerns of a character, narrator, or speaker, we can benefit from literature that helps us see another point of view more clearly.

conflict: Any clash between one attitude and another, one behavior and another, one desire and another, or one choice and another that leads to crisis (crisis being a point of anxiety and uncertainty). If you have ever asked yourself the question "What should I do now?" you might know something about crisis. In literature, conflicts between characters or conflicts within the mind of a character or speaker allow us to observe crisis from a distance, but we can still be affected.

craft: The way an author uses words should matter in a work of literature, and most of the time it does matter. So we must pay attention to the author's language. Word choice, tone of voice, the rhythm of phrases, the level of detail, figures of speech, etc. all contribute to our impression of an author's style. Style is important to analyze in literature because in the end, we are reading words crafted to create a memorable effect and thought-provoking meaning.

To receive full credit:

• Choose three unique selections to quote. Each one must be thought provoking and reward close reading.
• Compose and edit your responses carefully in a Google Document. Do NOT do your work outside of Google Drive and then copy and paste.
• Fill in all parts of the quote response, including (a) the name of the work at the top, (b) the page numbers of your selections, and (c) other blanks where appropriate.
• Use the quote response template to type your work. When you open this document, you can go to "File" to "Make a copy"; then rename the document appropriately and put it in your assignments folder in Google Drive. Leave the formatting in the quote response template as is.
• Show me your unique thoughts. Tell me what YOU think, not something you found on Google.
• Write no fewer than 100 words per response, no more than 150, not including the selections you choose from the work.
• Dig deep in your interpretation instead of settling for obvious, superficial meanings.
• Write clearly and proofread, just as your would for a formal essay. I am not expecting your voice to be "academic," but I am expecting your grammar and sentence structure to follow standard conventions of college-level writing.

Poorly written responses will receive low marks, and while you will have chances to improve your grades on required quote responses by doing optional ones, you will create more work for yourself if you rush through your work on these. I would say you need to give each one at least a solid, concentrated hour of your time (after selecting your lines). Less time spent now means more time spent later. Taking up space by building up to your response is not a good idea--plan ahead so that you can start specific. Summaries of the literature or general discussions about your opinions will not receive favorable credit.

Scoring Guide:

5 --> skillful, focused, impressive, and invested
4 --> complete, on topic, and clear, but less compelling
3 --> competent but lacking in content, depth, or clarity
2 --> incomplete, off-topic, or poorly written
1 --> same as 2 but worse
0 --> undone, unfinished, or plagiarized