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The content of the course (and the prompt) is extremely pertinent to ESL
learners. The literary content of the course gives the student a constant
cultural element via the reading input (which is literature- a product of
human culture and human experience). The students will learn a great deal
The goal of the first two weeks is to teach and reinforce the construction of
the 5 paragraph essay and to introduce literary devices. We will focus
primarily on the use of metaphors as well as the concept of dilemma.
The first author in the course series is Robert Frost. Our first reading will be
Frosts address Education by Poetry given at Amherst College in 1930. The
first week of class we will have read and analyzed the address as well as
done in an class response essay based on the two roles that Frost says that
poetry plays in education: 1.) We cultivate our tastes through poetry & 2.)
Poetry teaches us how to discern and understand metaphor in our lives. We
will focus on the metaphor by discussing the definition of metaphor and the
use of metaphor in literature as well as discuss Frosts ideas of metaphor.
In week two we will analyze Frosts poem The Road Not Taken. The
students will be given pre-reading questions as well as be asked to consider
what Frost has to say about metaphor in regard to the poem. We will also
study a poetry analysis essay of the poem. Additionally, we will have
discussed extensively the use of metaphor prior to the second timed essay
writing so that they will be well prepared to respond to the writing prompt.
The Road Not Taken is one of Frosts poems that follows his description of
poetry which he gave in his address, Education by Poetry. Frost states
that Poetry begins in trivial metaphors, pretty metaphors, grace
metaphors, and goes on to the profoundest thinking that we have. He says
that, Poetry provides the one permissible way of saying one thing and
meaning another Unless you are at home in the metaphor , unless you
have had your proper poetical education in the metaphor, you are not safe
(Frost). We will discuss the concept of metaphor as well as discuss the
concept of archetypal dilemma that is brought up in a poetry analysis essay
of Frosts address which we will read in conjunction with the poem.
The response essay written for this prompt will serve to illustrate the
students learning and understanding of the targeted poetic device/s in the
readings (the use of metaphor, the concept of dilemma). The students
essays will also gauge the students ability to craft a five part essay while
incorporating complex ideas and analysis.
The rubric that I am using is a rubric given to me which I have revised for
the assessment needs generated from this writing prompt that I have
created. Primarily, I was given this rubric as a student in Dr. Jennifer
Smiths class. Dr. Smith in my mentor in a GA pilot program through which I
will receive (hopefully) transcription of TA teaching experience. She used
this rubric to assess me in a graduate level Spanish literature course. She
assessed me and other native and non-native speakers of Spanish for our
300 word compositions (in Spanish) with this rubric. When I began the
reflection process for this Teaching L2 English Composition course, I
realized that of all my professors in the Spanish department, I had
appreciated her rubrics the most. As such I asked her for them and gained
permission to use them in my teaching writing endeavors.
I have learned a lot from the Project #3 process. What strikes me about
constructing this project most is the importance of creating a learning goal
for the student that is then mirrored in the prompt and rubric. An output
essay needs to be created by the student which appropriately and
adequately reflects the input that the student received. By choosing a
reading and then creating a learning concept based on the reading, and then
creating the rationale, and finally the prompt, I have been able to learn by
doing. In the process I am facilitating the process theory of composition, by
presenting the parts necessary that the students need to complete their
writing processes. It is abundantly clear to me now how this process works.
In a sense, it is a circular reflection: from choosing the input to create and
elicit the output goal then to the assessment of the students output which
should be a direct reflection of the writing process as well as of the
vocabulary and ideas learned through the class readings and activities
(which brings us back to the input again). Thus the process is circular and
begins with the learning goal created for the student.
by Robert Frost
The speaker in Robert Frosts poem has a dilemma in that he has to choose
between a fork in the road. The roads appear similar; so there is a hard
choice to be made as the speaker walks into the unknown.
Think about a time in your life when you came to a cross-roads or a fork in
the road; a time when you had to make a life-changing decision that could
forever change your path. Reflect on your experience and Frosts poem to
write a five-part response essay that is clear and well organized. Apply
Frosts metaphor to your life and give examples of how The Road Not
Taken or The Road Taken has shaped your experience. Explain how the
author teaches us about life through his use of metaphor in his poem and
how you can apply this same metaphor to your life.
Rubric
frequent errors.
10-5
Sources
Frost, R. (1920). The Road Not Taken. Mountain interval. New York:
Henry Holt and Company.