|
Back to "Cherries" page
ENG
1213: Critical Thinking Exercise
Abstract to Concrete
-
Read Chapter 5, pp. 72-88, in the QA Compact (Troyka
and Hesse), on Critical Reading and Thinking to guide you in this
assignment.
-
Review the “MLA
Documentation PowerPoint”
presentation from Unit 1 if necessary.
-
Read Lucien Stryk’s poem,
“Cherries,” on p. 565 of The Power of Language.
-
Summarize the poem,
documenting it thoroughly in MLA style, and using a signal in and signal
out. Remember the differences in summary and paraphrase.
-
Follow MLA Style
guidelines for presenting work.
-
Answer the following,
placing it after your summary in your file:
-
How can you connect this poem to a current social
issue in the world today? In other words, how might we apply Lucien
Stryk’s message or theme to some of the reasons for our current
problems?
You
will be graded on the following aspects:
MLA documentation accuracy
Following MLA style formatting
Accuracy of your summary
Completeness of assignment – did you finish all steps
Depth of response: did you toss off a response or address this on a
serious level.
Note on response: Part
of learning to think critically means to take an abstract concept, such as
Stryk’s message in his poem, and apply it to a concrete situation, such as
America’s current economic crisis. In doing so, you open up your mind to all
possibilities. We only learn to do this well by actually doing it – working
that brain. If you’ve not had much practice in this, then you will find it
perhaps a bit difficult. You may make missteps or have a hard time coming to
any conclusions at all, or feel completely unconfident about what you come
up with. That is natural.
Here are some suggestions:
Do
your best to answer the assignment on your own and put your thoughts on
paper.
Use
your peer group to give you feedback on your ideas. Post your
interactions on the discussion board under your group name.
Make
any revisions you feel are called for.
Critical thinking is something that takes practice in doing well. We all
make mistakes, misinterpret what we’re supposed to do, or completely
miss the boat in our analysis. That’s part of the game. But learning
means that we pick ourselves up and try again. By listening to the ideas
of others, we hone our own skills, seeing where we missed something
important, or even learning to see things from other points of view that
help strengthen our own ability to think. And sometimes, we simply have
“well, duh” moments. I pride myself on being a strong critical thinker,
and this still happens to me. Do not feel embarrassed or intimidated
when it happens. We’ve all been there, and still go there. ;-)
|
|