Assignment
Reading Requirements
I. A novel or piece of non-fiction (biography, autobiography, memoir, collection of essays)
II. Short Stories--at least 4 short stories by a single author. Stories may come from a single collection or from a variety of sources.
III. A book of poetry--this is to be a collection of poems by a single poet, compiled and published as a collection or perhaps verse narrative.
The final product will be a personal anthology including a title page, a table of contents, a personal essay, excerpts from every text you read, and a bibliography.
Building an Anthology—The Organizing Principle
Devise a principle that will unite all of your reading. Think of connections that you’d like to explore. Here are some strategies earlier readers have used:
Theme—war, coming of age, family life, forging a personal identity
Period—the 1920’s, the civil war era, 1960’s, the Harlem Renaissance
Setting—islands, wilderness, the metropolis, war torn nations
Nationality or culture—a national or cultural group you are interested in
Topic of interest—art, music, science, philosophy, horror, etc.
Search Other Libraries
You can search the catalog of these local libraries for additional resources for your paper.
10th Graders Remember
I asked some 10th graders to name the books they loved from their Anthology Project:
Web Resources
- Poets.OrgSponsored by the Academy of American Poets, this site has poems + poets, essays + interviews, audio + video, and an index of "poems by occasion."
- Favorite Poem ProjectThis project was started by Robert Pinsky in 1997, when he was Poet Laureate of the United States. Inviting "ordinary" Americans to send in their favorite poems, the project now includes audio and video archives of people LIKE US reading their favorite poems. Cool.
- The PageA Daily Digest of poetry, essays, language, and ideas--in other words, an ANTHOLOGY! Links to reviews, new poems, journals.
- World Book ClubHosted by BBC World News, this site features podcasts by world authors discussing their best-known works. It's a great way to learn about new books (or other cultures for that matter), and you can subscribe via iTunes
What I'm Reading Now
Room by Emma Donoghue. (Little, Brown, 2010)
Narrated by five-year old Jack, who has spent his entire life inside a single room. The room is his home, but his imagination is as big as the world. A magical and unsettling novel about the bond between Jack and his young mother. This will keep you reading!
Library Thing
Find Oakwood's newest books on LibraryThing. You can explore what other readers are reading, review a book, search for read-alikes on the site, or search our library under the tags NewBooks Spring 11, Fiction, Poetry, Young Adult Fiction, or Graphic Novels.
Poem of the Day
Poem of the Day from the Poetry Foundation
Visit the website for audio and pod casts, blogs, and special features like their "Poetry Tool" --a quick way to find poems by category, by poet, by title. (Did you miss Robert Pinksy's reading? Recover some of the magic by reading his poems aloud!)
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