Reading - Mentor Texts - PART ONE
As we try to learn what composition looks like for each of us, you'll want to carefully read and research your assigned mentor text. (What's mentor text? Find out more here: https://lead.nwp.org/knowledgebase/reading-writing-and-mentor-texts-imagining-possibilities-nwp-radio/ )
Read/watch/listen through your text and create an x-page in your notebook. These first impressions may lead you to important questions and insights later.
Do some Google research about the publisher/author/text/genre or some other element of your text. You might even just Google a question you have about the text.
Read the text again with these questions, and your own questions, in mind:
Try your best to categorize the text. What genres could it belong to and border? What are some similar texts you are familiar with?
What kind of vibe do you get from the text?
Do you think you are part of the intended audience for this text? Who might this text bring in? Who might it keep out?
What is the text doing? What might readers take away from the text?
What occasion might have prompted the text?
Who is the speaker of the text? How is this speaker similar to but different from the author?
What is the text about? How would you summarize it in just a sentence or two?
What nuances, complications, problems, insights, connections are emerging for you? What important message is surfacing?
We'll discuss your thoughts and answers in class.
A: “Homegoing, AD” by Kima Jones
B: “In the Shadow [...]” by Alison Bechdel
C: “Making a Fist” by Naomi Shihab Nye
D: "Real Colonial American Food" with Michael Twitty