“The Great Divide” took the W in my books

I feel as is all poems did a really good job at answering the prompt assigned. They somewhat took different approaches at doing so, but they made their stance clear. I enjoyed that the students that wrote this didn’t make it difficult to read, them being straight to the point helped out. They all also talk about the sonnet form and rhyme schemes so of course that adds on to their grade. I would give tropic “Tropic Shadows” a B+ because I like her ideas. A little more elaboration on quotes would’ve made the post better but, overall it was good. For “White Americaaaaaaaa” I would grade it a B-. This is due to the lack of textual evidence. Its a pretty solid post in regards to them setting up their focus for the post. I think they expressed themselves pretty well, but the textual evidence not being directly their somewhat confuses me. I think “The Great Divide” deserves an A-. I actually liked their way of explaining themselves. I honestly alway enjoy reading other students blog post because they seem to go really into depth and find things between the lines that I don’t understand when I read the poem myself. Out of all the poems, I would have to say that “The Great Divide” was the most persuasive and interesting.

to evaluate.

By: Jocelyn Lemus

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When we write, our minds are build upon differently allowing us to express our ideas and comparing it to others. Which to leads me to evaluating the three blog posts noted down:

Tropic Shadows: A-

White America: B-

and

The Great Divided: B-

Even though every single person was capable of writing and evaluating the analysis of each of Claude McKay’s piece, they all hit that particulate criteria where they were super close to having everything jot down. I’ve noticed that everyone did an amazing and true effort of getting into the point and digging some of those ideas that just come out instantly. However, I must say that the blog post of Tropic Shadows certainly shaped the idea of everything that should be mentioned. This person was able to bring in particular ideas that were not that mentioned. There was so much detail that was able to be seen with an instant. For example, this person was able to use a well written and well structured blog posts that shaped it with the importance of McKay’s piece alone.

In addition, the reason I I gave the other two blog post a solid B or B minus was because they were able to correlate everything together from each of the and analysis of the McKay’s piece but they were also missing some criteria that allowed them to have a better grade. Don’t get me wrong all of these people did an amazing job and the blog post but I feel like they could’ve been having it a little bit more detail with new ideas they were not always straightforward to find I feel like they could’ve elaborated more they can make connections with the outside world. overall everyone did a good job as I was reading the blog post, but they could’ve been like a bit more of a detail and emphasis of what they were trying to say which will lead them to make a better and more understanding of the text.

Big brains write blog post for me (also writing blog to blog bout it)

Kevin Vargas

Kittsham’s Tropic Shadows blog contains very applicable real-world feelings that were captured. It identifies the two poems as separate emotional stages as opposed to viewing it as one collectible thesis. The emotion of isolation and limbo state of routine. The analysis on The Tropics of New York really does a great job introducing the idea of being trapped. However, it lacks an example on where this sense is felt. Fortunately, the analysis on “Subway Wind” tied the two together to give a greater insight on McKay’s flow of thought. If I dive into a reading deeply and I find myself hearing my thudding heart, then it deserves an A-.  

Dannyon13’s blog White Americaaaaaaa demonstrates an effort to dive deeper to demonstrate emotion beyond the poem but it can be more refined to greater potential. For example, in the last portion of the paragraph depicting the quotes that some African Americans had to face, there is heavy dehumanization of a race. Hurtful words such as “round us bark the mad and hungry dogs” and “making their mock at our accursed lot” are used as examples to retaliate stronger. Much like a war speech in a rebellion against a tyrant, there is a the list of the troubles followed by the negative prejudice and finalized by the final action to call. This call for action could be part of the thesis to rebel against racism and prejudice. However, there is still some valid points to reference the homesick portion of the poem. It raised my interest to a B. 

As for Marklipnickey’s The Great Divide blog had me lightly confused at first. I wasn’t sure where this idea of “anxiety” came from. You clarified within the blog through deeper analysis that there is seeking love but one can’t get it over itself. I wasn’t able to catch this on my read! A. 

What Works Best?

Here are the grades as I see fit for the three given blog posts:

             “Tropics Shadows”: A

            “White Americaaaaaaaa”: B/B+

“The Great Divide”: C+/B-

As you can see from the grade I have given, the best one in my opinion is “Tropics Shadows”. I feel that each of them did a good job of identifying poetic devices and good links between the poem that they were comparing. However, when it comes to “White Americaaaaaaaa” I feel that the devices were identified and not fully fleshed out; and when it comes to “The Great Divide” I feel that the devices identified have been explained well but the importance of the devices to the content of the poems isn’t addressed very well. Only the post “Tropics Shadows” was able to do all three of these things well together.

•  Andrew Hardy

The Importance of Creativity

Grading “Tropic Shadows” was a difficult task, but it had to be done. This is because it is a good blog post, but it was lacking something, leaving me unsure of what grade to give, at first. The post provided the reader with a clear thesis, one that was interesting and unique, but it lacked a sufficient amount of evidence. Additionally, the evidence that it did provide was not expanded on and thus was unable to support the thesis efficiently. For example, the author talks about how both poems they are writing about, “Subway Wind” and “The Tropics of New York”, are sonnets, but they did not really provide a compelling argument for why that aspect of the poems is significant. Because of the post’s lack of contextual evidence, the grade I am giving “Tropic Shadows” is a B+.

“White Americaaaaaaaa”, on the other hand, was rather easy to grade. This is because the thesis was unoriginal, in the terms that I felt like I had seen it a million times. Additionally, the post did not tie the contextual evidence that was provided in a manner that convinced me of what the author was trying to say about the two poems. However, despite the posts lack of a unique thesis and contextual evidence, I am unable to give it less than a B-. This is because it make an honest attempt at providing an interpretation of of the two poems and it did do what the prompt was asking. However, it lacked any creativity, leaving it with a B- grade.

Finally, on to my favorite post: “The Great Divide”. This post was the best because it offered a rather interesting thesis as well as well interpreted contextual evidence. Despite all of this, though, the post deserves only an A-. This is because, although it does have all of the important qualities of a blog post, it is not truly exquisite. This is because the author does not actually provide the lines from the poems that they use as evidence, they simply state their significance and role in the poems. This is why the post deserves an A-.

Out of the three blog posts, “The Great Divide” Deserved the highest grade because it provided a a clear and creative thesis, as well as contextual evidence that really provided convinced me of what the author was trying to say.

Sophia Wallace-Boyd

Feeling Oh So Divided

By Lauren Hamilton

In the post “The Great Divide” the author does a great job of starting out with a strong thesis and explaining the points of the thesis. But then doesn’t really put in the lines (they have rhyming scheme and line numbers but the inserted lines would have done better in building their argument) which would have helped strengthen their argument and the final paragraph did not summarize or restate the thesis in an interesting manner. I want to say it was an A- post for the originality talking about the “anxiety of the heart” but due to the missing parts I have to say it is a solid B. That’s where I am feeling divided on this post, its well written and opened up an idea that I did not notice when I read the poems but it is missing those things and following the rubric is one of those good ideas.

Originality

Arlyne Gonzalez

Reading and analyzing Tropic Shadows, I immediately noted that the introduction and thesis were clear and easily spotted, which means that this blog post is leaning toward the A range. The author did an effective job in colliding these two poems together and generating the idea of how New York drawing people the promise of a bright future as if New York symbolizes a promising success in life. However, this author could have further analyzed the way the two poems complemented one another because perhaps these two poems carried the same message? This author did an effective job of incorporating textual evidence to strengthen their original idea which is why I believe this blog post deserves a B.

Diving into WHITE AMERICAAAAAAAA”, just by reading the title, I sensed the vibe of a really exaggerated and intense blog post. The author effectively incorporated textual evidence along with historical context when mentioned Claude McKay’s “America” and “If we must die” is racial oppression in the US during the Harlem Renaissance. The author established that the theme was racial oppression and from there they built off their argument which was the speaker encouraging his comrades to challenge death and for blacks to challenge white oppression, this was an interesting and well-developed idea that was sustained and supported through the whole blog post. However, the author could have elaborated more on that thought. Therefore, I give this blog post a B+.

The Great Divide immediately sparked my interest because the author mentioned their raw and true interpretation of the two poems. The author did not include fancy words to spice up her argument, she was straight to the point which is easy to grasp. The author pointed out elements that were prevalent throughout the poem which helps support her argument which was; “Love is a very hard subject to write about well, especially when that love is to allow, as is the case in these two pieces. The heart, McKay expresses, tries to free itself, but sometimes in simply unsuccessful”, this was a clear thesis, although it was placed in the end it was still well grasped. However, what this blog post needed was a revision because the author should have placed their thesis at the beginning to properly organize their blog post and to better navigate their reader. Therefore, I give this blog post an A-.

Reading and analyzing these three blog posts, which were all written very well, I conclude that “The Great Divide” was the most persuasive and original because the author established an interesting and raw argument that was easy to grasp and was straight to their point, they did not dwell on fancy words and still delivered a successful blog post with a clear thesis, which is why I scored them with an A-.