Poetry, like anything, makes an argument

Week 5 - Analyzing an Argument 

Task 1: Review Model

Context: In honor of Women's History Month, I wanted to celebrate one of my favorite poets - Lucille Clifton. Defying the norms of poetry, Clifton is not always acknowledged as one of the seminal poets of her era, but I vehemently disagree. Poetry, like anything, makes an argument. Through distinct style and voice, Clifton poetry makes arguments about womanhood that make me a better man, and I am so thankful for her work. Below, I’ve modeled the process of analyzing an argument. Based on my paragraph response. Consider: 

• How did I determine Clifton's argument?  
• How did I establish and analyze HOW Clifton made her larger argument? 
• How can you apply this process to the different articles and essays you read?    

“won’t you celebrate with me”

by Lucille Clifton 

won’t you celebrate with me

what i have shaped into

a kind of life? i had no model.

born in babylon

both nonwhite and woman

what did i see to be except myself?

i made it up

here on this bridge between

starshine and clay,

my one hand holding tight

my other hand; come celebrate

with me that everyday

something has tried to kill me

and has failed.

Clifton uses a circular poetic structure and the image of joined hands to argue that Black women must turn inward and find strength in themselves so that they can withstand the inevitable assaults of a racist, patriarchal society. Clifton opens her poem with an invitation for the reader to “celebrate with me.” She closes the poem the same way: “come celebrate / with me that everyday /something has tried to kill me / and has failed.” She gives the poem a circular structure to emphasize the need to Black women to look inward, back at themselves, to find strength. The poem looks inward on itself, as the start and end are looking at each other and so creating a circle. Clifton builds on this idea of inward-facing strength when she writes “my one hand holding tight / my other hand.” The image here, of the speaker holding her own hand, reinforces Clifton’s message that Black women need to rely on themselves for strength. They must hold “tight” to themselves, as their two hands create the same circle as the poem’s larger structure. Clifton suggests that this focus on themselves allows Black women to survive the “something” that “has tried to kill” them every day, and will continue to do so. 

Now it is your turn!

Task 2 - Practice 

Context: You all have varying interests and professional pursuits, and I tried to identify essays based on those focus areas. This task will synthesize the Week 3 “dressing arguments” tasks and the Week 4 “examples and analogies” assignments. 

Directions: Identify the topic that most interests you from the texts listed below.

• Dental Hygiene: “Poor Teeth” 
• Real Estate: “How Redining’s Racists Effects Lasted for Decades”
• Hotel Management: “A New Era of Lodging”  

Next, read the essay and determine the author’s argument. Finally, analyze HOW the author makes that argument by responding with a full paragraph integrating at least two full quotes of evidence to defend your response. Type your response in the space below.

Task3

A great question comes from curiosity and thoughtful consideration. Think about Exit West's prominent topics such as immigration, emigrations, portals, passage, borders.etc. Then, review the resources attached, and pose at least 2 questions based the criteria for a strong question.

https://youtu.be/tYnGiWlwcj4

Asking Strong Questions 

Every research project starts with a question. Your question will allow you to select, evaluate and interpret  your sources systematically. The question you start with isn’t set in stone, but will almost certainly be  revisited and revised as you read. 

Every discipline allows for certain kinds of questions to be asked. History is a pretty permissive discipline  in this sense, but some kinds of questions can cause problems down the road or can only be answered by  appealing to explanatory schemes that fall outside of the purview of academic history. They are not  empirically resolvable. A good question requires research (not just reflection or opinion) and is narrow enough  to allow for an answer. Here are some kinds of questions one should generally try to avoid.  

Common Problems in Question Posing 

1. The Deceptively Simple Question 

A question that demands a simple answer to a complex question.  

Ex: When did women achieve equality? 

2. The Fictional Question 

Ex: If Hitler had been accepted to art school, would World War II have  

happened? 

3. The Stacked Question, or, The Embedded Assumption 

Ex: Why did the Carter presidency fail? 

 4. The Semantic Question 

 A question that hinges on the definition of terms. 

 Ex: Are all radical revolutions violent? 

5. The Impossible-to-Answer Question 

 Ex: Was World War I inevitable? 

6. The Opinion or Ethical Question 

Ex: Was Truman wrong to authorize the use of the atomic bomb? 

7. The Anachronistic Question 

 Ex: How good was ancient Athens’ record on civil rights? 

The biggest problem a researcher could have is an absent question. Since it is never possible to include  everything, it is necessary to have a question to help guide you through the thicket. Starting with a research  question instead of just a topic will make it much easier to come up with a thesis – it will simply be the  answer to your question –, but without a question, it’s hard to imagine how one would come up with an  argument.

Kristin Poling, for the Department of History at Harvard, 2008/2009