Write an essay of approximately 1000 words that responds to a critic and adds something new to the critical conversation about one of our modernist readings, either Langston Hughes’s “The Weary Blues” or Jean Toomer’s “Portrait in Georgia.”

Use parenthetical citations that include the author’s last name and, if applicable, the page number. Include a Works Cited page if you use sources beyond those mentioned in the assignment.

Steps to get you started:

1) Choose the work you’d like to write about, and make notes about what interests you using Acheson’s “Guiding Questions”
2) Read the appropriate secondary reading:
– Jean Toomer “Portrait in Georgia”: http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/s_z/toomer/georgia.htm (Links to an external site.)
– Langston Hughes, “The Weary Blues” http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/g_l/hughes/weary.htm (Links to an external site.)
Note: The criticism is a collection of multiple critics. You only have to choose one of them to engage.

Find the most interesting, evocative, or frustrating quote in that essay. Paraphrase the argument in your own words, citing appropriately.
Respond to the critic’s ideas by building on them, applying them elsewhere, refuting them, or otherwise giving your own spin on them.
Write your essay based on your notes and preliminary reflections.