6/11: HOMEWORK (Lesson Before Dying and My Antonia only - other readers, finish your books for Friday): Lesson: please read/listen to/watch at least one of the following before book groups on Friday): Bryan Stevenson's TED Talk (1/2 hour), Michelle Alexander on Jim Crow and prisons (35 minutes). C-Span: "The History of Capital Punishment." James Baldwin debates William F Buckley about whether the American Dream is at the expense of black Americans (there's a transcript with this video. Baldwin begins at 13:47), Caught is a podcast series about the juvenile justice system now, Choose any of the first three episodes to listen to (scroll down on the page to find the first three - each is about 1/2 hour long), an essay by Ernest Gaines about writing the novel (attached below: "Gaines_Writing_A_Lesson_Before_Dying_1_.pdf"), Here's the poem "When I Think About Tamir Rice While Driving" (scroll down on that page) to hear a reading and brief discussion of the poem). IF this book has sparked your interest about prison reform (and I really, really hope it has), this is a terrific conversation about reform with a conservative and a liberal listening to each other, disagreeing respectfully and finding common ground (both men have served time in prison).
My Antonia:Choose at least one of these for Friday: Here's Thoreau's chapter "Sounds" from Walden - in many ways, it makes me think about the sense of beauty and place in My Antonia and his discussion of the railroad makes me think differently about the fact that Jim ends up at the railroad. Here's a piece about immigration in Nebraska in the 1900s, "Shirt" by Robert Pinsky and the Poetry in America exploration of the poem (here ).
IN CLASS: Meet in book groups and talk through what you have read. Be sure to continue the conversation about identity and talk about emerging themes. When you are finished, working on your own, choose one of the extensions for your book to explore. On the front of the notecard: take notes about the material - make meaning of the poem, notes from article or TED talk, etc. On the back of the notecard: reflect about the material and especially about connections to the novel. THINK: how does this supplemental material expand your thinking, make you see things differently, focus you in on a particular aspect of the book, help you connect the book to issues of today, etc. Supplemental materials: The Scarlet Letter: Dickinson's "I cannot dance upon my toes," and a clip of people discussing the poem), Monica Lewinsky's TED talk, "What Kind of Times Are These" + Emerson's Nature. The Scarlet Letter - Tim Rollins and K.O.S. The Scarlett Letter VI (you can read about the group's work here and here). The Hate U Give - here's Alexandra Bell's work with newspaper layout and headlines, here's Amanda Johnstone's poem "Facing US," here's Ta-Nehisi Coates talking about police shootings, about the destruction of black bodies, etc.
A Lesson Before Dying - IN CLASS: "A Small, Needful Thing," (attached below), analysis of the disparity between black and white marijuana users, "Locked Away Forever" (see "prison articles - Locked away Forever"), Lesson Before Dying- Execution of Willie Francis" (attached below) is about a real life case that Gaines used as part of his inspiration for the novel.. For Friday: please read/listen to/watch 2 of the following before book groups on Friday): Bryan Stevenson's TED Talk (1/2 hour), Michelle Alexander on Jim Crow and prisons (35 minutes). C-Span: "The History of Capital Punishment." James Baldwin debates William F Buckley about whether the American Dream is at the expense of black Americans (there's a transcript with this video. Baldwin begins at 13:47), Caught is a podcast series about the juvenile justice system now, Choose any of the first three episodes to listen to (scroll down on the page to find the first three - each is about 1/2 hour long), an essay by Ernest Gaines about writing the novel (attached below: "Gaines_Writing_A_Lesson_Before_Dying_1_.pdf"), IF this book has sparked your interest about prison reform (and I really, really hope it has), this is a terrific conversation about reform with a conservative and a liberal listening to each other, disagreeing respectfully and finding common ground (both men have served time in prison).
6/4: HOMEWORK: Tonight, everyone read and work to understand the tenets of Romanticism (attached below "Romanticism - Hum 2"). For TSL and My Antonia in particular, these traits will strike you as familiar.
TSL revisit the conversation between Hester and Chillingworth, paying close attention to the description of the marriage (69-70) and the promise he extracts from Hester. THINK about why these mater. In 5, slow yourselves down, pay attention to the conflicts in Hester's soul: the guilt she feels, the strength that fights against the feelings of guilt, her work and her reception, her conflicted feelings about motherhood and especially about handling all of this alone. Here's a series of posters used in NYC as a campaign against teen pregnancy and attached is an excerpt from an article about shame and guilt and raising children.
My Antonia - Think about Jim's conflicting interests (what he wants as a teenager, his grandparents rules and role in his life, his flirtation with Antonia and Lena) - Revisit the contrasts between "hired girls" and the "town girls," the double standards that women are expected to live up to and how that constrains identity. Worth talking about Antonia's free spirit and looking back at the type of woman it seems Jim marries. Look at the Andrew Wyeth paintings attached below (esp Christina's World) and see what connections you can make to the novel. Read this piece about women and double standards.
Lesson Before Dying- Talk about Grant's character, about shame and guilt he feels and about how that drives him. Here's an article about recent comments calling gang members "animals." Think about the points made in the article, about the effects of similar comments about Jefferson, the dehumanizing and its effects, etc. Here's an article about the lynching memorial.
The Hate U Give: Starr's PTSD and her conflicting feelings about what she needs to do for Khalil, her continuing feelings of having to be different people in different places, the tensions with Hailey, etc. Here's an article about studies that show that our society views black men as dangerous. I've also attached the poem "When I think of Tamir Rice While Driving." Read that and think about the parallels between the novel and the poem.