1960s

5/10: 5/10: HOMEWORK: See "Charlie Company and Small Unit War" on the Vietnam page (link at the bottom of the Contemporary American Culture page). In class: We revisited the Rockwell paintings (Murder in Mississippi and Southern Justice) in an effort to think about the artistic implications of both.

5/9: HOMEWORK: Please revisit the two Rockwell paintings depicting the murders of Schwerner, Chaney, and Goodman. Look back over your notes, at the murders (the article below) and on the front of the notecard: choose the Rockwell painting that you would publish if you were the editor of Look. Keep in mind that Look asked that Rockwell create a piece for the magazine in 1965 America. Back up your choice with specifics from the art, the actual murder, etc. Fill the front of the card. In class, we discussed the murders of the CORE volunteers and examined Rockwell's paintings of the event - see "Rockwell Murder in Mississippi (Southern Justice)" and " Rockwell Murder in Mississippi - 1965" attached below.

5/8: B and C BLOCK HOMEWORK: Please read this article for Wednesday. In class, we reviewed the materials and the discussions from Friday.

5/7: B BLOCK HOMEWORK: Please read this article for Wednesday. In class, we reviewed the materials and the discussions from Friday.

5/4: C BLOCK: Please go to Contemporary women's issues (link below).

B BLOCK: See "Contemporary Am Cult women's issues now" (attached below).

5/3: C BLOCK homework: Please finish the readings you started in class (see "Contemporary women's issues" link below for more information). In class: We watched a couple of clips from this episode of Makers (2 different sections start 21:00 and end first clip at 31:00, then 34: - 44). Take notes about: Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Shirley Chisholm, Pat Schroeder and look for Steinem, Abzug, Clinton and others whose names you might recognize. Also, make sure you know about the legal wins, women in office, Title X and the ERA.

5/2: B and C BLOCK HOMEWORK: See "Bella and Gloria" for instructions. Make sure all are completed for tomorrow. In class, both classes talked though the Abzug and Steinem readings in order to understand the arguments being made and read the Equal Rights Amendment.

5/1: B and C BLOCK HOMEWORK: See "Bella and Gloria" for instructions. The readings are attached ("Schafly and ERA) below. In class: See "Bella and Gloria" (attached below) for instructions. The readings are also attached below: "Gloria Steinem Testimony" and Abzug 1-4"

4/30: C BLOK HOMEWORK: Honors reflections are due on Wednesday (no coupons). In class: students taught their poems to the class.

B BLOCK HOMEWORK Honors reflections are due on Wednesday (no coupons). In class, we watched the last 25 minutes of Makers (start watching at 32:00 and watch through the end). Please tale notes about the protests (including the neuty pageant, Ladies Home Journal, Whistle-In on Wall Street, Women's strike, etc.), the splits (NOW and Women's Libbers, The Lavender Menace, etc.), people - Rita Mae Brown, Gloria Steinem and why she matters, Barbara Walters and why she matters and Ms/ Magazine and why it matters.

4/27: C BLOCK: We worked on the poetry assessment (last day - make sure curator notes as complete and shared with me by noon on Saturday) and talked through the two podcasts. HONORS reflections due Wednesday - both classes.

4/26: HOMEWORK (C BLOCK): See homework listed on 4/23. In class (B BLOCK): We worked on the poetry assessment (last day - make sure curator notes as complete and shared with me by noon on Saturday) and talked through the two podcasts. HONORS reflections due Wednesday - both classes.

4/25: HOMEWORK: See homework listed on 4/23. In class (B BLOCK): We worked on the poetry assessment (see "Cont Am Culture poetry assessment" + "poetry assignment addition" attached below).

4/24: HOMEWORK: See homework listed on 4/23. In class - we continued to work with poems. B Block picked up where they left off before break and C Block worked on their assessments (see "Cont Am Culture poetry assessment" attached below).

4/23: HOMEWORK: See "Cont Am Culture Stonewall and Olympic protests" for homework. Here's the Stonewall podcast (99% Invisible "remembering Stonewall") and here's the interview with Dr. John Carlos (NYPL podcast: Dr. John Carlos has no Regrets").

C Block: In class: we spent some time checking out the poetry resources I collected (see the link below) and talked about the assessment (see "Cont Am Culture poetry assessment," attached below)

B Block: HOMEWORK: See "Cont Am Culture Stonewall and Olympic protests" for homework. Here's the Stonewall podcast (99% Invisible "remembering Stonewall") and here's the interview with Dr. John Carlos (NYPL podcast: Dr. John Carlos has no Regrets"). We worked together on Brooks' poem "Boy Breaking Glass."(attached)

4/12: B BLOCK HOMEWORK: revisit the poems tonight and dig deeper - look to incorporate what you talked about today, look at form, at word choice, etc. and how that all contributes to new understanding. In class: I handed out the H project requirements (see "Honors Project T 4" attached below) and students worked in pairs on the poems they chose.

C BLOCK HOMEWORK: revisit the poems tonight and dig deeper - look to incorporate what we talked about today as we made our way through "Boy Breaking Glass", look at form, at word choice, etc. and how that all contributes to new understanding. I class: We talked about Gansberg's piece, about what it tells us about the 1960s and the conflicts (law and order vs freedom, the way women are judged, shamed, abused, etc.) and why that matters). Then we did a deep dive into "Boy Breaking Glass."

4/11: C BLOCK HOMEWORK: Read and respond to Martin Gansberg's piece about Kitty Genovese. See the 4 attachments labeled "Kitty Genovese" attached below for the reading and the assignment. In class: Students paired up and worked together on their poems. On the notecard they handed in - on one side: write the title of one of your poems and the poet's name, then tell me 3 of your best ideas about the poem from last night's work, 2 new ideas you gained from talking and 2 obstacles still in your way. Do the same for the other poem on the back. We also started eh discussion about "Boy Breaking Glass" and read over the honors project for T 4 (see "Honors Project T 4..." attached below).

4/10: B BLOCK HOMEWORK: Work with at least two of your poems (you must have a copy printed out of each). Look up words you do not know and mark up the poems for images. Write a paragraph for each about what struck you in the poem, why you chose it and what you still need to explore in the poem. In class: We talked about "Wants" and pulled together poems for the work we are doing.

4/9: C BLOCK HOMEWORK: Work with at least two of your poems (you must have a copy printed out). Look up words you do not know and mark up the poems for images. Write a paragraph for each about what struck you in the poem, why you chose it and what you still need to explore in the poem. In class: We talked about "Wants" and pulled together poems for the work we are doing.

B Block: HOMEWORK: Read "Wants" by Grace Paley (attached below) with an eye to what Betty Friedan had to say about women's changing lives in "The Problem That Has No Name" in The Feminine Mystique. Mark up the text as you read, then (when you are finished) reflect on the story, work to make meaning of the characters , their relationship, the central tension, etc and/or make connections to Friedan. .Fill the space on the front of the story.

In class: we talked through Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, especially focusing on how she is able to communicate her ideas to nonscientists. Then: Here's the link to Maya Lin's newest (last) memorial What is Missing. This is an interactive memorial designed to record the changes/losses in our environment over time, the stories about what were are losing and have lost and conservation methods for protecting what's left. Please spend a little time exploring. If you click on the species icon at the bottom, all of the dots on the map will reveal species that are endangered. When you click on the stories icon, each dot links to a story connected to species we are losing. Finally, poetry.

4/6: C Block HOMEWORK: Read "Wants" by Grace Paley with an eye to what Betty Friedan had to say about women's changing lives in "The Problem That Has No Name" in The Feminine Mystique. Mark up the text as you read, then (when you are finished) reflect on the story, work to make meaning of the characters , their relationship, the central tension, etc and/or make connections to Friedan. .Fill the space on the front of the story. In class: we talked through Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, especially focusing on how she is able to communicate her ideas to nonscientists. Then: Here's the link to Maya Lin's newest (last) memorial What is Missing. This is an interactive memorial designed to record the changes/losses in our environment over time, the stories about what were are losing and have lost and conservation methods for protecting what's left. Please spend a little time exploring. If you click on the species icon at the bottom, all of the dots on the map will reveal species that are endangered. When you click on the stories icon, each dot links to a story connected to species we are losing. Finally, poetry.

B Block: HOMEWORK (due Monday): See "Lepore's Carson" attached below. Here's the documentary (watch the first 3 minutes). Here's a link to Lepore's piece about Rachel Carson.

4/5: C BLOCK HOMEWORK: Please read the excerpt from Silent Spring (attached below). As you read, pay attention to Carson's style. When you've finished, respond to the piece on the notecard. You can write about your reaction to what you read, but please also write about Carson's style and why that matters. In class, We talked about "Her Kind," the NewYorker piece about Carson and the intersections with Snider and Betty Friedan.

B BLOCK HOMEWORK (due Monday): See "Lepore's Carson" attached below. Here's the documentary (watch the first 3 minutes). Here's a link to Lepore's piece about Rachel Carson. In class, we revisited the art of the 1950s in an effort to understand its principles and, more importantly, how it developed out of the culture of the 1950s. We talked about the foregrounding of the elements and principles of art, about expression as seen through those elements, about the lack of representation and so the lack of story: Abstract Expressionism and Color field art do not provide a story - the viewers make up/ are welcome to create the stories for themselves. They strip art down to its very elements and principles and let these speak for themselves. Conformity writes a narrow story, but so people's stories were not told. This art is a breaking free of that. We also watched this clip from Frozen as a way to think about Sexton's poem.

4/4: We examined "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" and Dr. King's legacy. See board notes, attached below.

4/3: C BLOCK HOMEWORK: See "Lepore's Carson" attached below. Here's the documentary (watch the first 3 minutes). Here's a link to Lepore's piece about Rachel Carson. In class, we revisited the art of the 1950s in an effort to understand its principles and, more importantly, how it developed out of the culture of the 1950s. Our takeaway (thanks, Tom and Annie): Abstract Expressionism and Color field art do not provide a story - the viewers make up/ are welcome to create the stories for themselves. They strip art down to its very elements and principles and let these speak for themselves. Conformity writes a narrow story, but so people's stories were not told. This art is a breaking free of that. We also watched this clip from Frozen as a way to think about Sexton's poem.

B BLOCK: HOMEWORK: See "Friedan and Snider" attached below (the text you need is also attached below as "Betty Friedan + Hermia Snider text"). In class: we worked first with Sexton's poem ("Sexton and Dickinson" attached below), then before leaving the 1950s, we looked at some abstract and color field art (see the "Art" page link on the "Contemporary American Culture" Page for more).

4/2: HOMEWORK: See "Friedan and Snider" attached below (the text you need is also attached below as "Betty Friedan + Hermia Snider text"). In class: we worked first with Sexton's poem ("Sexton and Dickinson" attached below), then before leaving the 1950s, we looked at some abstract and color field art (see the "Art" page link on the "Contemporary American Culture" Page for more).

3/30: IF you finish in class early, please watch these clips from 1960s T.V. shows and jot down what you notice about gender roles, about issues that are important in the 1960s, etc.Bewitched, Dragnet, Star Trek, Gilligan's Island

Here's the audio JFK's "Farewell Address to Massachusetts General Court." I have posted the transcript below.