10/25: Things Fall Apart and Fruitvale Station exam.
10/24: HOMEWORK: Continue to prepare for the exam. In class we watched the BART scene and the prison scene. We talked through tips for the first required prompt (see TFA test tips attached below).
10/23: HOMEWORK: Continue to prepare for the exam. In class. We talked through the exam today and talked about the reading about the Gates arrest.
10/20: HOMEWORK: This weekend, please read the essay “The Gates Case: What Went Wrong” attached below (If you missed class, watch the video first).Please take care to try to understand how the author imagines each man’s views. When you’ve finished, on the front of the notecard: reflect on the essay. What did you learn? What surprised you, what helped you to see differently about one side or the other? etc. Fill the front of the card. I HAVE POSTED THE REVIEW SHEET BELOW. Please read that and come to class with questions.
In class: we worked in groups on "Sound & Fury" and "dear white america" attached below.
Finally, we watched a news report about the Gates arrest for context.
10/19: We spent the period talking about the film, its ramifications and its connections to the novel.
10/17: See "TFA, Fruitvale + Talk" attached below for classwork and homework.
10/16: HOMEWORK: on the back of the notecard - react to Fruitvale Station. Please do this in the same spirit as the reaction to Achebe's novel - keep in mind Ryan Cooler's desire to give Oscar back his humanity.
We finished Fruitvale Station (it is available on Netflix).
To start, on the front of the notecard: react to the end of the novel. As you do so, please keep in mind Achebe's purpose: to honor African culture and its people by presenting a complex, fully realized portrait of the culture and the people.
10/13: HOMEWORK: Finish the novel for Monday. We talked briefly about the close reading from chapter 17, then started Fruitvale Station (first 20 minutes). The film is available on Netflix.
If you need to watch Birth of a Movement, you can find it here
10/12: HOMEWORK: Tonight, repeat what we did in class with chapter 17. Pay particular attention to the last 3 pages (starting at “ One morning Okonkwo’s cousin…” on 151). Close read those pages, making a list (on a piece of notebook paper) of what you notice as you close read: word choice, images, emotions, etc. Then, use what you see to make connections between our guiding questions and the points from the film. Do this as a reflective paragraph (fill the notebook page – front – with both).
Points from Birth of a Movement: 1) Language and its power, 2) "The bringing of the African to America planted the first seeds of disunion" 3) lack of historical/cultural knowledge + the power of storytelling.
See " TFA through part 2 + Birth" attached below for classwork.
10/11:HOMEWORK: Finish reading part 2 of Things Fall Apart for tomorrow.
We finished watching Birth of a Movement and discussed the connections between it and out guiding quotes.
10/10: HOMEWORK: Continue to read: finish part 2 for Thursday and the novel for Monday. In class: Terrance Hayes' "Talk" and the first half of Birth of a Movement (see attachment below).
10/5: To start class: Please read the excerpt from A Colony in a Nation. On the notecard: React to what you read. Make connections between this excerpt, the Coates’ essay and chapters 7&8 in Things Fall Apart. Please write until I ask you to stop (so go onto the back if necessary).
10/4: READING SCHEDULE: through 7-8 for Thursday. Finish part 2 for Wednesday and finish the novel for Friday. We talked through cultural universals in the novel and talked about Okonkwo's fears, about masculinity, about hierarchy, etc. We also examined headline from different incidents in order to explore how unconscious bias affects us. Finally, we watched Ta Nehisi Coates.
10/3: HOMEWORK: read through chapter 6. We worked with cultural universals in the United States as a way to understand how to think about them.
10/2: HOMEWORK:Tonight, please read through chapter 3 in Things Fall Apart (there is an .pdf here if you were not in class). Here's the link to an audio version. As you read, please take notes about the characters, who they are and how they are related to each other, and other basic plot notes. Pay attention to the world Achebe is creating. Make sure to write down questions. On Tuesday in class, I will likely ask you to write about Okonkwo, his character and his complexities, so you’ll need specifics there.
IN CLASS: Our guiding quotes: "...Who lives, who dies, who tells your story" - Lin-Manuel Miranda and "I've come to understand and to believe that each of us is more than the worst thing we've ever done." - Bryan Stephenson. In class we watched Chinua Achebe talk about his novel, in order to gain background and to understand his desire to tell his own story, the story of his people and why that matters so much. See COM Reflection and Starting TFA" (attached below).
9/29: We began our discussion about race in class today.
9/28: In class: Today we are transitioning into our next unit (even as you continue to work on your drafts). This unit deals with race, with what it means to be seen as fully human and with the need and power of stories. To start, I am asking you to read two pieces and reflect on them. The first is an essay first published in the 1980s by Brent Staples. Read through it, thinking about the story he has to tell, the disconnect between how he views himself and how others view him and how that affects him. After you’ve read, on the front of the notecard: react– what struck you and why, how does this resonate with our world today, what do you think about his “language of fear” idea, about the “male romance with the power to intimidate” etc? Then, read “Why are the N.Y.P.DAfter Me?” and on the back of the notecard: react - think here about what resonates, about how you can and/or cannot relate and why, about what you see as the level of seriousness of his complaints and why? How does this help you to reconsider a point of view? After you’ve read and written about both pieces, partner up – talk to the person next to you about what you thought about what you read, about your answers to the questions above, etc. Fill both sides of the card.