12/12: Exam. If you did not finish, please do so before Friday morning.
12/10: Prep for the exam and selecting new books.
12/7: We discussed the upcoming exam and analyzed scenes in preparation for that exam.
12/6: We finished Fruitvale Station.
12/5: We talked about manhood and how it controls Oscar and how his family and friends are both a source of comfort and a stress in Oscar's life. We continued to watch Fruitvale Station.
12/4: We started Fruitvale Station today (first 27 minutes). Please react to what you saw, what you are thinking about, ways in which the film is exploring manhood (parallels to Things Fall Apart, etc.).
12/3: Review the notes from the podcast, article and excerpt. For each, come up with the 4 most important ideas (including at least one that challenges your thinking) and list these on the notecard (do it like this - podcast 1)........ 2).......3)..... 4)....... excerpt 1)....2)...etc.). Then students met in groups to discuss and we discussed as a class.
11/29: I want to build on the ideas presented in Birth of a Movement, in Things Fall Apart (especially the danger of disrgarding history and the danger of a single story) and build some background for Fruitvale Station. To do this, I am asking you to take in and take notes on one podcast and two readings. All of this needs to be completed by Monday - choose what makes the most sense to do in class today and what makes sense for you to do as homework. Mrs McTigue has copies of the excerpt from Colony in a Nation. Make sure to take a copy before you leave class.
You need to complete all three of these assignments for Monday's class. No coupons on these, please.
1) The podcast (20 minutes) features a visit to the Legacy Museum and the Equal Justice Initiative's Memorial for Peace and Justice (this is the work that Bryan Stevenson is doing now). Take notes as you listen (write down what strikes you as important). When you are finished, write about what struck you, what surprised you and what you think about Stevenson's work, his ideas, our need to wrestle with our past, etc. Work to make connections between these ideas and the film yesterday, the damage done in Things Fall Apart when history is ignored, when people are reduced to a steretype, etc.
2) Please read the excerpt from A Colony in a Nation (you can write on it). This excerpt presents a historical view of authority and whiteness and its connection to the system that perpetuates racism today. Mark up the text as you read it. When you are finished, write about what struck you, what surprised you and what made you want to push back. Work to make connections between these ideas and the film yesterday (especially think about how deep the historical roots are, about the long arc of our retelling a story to clean it up, to present our history as shining), and to Things Fall Apart (especially the idea that of system designed to classify an entire population as less than human).
3) Please read this piece making the case for the continued protests started by Colin Kaepernick. Please feel free to click on the links provided in the piece to read for yourselves the documentation Harriot uses. Make a list of his main points. Also make note of what ideas push you - either to think about things differently OR to want to argue with his ideas. Write about why these ideas push you and about what you might argue back (with what evidence).
Bring all of this work with you to class on Monday. We'll talk, I'll ask you to write and we'll get ready for the film.
11/28: We watched Birth of a Movement (this documentary is available on Netflix). Here's the background and assignment.
11/27: To start class, please refect on the ending of the book. First, react to what strikes you, what's most memorable, etc. Then, THINK MORE about what to make of the ending,,especially of Okonkwo's fate and his character and how this fits in with yesterday's work (including Achebe's purpose for writing this book). Fill the front of the notecard. When you are done, meet in groups of 3 to talk through the ending, to examine Okonkwo's character and his fate, to think about the very last page and the Commisioner's planned story about Okonkwo and how that fits into Achebe's purpose. Talk too about this idea:
"The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story. . . . I’ve always felt that it is impossible to engage properly with a place or a person without engaging with all of the stories of that place and that person. The consequence of the single story is this: It robs people of dignity. It makes our recognition of our equal humanity difficult. It emphasizes how we are different rather than how we are similar." -Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
After the discussion, respond with your most important takeaways on the notecard. Fill the back of the notecard and please hand that it (finish for homework if you do not have time).
11/26: HOMEWORK: Finish the novel by tomorrow. In class: Spend some time today reviewing the text and thinking about how it speaks to the ideas expressed in our guiding quotes for this unit (Bryan Stephenson and Lin-Manuel Miranda) and especially as expressed by Achebe in his purpose for writing the novel. Narrow your focus to a particular character, relationship, conflict, motif (like storytelling, manhood, etc.), and go back into the text to find examples that will help you to think about one or more of our guiding ideas (you should pull together a page full of notes). If you finish that, read. You should come to class tomorrow ready to talk through the end of the book and to build on the work you do today.
11/20 Finish the novel by Tuesday, 11/27.
In class: Work with Rope and Things Fall Apart.
11/19:HOMEWORK: Read through part 2 for tomorrow. Please also read a short piece about Rope and time.
Here's the link to the article we read in class today (so you can click on the research links and read the studies if you want to). We started class today by writing about race and about how race plays a part in your life, in our culture, etc. Write for 8 minutes (someplace where you will have access to it later) and make sure to touch on some of these ideas: #BlackLivesMatter, Confederate flags/statues, NFL protests, Criminal Justice reform, voting rights, etc.
11/15: Some things to be thinking about as you finish Part 1: This section focuses so much on faith, on ritual, on ceremony. The long story of Ekwefi, Ezinma and Okonkwo is central: it's about faith in practice, it explores the ideas of motherhood and the fears of losing a child, and it presents Okonkwo in a different light (his worry, his fear, his all night vigil). So much of this section presents the role of women and the importance of women's work in the tribe.
The trial scene, the funeral, the wedding ceremony, etc. also highlight the customs and practices of the community, the importance of elders, of ancestors, of tradition and custom, etc. Of course Okonkwo's role in these (and especially his crime against the earth goddess) is key as well. His killing of the 16-year-old should remind you of Ikemefuna.
Obierika's character bears watching as well. He is Okonkwo's best friend and he serves as a foil for him. Revisit the very last page of the section and think about Obierika.
11/13: HOMEWORK: Reading schedule: through part one for Friday, through part two for Tuesday, finish the novel for after break.
In class, we worked with the TED talks and Things Fall Apart and started Rope.
11/9: WEEKEND HOMEWORK: Choose your groups (you need at least 3 in the group; no more than 4): Each group member choose a different TED talk: Tony Porter "A Call to Men" , Jackson Katz "Violence Against Women: It's A Men's Issue," Colin Stokes "How Movies Teach Manhood," Bryan Stevenson: We need to talk about an injustice (you can skip from 11:54-15:50). As you watch, take notes. Then, reflect on what you saw - pull out the ideas that struck you most, that challenged you most, that help you to think about different views of masculinity and/or of race and class and criminla justice and why they matter (you should write at least a half page).
Read Hitchcock background and through chapter 7 in Things Fall Apart for Tuesday.
11/8: In class, we applied cultural universals to the novel so far, talked about Okonkwo and his fears and took our first steps into looking at Hitchcock's legacy.
11/7: HOMEWORK: Tonight, please read through chapter 4 in Things Fall Apart. 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 (pay particular attention to the cultural universal highlighted on your sheet). Make sure to write down questions. Tomorrow in class, I will likely ask you to write about Okonkwo, his character and his complexities, so you’ll need specifics there.
In class: we worked with cultural universals in our own culture and watched Chinua Achebe speak about the novel.
11/5: We talked about Clarence Darrow's defense of Leopold and Loeb, focusing especially on the ideas of war and violece and the dehumanizing of human life, about the death penalty and whether we have a right to kill and about whether we, as a society, value some lives more than others. Our guiding quotes for this section are:
"Each of us is more than the worst thing we have ever done." - Bryan Stevenson
"Who lives, who dies, who tells the story..." - Lin-Manuel Miranda