Wright

Mon., Dec. 20 - Thurs., Dec. 23, 2021

Short Story Unit: Diversity in the United States Literary Experience

Essential Questions:

  1. What does this play teach us about the American experience?

  2. How does reading make us more empathic?

In preparation for our next topic - African American Lit. - in our unit: Diversity in the United States Literary Experience, you will view the film, A Raisin in the Sun, based on the play by Lorraine Hansbury.

Lorraine Hansberry's theatrical masterpiece boldly examines the relationship between racism and the American dream.

  • Set on Chicago’s South Side, the plot revolves around the divergent dreams and conflicts within three generations of the Younger family: son Walter Lee, his wife Ruth, his sister Beneatha, his son Travis, and matriarch Lena. When her deceased husband’s insurance money comes through, Mama Lena dreams of moving to a new home and a better neighborhood in Chicago. Walter Lee, a chauffeur, has other plans: buying a liquor store and being his own man. Beneatha dreams of medical school. The tensions and prejudice they face form this seminal American drama.

The title of the play comes from the poem “Harlem” by African American Harlem Renaissance poet, Langston Hughes.

See Google Doc on poem:

  1. Before reading “Harlem,” answer the question, "What happens when you have to put off something you really want or want to do? How does it make you feel? What actions might you take?"

  2. Notes:

  • The play, A Raisin in the Sun (1959), an excerpt from which we read last week, is an allusion to the following poem by Langston Hughes.

  • In his speeches, MLK carefully evoked the poetry of Langston Hughes. Just three weeks after the premiere of A Raisin in the Sun, King delivered one of his most personal sermons, giving it a title – “Shattered Dreams” – that echoed Hughes’ imagery. “Is there any one of us,” King booms in the sermon, “who has not faced the agony of blasted hopes and shattered dreams?”

  • President Joe Biden also alluded to it in his acceptance speech (2020) when he called on Democrats and Republicans to work together to expand opportunity to all: “Too many dreams have been deferred for too long. We must make the promise of the country real for everybody — no matter their race, their ethnicity, their faith, their identity, or their disability.”

  1. Listen to famous readings of the poem:

  • Read by Hughes

  • Read by Danny Glover: Raisin In The Sun (1989)

  • Trailer to 2008 movie

  1. Directions: Read and annotate Langston Hughes’ poem, “Harlem.” Make at least 6 annotations, noting any curiosities, opposites, repetitions, and links that you see. Then analyze how the diction, syntax, figurative language, and imagery help to create the speaker’s tone. Lastly, draw a conclusion about what Hughes might be suggesting about dreams in his poem.

2008 Film Adaptation: An African-American working-class family faces poverty, racism, and their own inner conflict when they leave their run-down tenement apartment to move to an all-white neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side.

  • Directors Kenny Leon

  • Starring Sean Combs, Sanaa Lathan, Audra McDonald

Homework:

  • Read your Independent Reading Book for at least 15 minutes each day.

Monday, Jan 3, 2022

Bell Ringer: WELCOME BACK AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Read The New York Times opinion article. Highlight at least three resolutions that resonate with you in some way. Use the comments button to explain why/how.

Short Story Unit: Diversity in the United States Literary Experience

Essential Questions:

  1. What does the play, A Raisin in the Sun, teach us about the American experience?

  2. How does reading make us more empathic?

Recall the film A Raisin in the Sun. There were multiple versions of the American Dream. Do any of them achieve their American dream? Langston Hughes asks us:

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up

like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore—

And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat? 5

Or crust and sugar over—

like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags

like a heavy load.

Or does it explode? 10


  • Beneatha wants to go to school to become a doctor. Unfortunately, no matter how true the foundation of this dream may be, Bennie is unrealistic about the obstacles that threaten her dream; namely, her social status, race, and gender. She refuses to acknowledge the reality that many people share Walter's opinion that she should either get married or be a nurse like other women. Bennie's downfall is her attraction to the unconventional. It causes her frustration and forces her dreams to "fester like a sore" on the shelf of improbability. The major reason her dream can be halted is the gap between how she sees herself and how the world sees her. She is constantly seeking ways to express herself because she is under the false impression that she can access all the world has to offer. The culture of the time wants to force her into stereotypes that fall short of her visions."Or fester like a sore - / and then run?"

  • Lena wants a home in a better neighborhood. Mama sees the house as something she can pass on to later generations. Since she's been denied many things in life, she recognizes the larger meaning of everything for it "seem like God didn't see fit to give the black man nothing but dreams - but He did give us children to make them dreams seem worthwhile." She buys the house as a step toward the creation and fruition of more dreams for herself, her children, and her grandchildren. She believed the realization of her dream could eventually open the door for other family members' dreams."Does it stink like rotten meat?"

  • With rent to pay and a family to care for, Ruth has given up any thoughts of a better future for herself. Instead, she raises Travis and supports Walter in an effort to care for their dreams. She tries to mask her own discontent in hopes to strengthen the family spirit and encourage them to see the good in the ugly. "Or crust and sugar over - / Like a syrupy sweet?"

  • Since he is still young, Travis's dream is made up of other peoples' thoughts and visions for him. Although there are no specifics, it is clear that the family does not want Travis to be an adult laborer like his father. They want him to have a job that offers opportunities for respect and advancement. "Maybe it just sags / Like a heavy load"

  • Walter wants to start his own business. As the man of the house, Walter fights against the demons of poverty and racial/social injustice that plagued his father and now seem to have a tight grip upon him. As the play climaxes, it is Walter's dream that explodes out of control and delivers a devastating blow to the Younger family. In general terms, Walter wants to rise above his class status to gain dignity, pride, and respect. In specific terms, he believes his dream can be achieved by opening a liquor store with some friends as joint investors. It is his belief that a man who works for someone else can never have a true sense of self and never receive his due credit. "Or does it explode?"

What do you suppose happens to the Younger family in their new home?

Lorraine Hansbury wrote her play in the 50s. Do you think that people of color in America still face housing discrimination? Take a look at this New York Times article dated 2019:

"What Happens When Black People Search for Suburban Homes"

Homework:

  • Vocab Practice: "The Ethics of Living Jim Crow"

Directions: Read the vocabulary words and definitions from “The Ethics of Living Jim Crow” by Richard Wright. Select the best choice to complete the sentences that follow. The word “ethics” is used twice.

  • Read your Independent Reading Book for at least 15 minutes each day.

Tues., Jan. 4, 2022

Bell Ringer: Read "What Happens When Black People Search for Suburban Homes"

Short Story Unit: Diversity in the United States Literary Experience

Essential Questions:

  1. What do these short stories teach us about the American experience?

  2. How does reading make us more empathic?


The African American Experience

  1. Sign out Uncle Tom's Children by Richard Wright using the form in Google Classroom under "Class Information and Materials."

  2. Review Vocab Activity for "The Ethics of Living Jim Crow."

  3. Examine the Jim Crow Museum Website, and watch the 23-minute video: https://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/

      • What is the difference between etiquettes (the customary codes of polite behavior in society or among members of a particular profession or group) and laws?

      • What point is the founder and curator, Dr. David Pilgrim, making when he said that he does not want to give too much space in the museum to the KKK and other extremist groups?

  4. Read about the difference between Jim Crow Etiquette and Jim Crow Laws.

Homework:

  • Read your Independent Reading Book for at least 15 minutes each day. The requirement for the year is 4 books, 1 per quarter. The goal is 10 books for the year. Your 2nd required book is due by Jan. 21st.

Wed., Jan. 5, 2022

Short Story Unit: Diversity in the United States Literary Experience

Essential Questions:

  1. What do these short stories teach us about the American experience?

  2. How does reading make us more empathic?

Richard Wright: "The Ethics of Living Jim Crow"

  • Read the autobiographical sketch of Richard Wright's experience growing up black in the Jim Crow south, and complete the matching activity.

Homework:

  • Read your Independent Reading Book for at least 15 minutes each day. The requirement for the year is 4 books, 1 per quarter. The goal is 10 books for the year. Your 2nd required book is due by Jan. 21st.

Thurs., Jan. 6, 2022

Snow Day!!!

Fri., Jan. 7, 2022

Short Story Unit: Diversity in the United States Literary Experience

Essential Questions:

  1. What do these short stories teach us about the American experience?

  2. How does reading make us more empathic?

Agenda:

  1. Discuss and review the matching activity for "Ethics."

  2. "Big Boy Leaves Home"

Before Reading:

  • DIALECT: every region and social class in the U.S. has a particular dialect, i.e., a particular form of a language that indicates a specific region or social group. For example, which of these phrases are familiar to you?

    • “Down cellar” vs. ‘down to the cellar’ or ‘down in the cellar’

    • “Catty corner” vs. diagonal

    • “Sub” vs. hero or hoagie

    • “So don’t I”- I have no idea. So do I? Neither do I? I don’t as well?

    • “Had went” vs. had gone

    • “I seen” vs. I saw

    • “Down to Watertown” vs. up to Watertown

    • "I'm not for sure" vs. I am not sure, or, I don't know

    • “Four corners” vs. intersection

    • “Pick rocks” vs. remove barriers or remove obstructions

    • “Come to find out” vs. As I learned, or, As I discovered

    • “Mom” vs. my mother

    • Pronounce milk as "melk" vs. "milk"

    • Pronounce our as “ar” vs. “ow er”

    • Take a quiz.

By Monday, read "Big Boy Leaves Home." It is the second story in Uncle Tom's Children. If you do not have the book, I have also posted the text in Google Classroom.

Additional Homework:

  • Read your Independent Reading Book for at least 15 minutes each day. The requirement for the year is 4 books, 1 per quarter. The goal is 10 books for the year. Your 2nd required book is due by Jan. 21st.

Mon., Jan. 10, 2022

Short Story Unit: Diversity in the United States Literary Experience

Essential Questions:

  1. What do these short stories teach us about the American experience?

  2. How does reading make us more empathic?


The African American Experience

"Big Boy Leaves Home" by Richard Wright

  • Complete the questions for the story. If you are not in class to receive a hard copy of these questions, you will also find them in Google Classroom.

Homework:

  • Read your Independent Reading Book for at least 15 minutes each day. The requirement for the year is 4 books, 1 per quarter. The goal is 10 books for the year. Your 2nd required book is due by Jan. 21st.

Tues., Jan. 11, 2022

Short Story Unit: Diversity in the United States Literary Experience

Essential Questions:

  1. What do these short stories teach us about the American experience?

  2. How does reading make us more empathic?


The African American Experience

"Big Boy Leaves Home" by Richard Wright

  • Class discussion of the questions for the story. If you are not in class to receive a hard copy of these questions, you will also find them in Google Classroom. After discussion, turn in the questions.

Homework:

  • Read your Independent Reading Book for at least 15 minutes each day. The requirement for the year is 4 books, 1 per quarter. The goal is 10 books for the year. Your 2nd required book is due by Jan. 21st.

Wed., Jan. 12, 2022

Essential Question: What do I need to catch up on in English 12?

Flex Day: Please work on the following in the given order of importance:

  1. Comparison/Contrast Essay: (Template is in Google Classroom. Because you did not write the Comparison/Contrast essay on your own, use this template to complete the weighty, mandatory assignment. You will not be able to score higher than in the 70s on it, but it will give you practice in embedding quotes and in utilizing strong topic sentences and succinct, clear writing.

Make sure that everything you add is highlighted in yellow. This will be the only part of the essay that I will be reading/grading.) Due: Friday, January 14th

  1. Revision Work: (Revise either your Literary Analysis Essay or your Comparison/Contrast Essay.) Due: Friday, January 14th

  2. Any second quarter, back work that you are still allowed to make up, for example, quizzes (check, in particular, the Roth Quiz - "Conversion of the Jews" and "Defender of the Faith.")

  3. Read your Independent Reading Book: The requirement for the year is 4 books, 1 per quarter. The goal is 10 books for the year. Your 2nd required book is due by Jan. 21st.

Thurs., Jan. 13 - Tues., Jan. 18, 2022

Short Story Unit: Diversity in the United States Literary Experience

Essential Questions:

  1. What do these short stories teach us about the American experience?

  2. How does reading make us more empathic?


The African American Experience

Richard Wright: "Down by the Riverside"

Begin by previewing the 27 questions on your study guide.

Over the next three days of class (and if necessary for homework), read the story and complete the study guide questions on "Down by the Riverside."

Other Homework:

  • Read your Independent Reading Book for at least 15 minutes each day. The requirement for the year is 4 books, 1 per quarter. The goal is 10 books for the year. Your 2nd required book is due by Jan. 21st.

Wed., Jan. 19, 2022

Essential Question: How do I progress and how do I demonstrate that progression in Independent Reading this school year?

Today:

  • Update your Independent Reading Log 2021-2022 in the Google Classroom. Pay close attention to the directions there.

  • If you are ready to choose your next book, make a selection from my classroom. You may choose from the carts in the hall or the two smaller shelves in my room, just not from the green bookshelves behind my desk. Record the title and author of your book on the Reading Log.

  • Read!

Homework:

  • Read your Independent Reading Book for at least 20 minutes each day. The requirement for the year is 4 books, 1 per quarter. The goal is 10 books for the year. Your 3rd required book is due by the end of the third quarter, April 1st, 2022.

  • Reminder: tomorrow the study guide for “Down by the Riverside” is due. Have it ready so that we can have a good discussion.

Thurs., Jan. 20, 2022

Short Story Unit: Diversity in the United States Literary Experience

Essential Questions:

  1. What do these short stories teach us about the American experience?

  2. How does reading make us more empathic?


The African American Experience

Richard Wright: "Down by the Riverside"

Check-in and review the study guide questions for "Down by the Riverside."

The title of the story, "Down by the Riverside" (also known as "Ain't Gonna Study War No More" and "Gonna lay down my burden"), is a Negro spiritual song. Its roots date back to before the American Civil War.

Because of its pacifistic imagery, "Down by the Riverside" has also been used as an anti-war protest song, especially during the Vietnam War.

The song has many lyrical variations, though usually each stanza follows a standard form, with one sentence that differs from one stanza to the next. The song often begins:

Gonna lay down my sleepy head

Down by the riverside (3×)

Gonna lay down my burden

Down by the riverside

With the chorus:

I ain't gonna study war no more

Study war no more

Ain't gonna study war no more

Other lines that can appear in stanzas, in place of "Gonna lay down my burden," include:

• Gonna lay down my sword and shield

• Gonna stick my sword in the golden sand

• Gonna try on my long white robe

• Gonna try on my starry crown

• Gonna put on my golden shoes

• Gonna talk with the Prince of Peace

• Gonna shake hands around the world

• Gonna cross the river Jordan

• Gonna climb upon that mountain

• Gonna climb the road to heaven

The song's central image is of casting off negativity and aggression, and putting on spiritual garb, at the side of a river before crossing it. The image has several meanings: it refers to baptism, which in the Southern Baptist tradition usually involves wearing a white robe and being submerged in a body of water. It also refers to ascending to heaven after death, using the metaphor of the River Jordan, which in the Old Testament was the final passage before the Hebrews entered the Promised Land after their years in the desert. As with many Negro spirituals, the biblical imagery can also be read as a hidden allusion to escaping slavery, with the river representing the Ohio River, which was a border between states where slavery was allowed and prohibited before the American Civil War.

The refrain of "ain't gonna study war no more" is a reference to a quotation found in the Old Testament: "nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." This quote occurs twice in the Bible, in Isaiah 2:4 and Micah 4:3, and is part of the swords to ploughshares motif.

Listen to a recording of the song by Louis Armstrong

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ih3kVkk5_Q

And then by Craig Adams: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NaWL7YaJQ0

Homework:

  • Study for tomorrow's Vocab Quiz on Roth and Wright Words.

  • Read your Independent Reading Book for at least 20 minutes each day. The requirement for the year is 4 books, 1 per quarter. The goal is 10 books for the year. Your 3rd required book is due by April 1, 2022.

Fri., Jan. 21, - Tues. Jan. 25, 2022

Complete Vocab Quiz on Roth and Wright words

Short Story Unit: Diversity in the United States Literary Experience

Essential Questions:

  1. What do these short stories teach us about the American experience?

  2. How does reading make us more empathic?


The African American Experience

Richard Wright: "Long Black Song"

Begin by previewing the 30 questions on your study guide.

Over the next three days of class (and if necessary for homework), read the story and complete the study guide questions on "Long Black Song."

Other Homework:

  • Read your Independent Reading Book for at least 20 minutes each day. The requirement for the year is 4 books, 1 per quarter. The goal is 10 books for the year. Your 3rd required book is due by April 1, 2022.

Wed., Jan. 26, 2022

Short Story Unit: Diversity in the United States Literary Experience

Essential Questions:

  1. What do these short stories teach us about the American experience?

  2. How does reading make us more empathic?


The African American Experience

Richard Wright: "Long Black Song"

Check-in and review study guide questions for "Long Black Song."

Share/discuss Context (background information) for three stories:

  1. POSTCARDS FROM AN UGLY PERIOD: Context for "Big Boy Leaves Home"

  2. Hurricane Katrina Historic Storm Surge Video: Context for "Down by the Riverside"

  3. Death Penalty and Genetic Testimony: Context for "Long Black Song"

Tomorrow: Narrative Humility Presentation: Challenges and Biases African Americans Face in Lewis County

Other Homework:

  • Read your Independent Reading Book for at least 20 minutes each day. The requirement for the year is 4 books, 1 per quarter. The goal is 10 books for the year. Your 3rd required book is due by April 1, 2022.

Thurs., Jan. 27, 2022

COVID DAY: "Black Men and Public Space" by Brent Staples Text with Questions

    • Recall “Big Boy Leaves Home” and think about the following: How does the story's end reflect its beginning? What does the North symbolize? What do you project for Big Boy's future?

    • View Jacob Lawrence's paintings from The Great Migration series: One-Way Ticket, an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan: https://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2015/onewayticket/

    • Think about how you would add to your predictions regarding Big Boy’s future.

    • Read "Black Men and Public Space," a journalist's account of what happens as a young black male walks the streets of Chicago and NY. Complete the questions at the bottom of the document. They are due before the start of class tomorrow. (If you have headphones and would like to listen to a recording of the essay, you may. The link is at the top of the document, and I will attach it to this assignment as well. FYI: it's not the best recording.)

    • If you finish early, as always, work on Independent Reading.

    • Feel free to email me with any questions. I will respond as soon as I am able. cclements@lowvilleacademy.org

  • Please be on your best behavior and keep yourself and others safe by wearing your mask properly (covering your mouth and nose).

Fri., Jan. 28, 2022

COVID DAY: I will not be in class today. You will have a substitute.

  • There is an assignment in Google Classroom under "Richard Wright and African American Lit." called "Making Connections: “Black Men and Public Space."" Open up the document and carefully follow the directions, completing all four steps.

  • If you finish early, as always, work on Independent Reading.

  • Feel free to email me with any questions. I will respond as soon as I am able: cclements@lowvilleacademy.org

Please be on your best behavior and keep yourself and others safe by wearing your mask properly (covering your mouth and nose).


Mon., Jan. 30, 2022

Methods of Essay Development: Pointing to Examples


DIRECTIONS: In a brief essay of about 500 words, make a generalization about either the terrors or the joys that members of minority groups seem to share. To illustrate your generalization, draw examples from personal experience, from outside reading, or from two or three of the selections we have discussed in class (like Maya Angelou “Champion of the World,” Amy Tan “Fish Cheeks,” Brent Staples “Black Men and Public Space,” “Black birdwatcher in Central Park…,” Lorraine Hansbury's A Raisin in the Sun, and any of the selections from Richard Wright's Uncle Tom's Children that we read).

Read over the outline and fill it in.

You will have one-two more writing days this week. The essay is due Thursday, Feb. 10.


Tues., Feb. 1, 2022

Review "Black Men and Public Space" and its connections to “Black birdwatcher in Central Park…,”

Discuss Methods of Essay Development: Pointing to Examples

Wed., Feb. 2, 2022

Essential Question: What concerns do people of color have in Lewis County?

Narrative Humility Presentation: Challenges and Biases People of Color Face in Lewis County

Homework:

  • Read your Independent Reading Book for at least 20 minutes each day. The requirement for the year is 4 books, 1 per quarter. The goal is 10 books for the year. Your 3rd required book is due by April 1st, 2022.


Thurs., Feb. 3, 2022

Early Dismissal

Independent Reading Day


Fri., Feb. 4, 2022

"The Word"


Mon., Feb. 7, 2022

Short Story Unit: Diversity in the United States Literary Experience

Essential Questions:

  1. What do these short stories teach us about the American experience?

  2. How does reading make us more empathic?

Methods of Essay Development: Pointing to Examples

You have three days to work on your essay during class. It’s due at the beginning of class on Thursday, and Wednesday we begin another short story, so use your class time wisely!

The model outline is in Google Classroom under “Richard Wright…” It’s called “Methods of Essay Development: Pointing to Examples,” and we went over it last week and did some brainstorming.

Remember to use the standard heading on your paper, number your pages (Last Name, p. #), and give it a title.

If you finish early, as always, work on Independent Reading.

Feel free to email me with any questions. I will respond as soon as I am able: cclements@lowvilleacademy.org

Please be on your best behavior and keep yourself and others safe by wearing your mask properly (covering your mouth and nose).

Tues., Feb. 8, 2022

Example Paragraph Modeling - writing together as a class...

Wed., Feb. 9, 2022

Final writing day. Paper is due at the beginning of class tomorrow.