Embedded Files
New Yorker Cartoon from June 4, 2020 that says it all: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1e1uIpjhruN2vP4geDtnlwt9DjzMU16XnUEZ739E9qYA/edit?usp=sharing
Welcome to the Trials 5 wiki. Hopefully, having an overview of what we will do and roughly when will make the class easier. This also allows me to make the suggested but not required readings available in a context that might make them more attractive. All of the assignments and due dates are available here, so I won't be making any extra copies for you. If you lose something or are absent, just about everything you need (other than the book and the play) are available here, and they're probably available online as well.
Students can take this class for English or history credit. The workload for English and history students is the same in this class. The syllabus linked immediately below provides the details of what we're reading and writing this trimester. Unless you're absent, the main home reading is The Color Purple. If you're absent, you have to make up what we did in class that day. We'll work on the legal cases and the play at least mostly in class. We will read some of the articles along with the cases. Others are optional reading if you're interested in the topics.
Syllabus 2023-4
Every student even considering this class must read and sign the source policy and abide by it. Failure to do so will lead to no credit in the class. I am not interested in what anyone at wikipedia, Sparknotes, Shmoop or Harvard thinks about this literature. I am interested in what YOU think. You must think for yourself in this class. If you don't want to do that and perhaps occasionally struggle, don't take the class. You are always welcome to come discuss your ideas with me before writing if you are worried you are off track. I won't tell you what to write or think, but I am happy to ask you questions that might help you to focus or reorient. This is NOT a research class; it is a thinking, reading and writing class. Please respect that and trust that I respect ideas that may be flawed but original far more than ideas that are on more solid ground but that aren't yours. If you want to improve your reading, thinking and writing skills significantly this trimester (or want to earn credit), do not cheat, which is what looking for help online or elsewhere amounts to when I tell you not to do so.
Links under the weekly schedule are to note sheets we will use in class as well as to articles that are sometimes recommended but not required to add to your knowledge about what we are discussing in class.
Essays are due every other week and always on Wednesdays at class time. I will try to get first drafts back to you on Thursdays (or later on Wednesdays). Revisions should be done soon after being returned but MUST be completed by the following Wednesday unless an earlier date is specified at the end of the trimester. That gives you a full week to write and revise except for the first essay, and even then, you will have a week or most of week from when you sign up for the class and get the assignment. Most essays need revision until I approve them as complete, which means you must address both mechanical and content issues I indicate on your drafts or you will be revising multiple times. You must always hand in the previous draft with my comments along with revisions. I am happy to help you with revisions outside of class, and this will end up saving you work and time.
Reading assignments are always due on Mondays by class time except for January 20 when there is a reading homework due first thing Tuesday morning due to a holiday the day before. You are welcome to read ahead and hand in your work ahead of time. This could lead to a relaxing end of the trimester or more time to work on other things then.
Therefore, you can expect a writing assignment to be due every Wednesday (either a draft or a revision) and a reading assignment due every Monday until late in the trimester.
Late work slows down the class for everyone, so don't do your work late. This class asks you to do a reading assignment and a writing assignment each week. That's not overwhelming unless you leave them until the night before they're due, and even then, it's doable if not pleasant. You should be spreading your work over much of the week to make it easy. Please don't offer excuses. On the fourth late assignment (and each class day an assignment is late counts as a late assignment), you will receive an extra essay. The first three should cover any excuse you might have or create. Should a student reach an eighth late assignment, s/he will not receive credit in this class regardless of the quality of the work. Should there be a truly valid excuse like a death or serious illness in the family, have your parent contact me beforehand so that we can work out a schedule. Students who don't have the late assignments but who wish to do the extra essay for extra credit on their evaluations may do so.
Students can begin reading The Color Purple as soon as they sign up for the class (if not sooner). I will provide copies of the book. I am aware that a few vocabulary words may be difficult, and I will be providing you with the words you will need to know, which you should have handy while reading. It's a great story, and the vocabulary is good for you. As we have different copies of the book because students lose/destroy them at times, some won't have the same pages indicated on the assignments. If that's the case with your book, please finish the last question on the sheet and you will have read to the right place.
Reading assignments will only be considered on time if they are completed with answers that could reasonably have been gleaned by reading the book.
The first essay is due by Wednesday, December 2 at class time. This is not about The Color Purple; it is mainly a thought essay.
The first reading assignment, which is only to read 13 pages and answer a few questions, is due by class time on Thursday, December 3. After that, all readings will be due on Monday, including Monday, December 7, so keep reading!
Week 1: We will review the class rules and begin discussing Civil Rights. We will read in class the first brief excerpt of Civil Rights history. On Wednesday, we will watch the first installment of Eyes of the Prize, a great documentary about the Civil Rights Movement. This week's episode focuses on the origins of the Civil Rights Movement and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which is when Martin Luther King, Jr. emerged as a leader. We will begin to look at parts of the Constitution that are relevant to Civil Rights and that will be useful in essay 2. If we have time, we will begin to look at the legal cases that have shaped Civil Rights law and improved equality in our nation (after a long delay).
Classwork:
Civil Rights history questions 1
Recommended Reading/Viewing:
Interview with cousin of Emmet Till '21
The Power of Looking from Emmett Till To Orlando Castile 16
Article About Reconstruction By Frederick Douglass from 1866
Lincoln's Plans For Reconstruction 1876
Eric Foner on Reconstruction 20
Isabel Wilkerson on Enduring Caste in the U.S. 20
article about Isabel Wilkerson on Caste and race 20
Kwame Appiah reviews Isabel Wilkerson on Race in the U.S. 20
article about LRB review of Isabel Wilkerson on Caste and race 21
Dexter Filkins on who gets to vote in Florida 20
Thomas Edsall on the end of American Democracy 20
Reconstruction: The Equality That Wasn't Enough
Eric Foner on violence under Jim Crow 23
Eric Foner on Blacks' faith in the courts in US history 24
What America owes Frederick Douglass 20
Here's a link to a recording of David Blight talking about Frederick Douglass 20: https://vimeo.com/467775821
For a great 2020 explanation of the 14th Amendment's view of equality and why it was lost for about 80 years after 1876, listen to the video from the National Constitution Center of Professor Kate Masur talking about Battles For Equality In America https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/online-civic-learning-opportunities/past-scholar-exchanges
For a 6 minute summary of the 14th Amendment's creation and purpose by expert Eric Foner, go to https://constitutioncenter.org/learn/hall-pass/scholars-edition-eric-foner
For a December 2020 discussion by legal experts about whether the Equal Rights Amendment (gender equality) should be revived and finally passed, go to https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/town-hall-video/for-debate-should-the-equal-rights-amendment-be-revived
Jamelle Bouie on Originalism's deep flaw in interpreting the Constitution 20
Civil Rights Stories We Need to Remember 17
Trading Racism for Quarantine 20
Jelani Cobb on racial violence 20
Jelani Cobb on the origins of Black Lives Matter 16
A Black doctor who wears scrubs everywhere to be safe 20
For a recent (2019) article about Emmett Till and what's become of the candy store (with photos), go to https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/02/20/us/emmett-till-murder-legacy.html?emc=edit_th_190222&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=654293400222
Annette Gordon-Reed on the Police Power and Living While Black 20
A discussion among experts about how to reform policing 20
Jill Lepore on the links between the invention of policing and racism 20
How White Progressives Undermine School Integration 20
How American Racism Influenced Hitler '18
The Complex Issue of Mass Incarceration 20
For an hour session with Civil Right Movement pioneer James Lawson from 2022 title Revolutionary Non-Violence: Organizing For Freedom, go to https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fmDEqgO3QrTNGug-Fahubj56Dar5cDxiQRmQOX-WEdU/edit?usp=sharing
and search for that title.
Homework:
This week's essay requires you to think about discrimination in any of its many forms. No reading or research is required. You can talk to me or email me if you need help, but emailing after 6 p.m. on the evening before it's due is unlikely to provoke a timely response. That's why you shouldn't leave homework until the last minute. The essay is due on Wednesday, November 29.
The first 13 pages of The Color Purple, due on Thursday, November 30, means doing the full worksheet linked right below. The first couple of pages are the only hard ones to understand in the book and also the most upsetting when you do understand them, so be aware. We will go over these promptly, but anyone not getting the homework in on time will be excluded from that discussion. It would be very wise to get at least a bit ahead on the reading to make life easier down the road.
As we have different copies of the book because students lose/destroy them at times, some won't have the same pages indicated on the assignments. If that's the case with your book, please finish the last question on the sheet and you will have read to the right place. The smaller books have the right page numbers, and I may have enough of them depending on the size of the class.
Week 2: Since everyone is going to hand in the homework on time on Monday, we can discuss the beginning of The Color Purple. Once we understand those first 13 pages, the rest will be easy. You are encouraged to add notes to your homework during class discussion once i have checked it. We will watch more of Eyes on the Prize on Wednesday, focusing this week on school integration and opposition to it in the south. We will read further in class about Civil Rights history and discuss case law as well in preparation for next week's essay.
Classwork:
Civil Rights reading questions 2
Recommended Reading:
For an article about a Harlem Renaissance writer and anthropologist who Alice Walker helped rediscover: Zora Neale Hurston's remarkable journey
The Great Experiment that is The Color Purple 23
Review of The Color Purple movie musical 23
Michael Eric Dyson on The Prophecies of George Floyd 21
Rosa Parks Revisited by Charles Blow 13
Jean Graetz, White Supporter of Rosa Parks, Dies 20
Review of Loving about Loving v Virginia 16
4000 Lynchings Documented 2015
Another nuanced look at mass incarceration 20
James Foreman Jr.'s Nuanced Look at Mass Incarceration 17
I.F. Stone on Malcolm X from 1965
Martin, Malcolm and Equality '20
The Two Titans of Civil Rights 21
Beyond the Myth of Malcolm X 20
We Have to Reckon With The Real Malcolm X 23
Charlayne Hunter-Gault's 1961 meeting with MLK '18
Calvin Trillin from 1963 on the hours before the I Have A Dream speech
Go here to see a 3 minute recent interview with one of the Little Rock Nine: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/videos/category/at-the-smithsonian/meeting-up-with-a-key-member-of-the-little-r/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20200602-daily-responsive&spMailingID=42642675&spUserID=MTAzMzM2MTg0MjEzNAS2&spJobID=1780168452&spReportId=MTc4MDE2ODQ1MgS2
Homework:
This week's reading assignment covers pages 13 - 49 of The Color Purple, and is due Monday, December 4 by class time. That means if you're finishing it in class, it's late. Leave yourself time for the reading and thought. Your revision of essay one is due by class time on Wednesday, December 6. See me if you need help with any aspect of the revision. You need to fix everything I discuss or note on your first draft as you should know from last trimester. I will cut people off a lot sooner this trimester if they lag on revisions.
Week 3.: We will continue reading Civil Rights history, and we will discuss the second part of The Color Purple on Wednesday, but only those caught up on reading can attend that discussion. We will also continue with case law this week. Grammar: Adverbs
Classwork:
Civil Rights reading questions 3
Grammar Sheet parallel structure
Recommended:
Article for group projects about individual students who integrated schools after Brown v. Board: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MAe49a89tuGH4T2Id372ybvWddlcduukejOxpzdwxxs/edit?usp=sharing
School Desegregation group project questions
Robert Carter obit - school desegregation architect 12
Brown v. Board Better Late Than Never 04
Brown v Board original Times article
Justice Breyer on Brown v. Board 04
Louis Menand on Brown v. Board 01
New Yorker Profile of Thurgood Marshall from 1956
OriThe problem of squaring nterpretation and Brown v. Board 22
Why Did Racial Progress Stall in America? 20
Dallas Schools Integrating 2017
James Baldwin and Martin Luther King, Jr. 20
M.L.K. ally C.T. Vivan's Life and Obituary 20
David Remnick on John Lewis 20
Bernard Lafayette on John Lewis 20
Calvin Trillin on the Freedom Rides
Homework:
Your second essay is due Wednesday, December 13 and allows you to write as a lawyer arguing in the school segregation case in 1954. You will need to quote from the previous case and the Constitution, which I have provided. See me ahead of time if you need help, but your notes and your brain should be everything you need.
You must read pages 50 - 102 of The Color Purple by class time on December 11 and answer the questions. It would show real brilliance to read ahead over vacation and have less to do the rest of the trimester. It would be far from impossible to read the whole book over vacation and get all of your reading homework done. The slackers among you should especially consider this to avoid getting late assignments and the extra essay. Let's see who has matured as a student.
Holiday Break: It would be really smart to get ahead on homework when you're bored during this time.
Week 4: We will do another short Civil Rights reading in class this week. We will also prepare to begin reading our play, A Raisin in the Sun, with some background about de facto discrimination in the north.
Classwork:
Civil Rights reading questions 4
Recommended:
A New History of Housing discrimination 17
Riots Lead to Gentrification and Loss of Community 20
Trump Attacks a Suburban Housing Program in bid for white votes 20
Bayard Rustin biopic review 23
Homework:
This week's reading assignment requires that you read the next section of The Color Purple by Wednesday, January 3 along with the essay revision. I don't suggest leaving this to do in one night. If you do a bit most nights, it's very easy. See me before vacation if you need help so that you only have to revise once.
Color Purple reading questions 4
Credit Deadline: All work including final revisions of essays one and two must be completely done by Thursday, January 11 at class time.
Week 5: In class, we will read the last of our short Civil Rights history chapters and begin A Raisin in the Sun. We will watch more of Eyes on the Prize on Wednesday and also discuss the early chapters of The Color Purple. Grammar: Usage
Classwork:
Lorraine Hansberry background notes
Gwendolyn Brooks's Kitchenette Building text
Recommended Reading:
Calvin Trillin's First Hand Account of Mississippi Freedom Summer 64
Danny Lyons's First Hand Account of Mississippi Freedom Summer
Obit of Miss. Freedom Democratic Party Activist 20
Lorraine Hansberry's Radical Imagination: summary of Imani Perry's Searching For Lorraine 20
Lorraine Hansberry's Global Vision
The Current Supreme Court's Opposition To Voting Rights 20
The New Redlining is Zoning '21
Homework:
Your reading this week in The Color Purple is due by class time on Monday, January 8. You have essay three due this week on January 10, and it focuses on female characters in The Color Purple. You will need quotations from the novel and parenthetical notes in both body paragraphs.
Week 6: We will focus on reading A Raisin in the Sun in class this week. We will also continue to discuss The Color Purple.
Grammar: We're back to usage:
Homework:
You have the revision of essay three due on Wednesday, January 17. Don't forget to hand in the earlier draft with it. This week's reading questions are due the same day due to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on Monday.
Color Purple reading homework 6
Week 7: We should complete A Raisin in the Sun this week. We will discuss the end of the play and how effective civil disobedience proved here. We will also look at the review of the recent and controversial semi-sequel to Raisin In The Sun called Clybourne Park, which I saw on Broadway. We will continue discussing The Color Purple.
The reading this week in The Color Purple is due on January 22. This week's writing assignment is essay 4, which is due on January 24 and includes both the novel and the play, and you will need to quote both in both body paragraphs. Drafts that don't include quotes from both texts in both body paragraphs will be considered late and won't be read until fixed.
Week 8: We will continue our discussion of The Color Purple, and we will watch more of Eyes on the Prize on Wednesday.
As we reach the Voting Rights Act in our review of the Civil Rights Movement, this is an article by historian David Blight about a massacre of Black voters in North Carolina in 1898: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1e-qg9pWSu_ORfTB5O6UAflG4wa1ryeo6yy-TOoe2Oz0/edit?usp=sharing
For an article by Adam Serwer about the current Supreme Court, voting rights and what can be done to fix the situation:" https://docs.google.com/document/d/15A2JwGG3NiTvyNmXvlynoX833Ot5yFx0dZ1C7flLLvA/edit?usp=sharing
Renata Adler at the Selma March '65
Dr King's Mission over his final 3 years '06
Gay Talese on Selma's 50th Anniversary
Selma on 50th Anniversary of march
Gay Talese on Selma's 50th Anniversary
Vann Newkirk on The Voting Rights Act of 1965: when the US became a democracy 21
How the Shelby Country Case Destroyed Equal Voting Rights 18
Jelani Cobb on Stacy Abrams's Fight For Voting Rights 20A
The Consequences of a "joking" racial slur 20
This week's writing assignment is to revise essay 4. The revision with the previous draft must be in by class time on Wednesday, January 31. Be sure to get help well ahead of that date if you need it.
Credit Deadline: All work including final revisions of essays three and four must be completely done by Thursday, February 1 at class time.
Week 9: We will finish our work discussion of The Color Purple. If we are running ahead, we will watch another episode of Eyes on the Prize. We will get a head start on learning about how a trial works in preparation for our last two weeks of trial preparation.
Map of Homogenous, New Jersey's surroundings
The Neighborhoods We Will Not Share 20
The final essay of the trimester is due by Wednesday February 7 by class time. Do it really carefully, and you'll only have minimal revision left.
Week 10: We continue to learn about how trials work and receive parts for the in-class trial. Lawyers will interview the witnesses and plan their strategies. While the interviews are continuing, other students can get help with revisions. Grammar: Commas and Adverbial Clauses
Grammar: commas with because, if, from, for and other initial words
This week's writing assignment is to revise essay 5. The revision with the previous draft must be in by class time on Wednesday February 14. Be sure to get help well ahead of that date if you need it. You don't want extra revisions at this point of the trimester.
Hopefully, everyone was smart and learned from last trimester, and no one earned an extra essay, but just in case, here's the assignment. I hope you avoided it as it requires lots of quotes from lots of texts. Students who owe an extra essay must complete its strong draft by Monday, February 19 despite it being a school holiday (which makes it easier to do) and revise it completely by Monday, February 26 at class time at the latest. There is no give on these dates. It would be smart to get it done well ahead of time.
Week 11: This week will continue our trial preparation work. Students who are not working on revisions or being interviewed can watch the film of A Raisin in the Sun in class. The trial will take place on Monday, March 1: hopefully we won't run over into lunch.
Grammar: commas with and, but, so and or
Jelani Cobb on the Klan Act being used against Black activists in the '60s 21
Black Church tries to evict Klan store
Job Bias Law passed in House 09
The only work I will consider accepting this week are recent re-revisions, and those must be in by class time on Monday, February 26. If any work isn't completed to my satisfaction by this time, you won't earn credit, so don't even think about leaving work until the last minute or handing in anything substandard at this point.
Link for evaluation of class:
This trimester's history notes should be retained as they will really help you on the history section of the competency exam.
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