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Trials 6
Trials 6
Trials 6: Remedying Discrimination Cary Honig email: caryh@school-one.org
Syllabus: Trials 6 Syllabus 24
Fully updated for 2024
Welcome to the Trials 6 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 Fried Green Tomatoes At the Whistle Stop Cafe. I promise that while there are some tragic moments, it's much more light-hearted than the previous two novels this year. 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.
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 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 (and 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 more than 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.
Reading assignments are always due on Mondays by class time. 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 in the family, have your parent contact me beforehand so that we can work out a schedule.
Students can begin reading Fried Green Tomatoes as soon as they sign up for the class, but we won't get to it the first week. I will provide copies of the book at registration. The first essay is due by Wednesday, March 17 at class time. It requires reading the Maureen Dowd article and the Ginsburg-Steinem article and answering the questions for both, which are due on Monday, March 15 at class time, so you can begin it right away.
Week 1: We will begin by discussing the vast changes to our culture that arose out of the Women's Movement, Sexual Revolution and Gay Rights Movement that all began in the mid-late '60s to early '70s and how these connect to what we learned about the Civil Rights Movement last trimester. You will come in the first day having read Maureen Dowd's article, so you will have a good head start on this. We will begin in class with an article about gay students' privacy rights. Grammar: Commas and coordinating conjunctions
March 10, 2021 Axios Conversation about Race and Politics: https://www.axios.com/axios-event-racism-politics-eaf7ce0e-be43-4b88-9a9b-6a99da340630.html
Grammar: comma review
Louis Menand on Betty Friedan's Explosive Book 11
20 years of LGBTQ Literature from 1997-2017
On The Trail Of The First Women Voters 20
Phyllis Schlafly's Defeat of the Equal Rights Amendment '16
Sandberg - Slaughter debate feminism 12
Planning responsibilities by gender '15
Psychologists Seeking To End Discrimination 17
Three people at the center of a key LGBT rights ruling 20
Planned Parenthood reassessing its founder 21
This week's essay (due March 20) requires reading the Maureen Dowd and the Ginsburg/Steinem articles (questions on the same sheet for both due by class on March 18), and it would help to discuss how the world has changed in terms of gender and sexuality during their lifetimes with your parents and grandparents or other old folks you know. You can also refer to the articles about women's and gay rights, Betty Friedan and a very different kind of feminist, Helen Gurley Brown, linked directly above. If you have never watched the TV show Mad Men, you could do worse than start at season one, as it chronicles our issues very effectively from 1959 through about 1970. Please proof read any essay before handing or sending it to me. A more recent show on hulu that lays out the battle between feminist and conservative women over the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s is Mrs. America, and it's both informative and fun to watch.
Dowd article about the Women's Movement 05
Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Gloria Steinem 2016
Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The Great Equalizer '20
Week 2: We will be continuing our look at the Civil Rights Movement with an episode of Eyes on the Prize focusing on Mississippi Freedom Summer and the passage of the Civil Rights Bill in 1964 while continuing to discuss the great changes that were occurring in the late '60s and early '70s. Grammar: Commas and non-essential clauses
Grammar: quotations
Bayard Rustin - link between Civil and Gay rights '03
Ariel Levy on why feminism is still so divisive '09
Rage of British Woman's Killing Questions "The Women's Bargain" 21
This week's reading assignment is to begin Fried Green Tomatoes. There are questions linked here that must be answered for Monday's (March 25) class. Your revision of essay one is due by class time on Wednesday, March 27 by class time. See me well before then if you need help with any aspect of the revision. You need to fix everything I discuss or note on your first draft, and revisions must come back to me WITH THE MARKED UP DRAFTS.
Fried Green Tomatoes (hereafter FGT) reading 1
Week 3: We will begin our play for the trimester, The Heidi Chronicles by Wendy Wasserstein, this week. This play will lead us from 1964 through 1989 with both humor and heartache, and if you get down to New York, you can see a revival on Broadway right now starring Elizabeth Moss from Mad Men. For each scene, we will review the history of the time and listen to the music cited in the play before reading it. The paintings discussed in the play are also linked below.
Grammar: colons
Classwork:
Paintings in The Heidi Chronicles
Heidi Chron - Act 1 vocab and notes
Recommended:
Wendy Wasserstein An Appreciation '06
Heidi review 15 with link to original review
An excellent illustrated article from the Metropolitan Museum of Art about women artists in the Age of Revolutions (late 18th century): https://www.metmuseum.org/perspectives/articles/2021/7/great-women-artists?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Museum&utm_campaign=2021_0810_CloseLook&promocode=
Debate over Heidi's Legacy 2015
Judy Chicago Retrospective Show 23
Your questions about the second section of Fried Green Tomatoes are due by Monday's (April 1) class. Read it carefully. When your answers are detailed, you essays will become much easier. Your draft of essay 2 is due by Wednesday's class (April 3) including quotes from the novel and proper notes. Check with me if you need help with this.
Week 4: We will be moving through the '60s and perhaps into the '70s in The Heidi Chronicles this week in class We will also discuss the beginning of Fried Green Tomatoes once I have everyone's questions. Grammar: Quotations and punctuation
Vann Newkirk on The Voting Rights Act of 1965: when the US became a democracy 21
Your reading for this week is continuing Fried Green Tomatoes. It's due by Monday (April 8), . Your revision of essay 2 is due by Wednesday's class (April 10). I strongly recommend using vacation to get ahead in the book so the rest of the trimester will be easy. If you don't, you will be sorry in a couple of weeks.
Vacation
Week 5: We will continue to read The Heidi Chronicles in class, and we will also discuss Fried Green Tomatoes.
Grammar: however, though and commas
This week's reading is to continue Fried Green Tomatoes. The questions for part 4 are due by class on Monday, April 22. Your draft of essay 3 is due on Wednesday, April 24.
Week 6: We will continue reading The Heidi Chronicles, probably reaching Act II this week. We will also discuss more of Fried Green Tomatoes if everyone is caught up.
You are now in the second half of Fried Green Tomatoes. The questions are due by Monday's class (April 29). Your revision of essay 3 with the draft I wrote on is due by Wednesday's (May 1) class.
Week 7: We should finish Heidi this week, and we will watch a documentary about Stonewall and the beginnings of the gay rights movement. Grammar: adverbs
Original Times article about Stonewall '69
Defense of Marriage Act Overturned
Supreme Ct. rules on gay marriage
Article about 2020 Supreme Court ruling including LGBTQ people under the 1964 Civil Rights Act
How the word "Sex" Got into the Civil Rights Bill in 1964 20
Remembering Trans rights plaintiff Aimee Stephens 20
The Three Plaintiffs in the 2020 gay rights case
51 year movement leading to 2020 gay rights decision by Supreme Court
2020 Transgender Rights Case May Lead to others 20
19th Century Gay Rights Pioneer 20
Photo Exhibit About Closeted Gay Couples of the Past 21
House passes gay/trans rights bill; Senate will be tougher 21
Activism during the AIDS crisis '21
How the Trans Rights Movement miscalculated and was set back by the Suoreme Court 25
You will be reading the end of Fried Green Tomatoes for Monday's class (May 6). Essay 4 is about a key ethical issue in the book's trial and is due Wednesday, May 8.
Week 8: Over the next two weeks, we will spend much of our time learning about Affirmative Action, particularly in the area of college admissions, which will be the topic of our trial. This will also be instructive about how college admissions really works. We will also take time to discuss the reading homework for this week.
Actual factors in college admissions
Affirmative Action and factors in college admissions
Admissions and Affirmative Action:
Students For Fair Admissions v Harvard (2023) edited and highlighted decision
TR6 SUPREME COURT CASES ON AFFIRMATIVE ACTION 1978 – 2016.DOCX
Supreme Court Limits previous Affirmative Action ban 24
"Aff Action" for the rich at colleges - an old story
Affirmative Action Case Comparison
University of Texas admissions policy upheld in Fisher case '16
2012 Affirmative Action Preview
2014 Top Ten Aff Action Plan Upheld in Texas
Bill Keller on Affirmative Action '13
Adam Liptak on Fisher v UTexas decision 2013
Sherrilyn Ifill on Race vs. Class '13
Minimum Wage Wins, Affirmative Action Loses '20
Justice Sotomayor on Affirmative Action
What it feels like to have your life changed by Affirmative Action 23
2014 Schuette Aff. Action case
White Americans Say They Are Waking Up To Racism 20
Harvard Fencing Coach Took Bribes to help privileged gain admission '20
Program for minority farmers divides rural America text '21
Program for minority farmers divides rural America questions '21
Can harm to minority neighborhoods from interstates be undone '21
A Philosopher' (Martha Nussbaum's View of moving forward from injustice'21
Specifically about the 2023 Affirmative Action Case
before the ruling:
Asian American quota law suit '15
Affirmative Action and Asian Americans '17
Why Affirmative action doesn't fit Asian Americans against other minority groups '17
Ahead of new Affirmative Action case, study quantifies value of diversity '21
The End of Affirmative Action Would Be A Disaster 22
The Affirmative Action That Colleges REally Need 22
Justice Jackson's Key Argument About Affirmative Action 22
How it feels to have your life changed by Affirmative Action 23
After the ruling:
Supreme Court Limits previous Affirmative Action ban 24
Can You Create A Diverse College Class Without Affirmative Action? 24
Nikole Hannah Jones on "Colorblindness" and how it's been used to promote racism 24
Short takeaways from the previous long and important article 24
John McWhorter on why the return of the SAT is a good thing in racial terms 24
The End of Affirmative Action 23
Adam Harris on the decision that upends the Equal Protection clause 23
Jelani Cobb's first take on the Court's ruliing on Affirmative Action 23
How admissions will change because of the ruling against of Affirmative Action 23
An inside Look at the "Gamification of Race" in College Admissions 23
Ron Brownstein on the generational aspects of the Affirmative Action ruling 23
For most college students, affirmative action was never enough23
One Black family's diverse views about the Affirmative Action ruling 23
The Unseen Students in the Affirmative Action debate 23
For interviews with students who benefited from legacy admissions criticizing this practice, see this New York Times video: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/29/opinion/legacy-admissions-college-discrimination.html?smid=em-share
(I can access it for you on my account if it doesn't open for you.)
Potential Ways Forward:
Supreme Court's education rulings could help Democrats 23
Should Class analysis replace the banned form of affirmative action 23
Harvard's Legacy Admissions Legally Challenged in the wake of ban on affirmative action 23
After the ruling, a new tool: adversity scores 23
Voting Rights the Key Issue of 2021
Cases about equality article 13
Are Police Reform Laws Enough? 21
Michelle Alexander's America, This Is Your Chance 20
Camden, NJ's improved policing model20
Ta-Nehisi Coates on the need for reparations 14
What is Owed: the case for reparations 20
Chicago Suburb crafts a reparations proposal 21
how To Confront and make up for a racist national history 20
Biden's infrastructure bill seeks to redress racial inequities 21
House crafts a reparations committee proposal 21
Black Lives Matter previews the politics of a diversifying America 20
Ricci case - Linda Greenhouse's view '09
Ricci case rules discrimination against white firefighters '09
At home, you will be reading two chapters from The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf: Introduction and Hunger. These will be handed out along with the question sheet, which is linked below. This is not pleasant reading, but it's important reading for understanding gender in our society. The questions are due by class on Monday's class (May 13). This is your last reading assignment aside from your part in the trial, although the Violence chapter of The Beauty Myth, which is included in your packet, is well worth, if not pleasant, reading. The revision of essay 4, along with the draft, is due Wednesday, May 15, by class time.
Katy Waldman - Why We Mourn Girlhood 21
Can a Feminist Enjoy Fashion? 23
Week 9: We will continue our analysis of cases that will lead into our trial. We will go over some trial dos and don'ts based on last trimester's trial and learn about the hearsay rule.
Can There Be an Impartial Jury in the George Floyd case? 21
Essay five is due this Wednesday (May 22) by class time. You are basically comparing Evelyn and Heidi based on the full texts.
Week 10: We're in trial prep. mode aside from grammar. Grammar: Me/I
Only the slackers have an extra essay due, and it's due on Friday, May 24 by class time. Let's hope that's not you. Late extra essays or revisions mean no credit. Essay 5 revisions are due by class time on Wednesday, May 29. Extra essay revisions must be in by 9 a.m. on Friday, May 31 with the drafts even though we don't have class that day.
Week 11: Aside from grammar, we will spend Monday on trial prep. Wednesday is the trial. We'll assess and do our final grammar sheet on Thursday.Grammar: Split Infinitives and advanced usage
Operation Varsity Blues Review - Doc about admissions advantages and cheating of the wealthy 21
TR6 BACKGROUND ON THE ADMISSIONS SUIT AGAINST HARVARD 18.DOCX
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TR6 NEW PLAY ABOUT GLORIA STEINEM TO OPEN OFF BROADWAY IN OCTOBER.DOCX
TR6 THE RAGE OF THE INCELS.DOCX
TR6 WHITE STUDENTS’ UNFAIR ADVANTAGE IN ADMISSIONS.DOCX
Link for your evaluation of the class: Please do it: it's anonymous, and I won't see it until after I do your evaluation.
The final draft of the extra essay must be in 9 a.m. on Friday, May 31 and complete or there will be no credit if you had to do it.
The trial is scheduled for Wednesday, June 2 with possible spillover to our last class on June 3.
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