11/10/10 Class

Hello Everyone!
Today we will be reviewing the chapters you read for homework, Water Seeks Its Own Level and Cherrybomb. You will be doing a writing assignment the second half of class.

Here's the warm-up for today:

Its and It's

It's is a abbreviation for "It" and "is"
Ex: It's a nice day, isn't it?

Its is the possessive of "it'
Ex: That is Sarah's puppy but I don't know its name

Than and Then

Than: (conjunction) word used to compare two or more people, places, things, or ideas
Ex: Sarah is older than Alex

Then: (adverb) at that time
Ex: I then told him that he was doing the right thing

Your assignment: Write a sentence using each word correctly (It's, it's, than, then). Post your sentences as a comment to this post.

HW: Read through page 118. REMEMBER we do not meet again until next Monday so you will have plenty of time to get the reading finished.

Thanks!
Ms. Snyder

Rattlebone Vocab- Monday's class

Hello Everyone!
I wanted to post for Monday's class so everyone got used to seeing me on here. For Monday's class we are going to discuss the first two chapters of Rattlebone that were assigned to you for homework. I will be handing out a study guide for everyone so make sure you read so your able to fill it out!

Also, I wanted to take this opportunity to explain to you how class will be running for the next four weeks while i'm here. Everyday I want everyone to come in the classroom and immediatly check the class blog. Every day there will be a warm-up exercise posted for each student to complete. You will have about 10 minutes for you to complete it. Don't worry, they are pretty easy, it's just simple things you may forget along the way. Here is the first morning warm-up assignment. Just comment on the box below when you're all said and done!

Warm-up Exercise

Their, There and They’re


Their- Possessive, shows ownership
Ex: Their car broke so they had to take the bus.

There- Shows location
Ex: I couldn’t find my phone and it was over there the whole time!

They’re- Contraction of “they” and “are”
Ex: I met all of my new co-workers, they’re all very nice.

Now write a sentence for each (Their, There and They’re) to show you understand how to use them correctly. Post your sentences as a comment to this post.

Here is a list of Rattlebone Vocab. Make sure you keep a list somewhere with all the words on it. There will be a test on these words eventually

Happenstance (pg. 6): A chance happening or event


Capricious (pg. 13): Erratic or obsolete

Corporal-punishment (pg. 17): Physical punishment, inflicted on the body of one convicted of a crime: formerly included the death penalty

Cicadas (pg.27): A large insect, similar to the grasshopper


Thanks,
Ms. Snyder

Historical Background- Rattlebone

The Civil Rights Movement in the American South was a struggle for the civil rights in the modern times. It challenged the racism in America and made the country a humane society for all. Some of the popular people who participated in this movement were Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., Thurgood Marshall and The Little Rock Nine. The Civil Rights Movement Timeline discloses the important events in this historical movement


Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka,  (1954),was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students and denying black children equal educational opportunities unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which reinforced segregation. Handed down on May 17, 1954, the Warren Court's unanimous (9–0) decision stated that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." As a result, de jure racial segregation was ruled a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. This ruling paved the way for integration and the civil rights movement

Civil Rights Movement Timeline1954: The American Supreme Court declared the segregation in public schools in Brown v Board of Education of Topeka ruling as unconstitutional.

1955: Rosa Parks, an African-American woman, refused to give her seat to a white person on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Rosa Parks was arrested on December 1st as required by the city ordinance. The bus boycott was launched. The bus segregation ordinance was declared unconstitutional. Segregation on interstate buses and trains was banned by Federal Interstate Commerce Commission.

1956: Coalition of Southern congressmen demanded for massive resistance to Supreme Court desegregation rulings. On 21st December, the Montgomery buses desegregated.

1957: Arkansas governor Orval Rubus used the National Guard to prevent nine black students from attending a Little Rock High School. According to the court order, President Eisenhower sent the federal troops to keep up with the court order to avoid the segregation in schools. Garfield High School became the first Seattle high school having more than 50% nonwhite students.

To continue with the timeline just click on this link: Historical Timeline

To learn about key figures of the civil rights movement click here

Maxine Clair's Poetry

Maxine Clair

ROSEDALE, KANSAS
Mirages hovered above undulant highways
and summer stomped his dusty feet,
conjured up sunflowers
that ran wildly through fields of cornsilk.
Giant brown faces with yellow rays
stampeded to pavement edge
and stood cooling their feet in the clay.
Blue racers that slept between slats
of a swinging bridge became Python.
Roused by Amazon and Watusi
they slithered to a rocky cathedral
in the creek bed,
and choirs of cicada droned a fugue
of The Seven-Fold Amen.
When the moon like new silver
rolled on edge across black velvet,
Orion laid down his shield
to play hide-and-seek with lightning bugs.
Children caught his eyes in mason jars,
kept the stars to hold to
and went to seek their fortunes.

PENMANSHIP Cursive writing separated us from the little kids that year, promised us we would be flourishes of gold ink on a white bond expanse of future. Letters flowed into one another like jacks, bangs, secrets, and banana caramels, spelling out girlfriends. Then Norma's mother died: draped in a navy blue sheet, put into a Black Maria, lowered into a hole. We went away searching for Norma's mistake, one something more fleeting than Orpheus' backward glance that set this thing in motion. We sensed it then. Like a teacher with the final word it would stand stark, guiding our lives as we made ovals, strokes, loops, and slants, each of us outlining one unknowable letter in the endless alphabet.

David Carlson 'BA and KA', 40" x 36" mixed media on wood, 2003 see more of David Carlson's work

DEJA VU
Like a yellow flag, my mind plants
a singpost for itself, a re-vision
of something I've never seen, the re-seeing
of a scene I never wrote. Here it is again,
Soweto. Women walking on a road. Bodies
shaped in angles that hold a three-sided
fury with gnarled hair; slender shadows
whose reappearance could give me the chance
to rewrite my descriptive passages of the corpses
they bear, the blood they wring from their skirts.
As if clairvoyance were a gift, I've been given
the second sight of girls, boys, silhouetted
against a casaba moon, slipping past a gatekeeper
into cliché: thousands dead or missing.
And living is a sending out of moments. That
is the gift. Each must come back in deja vu
like a pod on a bough of the akee-fruit tree,
opening in its time, round with delight or venom.



COAL OIL AND SUGAR, 1954
When the nine o'clock whistle blows
our way, we can smell manure and bacon
from the packing house across the river.
The August night sky leans down for us
to touch. Mamma Hayes braids her hair
on her porch. Down the block somebody
yells, All hid? Next door Georgie, who's
too slow to read and cannot go to school, begs to stay
outside until ten when the street light goes out
and we go to bed thinking of school one sleep away.
Attucks, Wheatley, Douglass--mostly names
of schools we know, Dunbar Annex is ours,
a haven on the second floor of the Agency
where official workers must not be disturbed.
Hear our verses opening the day, reluctantly
at first, God is love. Make a joyful noise...
See us reciting in single file, eight rows
of faces, brown and artless as sunflowers:
.....Between the dark and the daylight,
.....When the night is beginning to lower,
our skinny stalks rooted to this soil
of English, arithmetic, geography.
We lift our voices and sing--not the dirges
yet, not the curses we will learn before
we sing love songs again. Black still verges
on the profane, the color of a bad word for female
dogs; for weapons, loaded snowballs in February,
on our sleds all day, a dose of coal oil and sugar
down our throats to ward off whooping cough. With
pudding and juniper tea our evenings boil over
like a pot on the back burner whose steam
rises and stains the wallpaper in shapes we dream
about. We cannot know that when we turn this page,
a schoolboy face with a bullet hole, the murdered
face of Emmet Till, will find those shapes.
The smooth, tied hands with mud from the bottom
of the river will worry our dreams like blood
on snow. We lift our voices and sing. Negro
History Week and we have forgotten the second
stanza but not our catechism. We know
the list: Ira Aldridge, Marian Anderson, Benjamin
Banneker, Ralph Bunche, George Washington Carver,
W.E.B. DuBois, Duke Ellington, Marcus Garvey
and on. Twenty-five Negro Leaders. We cut their
mythical figures from the glossy pages of Ebony
where they tell us to learn all we can, be twice
as bright. We ignore this reading lesson.
Those Negroes are history. They can bring
nothing from yesterday. We are today. In the only
future we can see, we are sliding downhill into spring.


THE ADULTERERS
In the first place
don't mess with no Pharisee men.
They don't mind taking your time,
but they treat you back-street.
Before they picked up stones,
threatening my life trying to make
a paint, sleeping with another
woman's man wasn't really no thing,
more like a little story to spruce up
the big one, but never a real
climax, know what I mean?
I said vows.
They said vows, too. We never
hurt nobody so I was too through
when this gang of priests and elders
--Pharisees mind yuo--come hauling
me out early in the morning
just for sleeping with a woman's
husband while she was off
in the valley. They grabbed
me round my neck, threw me
out in the road, tore my new
wine-colored robe with teh silver
threads around the hem. I would
have fought them if it wasn't
for the Man they brought me to.
He was squatting in the dust
and they called out to Him. Sounds
to me like they trying to catch Him
in a lie about being a teacher
and all. By now they picking up
stones and asking Him what he knows
about Moses' law that says
I'm supposed to die.
Well now, this Teacher stands up
and the sun's bouncing off Him
like gold pieces and He looks at me.
Let me tell you, I know when a man
wants me and let me tell you
He didn't. And he didn't pity
me either. He wasn't even lording
it over me. He just looked.
And way back deep in His eyes,
see like I could see a kind
of thing that the love I been
having couldn't touch. Looking
at Him was like falling
in the sea and the longer I looked
I could see He don't speak nothing
but pure truth and it got me
thinking about vows and such.
Like: they different from words,
they real, alive. Must be living
truth. If that's so, when a man
and woman vow it, they can get the same
feeling between them as a mother and child,
and as two brothers all at the same time
'cause they choose it and if that's so,
when they say I do, they talking about
a whole life thing that don't
get broken just from sleeping
with someone else. But nobody in their
right mind would want to come
between that kind of feeling anyway.
It would be an empty thing,
like hollering in a cave with no
echo--nothing you send comes back,
you can't get no real connection.
I was looking in the eyes
of this Man and I was making
a whole lot of sense to myself.
Well the Teacher Man looks
at these Pharisees and asks if any
of them ever done anything wrong
like lie or steal or call somebody
out of their name or swear or cheat
or gossip. Of course nobody
can say nothing. Then said this
Teacher, Whoever is without
the tiniest bit of sin can throw
the first stone at this woman,
taking about me. By then I
wasn't even scared. They all
tucked tail andslinked off.
And then He says to me, Go
and I went.
Since then I ain't had nothing
to do with nothing that wasn't truth,
especially no Pharisees.


SUNDAY
there were times she would play the piano
she would throw back her head and her wavy black hear would dangle
she would strike the chords and move on the piano stool and sing
Lord Jesus can I have a talk with you
Lord Jesus won't be long till I'll be through
and tears would be streaming down puffy rust cheeks
if there is no God there ought to be
the way she played and cried



Maxine Clair is the author of Coping With Gravity, a collection of poems. Rattlebone, a collection of short stories set in her native Kansas, won the Chicago Tribune's Heartland Prize for fiction and the American Library Association's Black Caucus Award. Her novel, October Suite, also set in the Midwest, was a finalist for the Hurston-Wright Legacy Award. A recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, Clair is Professor of English at The George Washington University in Washington, DC, where she teaches creative writing.

Run, Lola, Run/ First Part Last

Discussion Questions
How do you think your life would change as a teenager if you suddenly had the responsibility of an infant? Make a schedule of your life as it is now (look at your day planner) and then make a new one based on a life with baby.
Post reading:
1. Describe how Bobby and Nia’s parents react to the news of her pregnancy. How would yours?
2. Find a quote that most reveals who Bobby is as a person. Explain why you picked it.
3. What kind of father Bobby is to Feather? 4. What do you think is the most difficult thing for Bobby? Why? 5. Predict what happens to this family ten years into the future. Explain why. 6. Write ten questions you would ask Bobby, Mary, and Nia if you could. 7. On page 35 Bobby says, “ ... which pisses her off and makes her scream, and
then I look around my room and miss me.” Explain what he means. 8. Angela Johnson tells the story in a non-linear fashion. Why, do you think,
she chose this literary device to reveal the story? 9. How would you cope under the extraordinary circumstances that Bobby finds
himself? 10.    Would you make the same choices? 11.    If Bobby had Nia’s help raising Feather would he be a different
father? What makes you think so? 12. Do you agree with Mary and Fred’s approach to grandparenthood? Why or why not?
7
Author Interview
Kaavonia M. Hinton-Johnson with Angela Johnson interview
KH: The search for self seems to be a recurring theme in your young adult novels. What’s the message you hope to leave with young readers? AJ: I never consciously believe when I am writing that I am imparting any messages to my readers. The characters are so personal to me it seems I
imbibe them with all that I remember about my feelings at that age. And truly, understanding self and standing alone when I had to was very important to me as a teen KH: What kinds of responses do you receive from readers of your young adult books? AJ: I had never really thought about reader response to my books that much until The First Part Last was released. Kids tend to be very polite about what they think about a book. But I know if it doesn’t hit them the first three pages, they don’t want to read it—unless forced. But they don’t tend to tell me that. Heaven is a quiet book that has a few diehard fans, but I know that a lot of kids find it too introspective for them. KH: The First Part Last is a prequel to Heaven. Why did you feel the need to tell Bobby’s story? Will you add to this series? AJ: I was asked to write a prequel to Heaven. My editor thought the response to Bobby was amazing as a care taking African American teen father he thought everyone wanted to know more about him. At first—I didn’t think so. But with a bit of inspiration, I agreed. The First Part Last is unique in that it’s the first of my books with an extremely positive young male reader response. That got my attention as we all worry about our young men reading. Interestingly enough, there were a large amount of young women who were upset that the grandmother in the book was not raising her son’s child. I found that fascinating. It made for some very good discussions. There may be a third companion to Heaven and The First Part Last. KH: Will any new novels, short stories, or picture books be released soon? AJ: I believe I have a picture book—Wind Flyers— coming out in the winter illustrated by Loren Long. It’s beautiful . . . . And if I work hard and concentrate, maybe I can get my focus back on novels.
8
THE ALAN REVIEW Fall 2006

Sentence Chunking/15 words/ Bean TRees Questions

Please continue to work on reading The Bean Trees and answering the Study Guide Questions.

Pigs in Heaven readers--research and write a comment about what you learned about Native american tribes suing families that have adopted Native American children.

Read to Ch. 10, pg. 140, in The Bean Trees or read further for next Tuesday.

The Bean Trees/Pigs in Heaven

Today, you received discussion/study guide questions for the Barbara Kingsolver books you are reading.

With a partner (or two), discuss the questions and answer them with a post online.  Be sure to list the names of the people in your group.   Also, as time permits,  work on your 15 word exercise from the last class.

Discussion Questions for The Bean Trees
1. Describe Marietta/ Taylor. What do you think she looks like? What sort of person is she?
2. How do you think Newt Hardbine died?
3. What two promises does Marietta/Taylor make to herself when she leaves Pittman, Kentucky?
4. What do you know about the life that the baby lived before she was given to Taylor?
5. Compare the way that Chapters One and Two are narrated.
6. Describe Lou Anne. Compare the way she thinks about life with her mother. How does her mother feel about her marriage?
7. What do Lou Anne and Taylor have in common?
8. Why did Lou Anne and Angel's marriage fall apart? Who caused the problems and why?
9. Describe the time that Taylor and Turtle live at the Broken Arrow Motel in Oklahoma?
10. Describe Mattie.
11. How did "Jesus is Lord Used Tires" get named? Why is this an appropriate name for Mattie's business?
12. Why do you think Taylor picked the name Turtle for the baby?
13. What does Angel do with the bottle of baptismal water Grandma Logan leaves for Lou Anne?
14. How do Taylor and Lou Anne meet?
15. Explain the irony of the fact that "the first killing frost of winter came on Valentine's Day."
16. Why does the priest, Father William visit the tire shop so often?
17. Describe Estevan and Esperanza.
18. What is the point of Estevan's story about heaven and hell?
19. How does Lou Anne feel about her Mom marrying?
20. What is the symbolism of Wisteria? How does this symbolism relate to people in the novel?
21. Respond to Estevan's statement about Americans? (ch. 8)
22. What sort of people does Mattie give sanctuary to?
23. What does Angel say to Lou Anne when he comes back?
24. What do the x-rays from Dr. Pelinowsky reveal?
25. What is Turtle's real name and how does Taylor find out?
26. Why did Estevan and Esperanza give up their daughter?
27. How does Edna Poppy save Turtle?
28. How does working at the salsa factory change Lou Anne?
29. Where does Mattie take everyone to experience the first summer rain?
30. Look up the word "anthropomorphism" and find three examples in the description of the storm and the desert that begins ch. 12.
31. How does Taylor feel about Estevan and what does she do about it?
32. What is the symbolism of the night-blooming Cereus plant? How does this relate to the symbolism of Wisteria?
33. How does Taylor respond after Turtle is attacked?
34. Is Taylor a hero? Give reasons for your answer.
35. How do Estevan and Esperanza feel on the Indian reservation?
36. How do Estevan and Esperanza help Taylor to adopt Turtle?
37. Why does Esperanza cry at the adoption? Look up the word "catharsis" and explain what it means in this context.
38. Should Lou Anne get back together with Angel?
39. What do you think the future holds for Taylor and Turtle? List five questions that are left unanswered at the end of the book.
40. Read the following statement that Barbara Kingsolver made about The Bean Trees, then make a list of five or more examples to show how the "central question" is answered in the book:  

"I always think of a first novel as something like this big old purse you've been carrying around your whole life, throwing in ideas, characters, and all the things that have ever struck you as terribly important. One day, for whatever reason, you just have to dump that big purse out and there lies this pile of junk. You start picking through it, and assembling it into what you hope will be a statement of your life's great themes. That's how it was for me. It probably wasn't until midway through the writing that I had a grasp of the central question: What are the many ways, sometimes hidden and underground ways, that people help themselves and each other survive hard times?"

41. The Bean Trees deals with the theme of being an outsider. In what ways are various characters outsiders? What does this suggest about the sacrifices required to be an insider? How does feeling like an outsider affect one's life? What advantages are there to being an outsider?