As we continue our study of "Dangerous Stories," we begin two new texts this week. In Honors English, we are reading The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates. I had the opportunity to hear Wes Moore speak last spring at an event organized by the organization Facing History and Ourselves. Junior ChiArts Scholar-artist Cuixi has served on Facing History's Student Leadership Team and was one of four students to sit onstage with Wes and pose a question.
Cuixi asked, "What did military school have to offer that your mother couldn't?"
I wish you had been there to hear Wes Moore's response, how he honors his mother yet acknowledges that a mother can only do so much, especially when raising a son, that a son needs an adult male role model, just as a daughter needs an adult female role model.
Please click on the link below to hear Wes Moore share his story, as he explains why he felt called to write this book. As he said when he spoke with us last spring, he did not want to write this book--it was the "other" Wes who compelled him to write it.
See "Class Links" for a link to author Wes Moore's website.
Thank you so much for stopping by my classroom, viewing all of the student work, sharing your insights and appreciation of the incredible work we are doing in our Survey of Literature class this year.
I really appreciate that you took time to stop by Room 203 and share all of your positive feedback.
Scholars, I love teaching and serving each and every one of you. You inspire me. Thank you for the energy and enthusiasm you bring to class every day.
This week we have explored the power of details in a story, identifying evocative details in our own and each other's writing. You have written some terrific details. Below find a list of examples, in YOUR words (yes, I used A.W.E. = author's words exactly here), as you focused on a particular moment in time when you faced a challenge and described the setting for the reader.
Talk about "painting with words"--there is terrific use of figurative language here!
“The stars had shined their shoes
and
brushed their teeth.” Moises,
IMAGERY + PERSONIFICATION
“…Climbed on the counter like I was rock
climbing…but it was slippery…” Aliyah, IMAGERY + SIMILE
“The morning foggy and dark…” Emilio,
IMAGERY
“…the taste of iron in my mouth,”
Michael, IMAGERY
“My head felt fuzzier than a TV with no cable.” Dakari, SIMILE
“When I stepped outside, I remember being
instantly hugged by a warm, tropical breeze.”
Brianna, PERSONIFICATION
"Crows flying over my head like angels in the sky..." Tyjah, Imagery + simile
“My arms turned into weights pulling me
down,” Kahari –
METAPHOR
“When she responded, ‘Let’s start off as
friends first,’ my thoughts attacked my mind with a bat of insecurity.”
Justyn –
Personification + metaphor
“I got really nervous like a groundhog
when it sees its shadow.” Carter, SIMILE
“I remember I was shooting snot like a
AK47.” Asante, SIMILE
“Holding his cold body, I felt as though
I were carrying Mr. Freeze.” Lyric, SIMILE
“My true pain was hidden under and under
armor.” Denzel, PERSONIFICATION
“I squint my eyes open as the sun sneaks
its rays through my window.” Jimena,
PERSONIFICATION
“My hands were shaking intensely, as if
my body were a ball of vibration.” Asya, SIMILE
“I finally looked at my phone. The text
message said, ‘Yes, with no further explanation of who or why.’ My heart
dropped out of my chest into my lap.” Justyn – PERSONIFICATION
“Gravity told me and my body, ‘You are
forbidden to pass beyond this point.’” Kahari - PERSONIFICATION
Wow, schoar-artists, you really know how to 'paint with words." I cannot wait to read your narratives!
First drafts of "Stories with Wings," detailing a challenge in your life and the personal core value you used to overcome this challenge, are due next week (see calendar). Even period classes submit "Stories with Wings" drafts on Tuesday, odd period classes submit your drafts on Wednesday.
Please see "Into the Lion's Den," Mr. Shakur's incredible story of losing his writer's voice, and finding it again, to see what we are striving for in this piece of writing. Yes, I am still drafting my piece, and it is on the way. (You will have the opportunity to read my piece next week.)
Scholar-artist Asya suggested that India Arie expresses the power of telling our stories in her beautiful song, "I Am Not My Hair." Listen to India Arie, as she sings
I am not my hair
I am not this skin
I am not your expectations
I am not my hair
I am not this skin
I am the soul that lives within.
Consider the connections to "The Danger of a Single Story," as she sings
Good hair means curls and waves
Bad hair means you look like a slave.
This made me think of a great poem by the great Gwendolyn Brooks.
To Those Of My Sisters Who Kept Their Naturals
-- never to look a hot comb in the teeth
Sisters!
I love you. Because you love you. Because you are erect. Because you are also bent. In season, stern, kind. Crisp, soft-in season. And you withhold. And you extend. And you Step out. And you go back. And you extend again.
Your eyes, loud-soft, with crying and with smiles, are older than a million years, And they are young. You reach, in season. And All below the rich rouch right time of your hair.
You have not bought Blondine. You have not hailed the hot-comb recently. You never worshipped Marilyn Monroe. You say: Farrah's hair is hers. You have not wanted to be white. Nor have you testified to adoration of that state with the advertisement of imitation (never successful because the hot-comb is laughing too.)
But oh the rough dark Other music! the Real, the Right. The natural Respect of Self and Seal!
Sisters!
Your hair is Celebration in the world!
Telling your story is an act of power. You may be surprised to discover the incredible impact your story has on your audience.
Those who do not have power over the story that dominates their lives,
the power to retell it, rethink it, deconstruct it, joke about it,
and change it as times change,
truly are powerless, because they cannot think new thoughts.
In today's class, our learning goal was to relate our new definition of "danger," Adichie's stirring speech "The Danger of a Single Story," and our new text Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun: A Personal History of Violence by Geoffrey Canada.
Canada is not only the author of this provocative text but is also the founder of The Harlem Children's Zone, a "pioneering, non-profit, community-based organization that works to enhance the quality of life for children and families."
See Class Links to explore this organization's work. You can also watch the entire "60 Minutes" segment featuring Canada's work, of which we watched two minutes in class.
We discussed the power of words. I urge you to consider the single stories we all have of communities, especially those we have never lived in or visited. Let's take care to use language that honors the complex narratives of communities and of the people who live there. Instead of simply saying "That's a bad neighborhood" or "good neighborhood," what might be some other ways we could describe these communities?
ChiArts is one of the most diverse schools in all of Chicago. Students from every neighborhood in the city attend our school. We are a community of diverse learners. This is an incredible opportunity for all of us, and it is one of the reasons I so love to work here.
Scholar-artist Emilio suggested that some people have a single story about Muslims, when they say "All Muslims are terrorists." I invite you to examine the single stories we all have about people and communities, to deconstruct them and ask questions, so that we can begin to understand the complexities of these narratives.
Thank you for writing me thoughtful letters describing how class is going so far for you, providing both positive feedback about what you enjoy and appreciate so far, and constructive feedback (i.e., opportunities for me to develop, improve, and better meet your needs and appeal to your learning styles). I really appreciate your honest, candid writing here, so that I know exactly what is working well for you and what I can do for you. I appreciate your ideas and suggestions for creative writing prompts and hands-on activities. I've truly enjoyed reading your letters.
I look forward to hearing your reactions to this powerful text next week. Remember, your annotations provide an opportunity to "make the invisible visible" so that we can see the unique conversation you have with the text. Read and annotate all of Canada's text by next week (see TeacherEase for the deadline).
This is the document introduced in class, a guide for how to develop annotations that represent the unique conversation you have with a text you are reading.
This document belongs in the second tab of your binder, for Class Materials and Resources and describes why we annotate and how to go about it. It includes a simple rubric on the bottom and a sample annotated page.
Well we are already into our third week of school, and you are truly embracing your individual and collective identity as the phenomenal freshman class of scholar-artists! Three cheers for the scholar-artists of 2015!
In our Survey of Literature class, we've begun to explore this idea of "danger," and "the danger of a single story." I introduced a denotation of the word, which was new to most of you. Now we are exploring the concept of danger as meaning when someone is "under the power or control of another." You've suggested that the relationship between "danger" and stories has something to do with having knowledge, power, and freedom of speech--the freedom to TELL OUR stories, and to be HEARD. For truly, when we tell our stories, we exercise power, and we tell the truth.
Please visit Class Links for the video we watched in class of the Nigerian writer Chiamanda's stirring speech, "The Danger of a Single Story."
You have a clear sense of the ChiArts Core Values. I've heard and read your references to all six core values, in your contributions to class discussions and in your writing.
What are the six? Well, this is not a quiz, but soon you will remember them ALL. The ChiArts Core Values are Creativity, Community, Integrity, Balance, Humility, and Perseverance. They are so much more than words, and I encourage you to reference the definitions that explain these values (see "class links").
Thank you for an inspiring beginning for the 2011-12 academic year. This is my third year at ChiArts, and I'm even more excited than I was in the fall when we first opened! You inspire me.
Welcome to ChiArts. You are beginning your journey as scholar-artists at The Chicago High School for the Arts, where we seek to prepare you for college and provide pre-professional arts training of the highest caliber.
It is an honor and a privilege for me to be on the ChiArts faculty and to have this opportunity to work and learn with you, as your English teacher. I am excited about what I know will be an invigorating, inspiring, and rewarding year as we work together to achieve great things.
