Class Recap and Homework--02/25/21

Class 12

Objectives:

to finish group presentations on their section of the story, working through the ending scenes

to introduce the quotation sandwich

"Concepts Of Text Fly From Text Book" by Vichaya Kiatying-Angsulee

Homework:

1. Complete the "Drown" Critical Response paragraph for Monday

2. Read and annotate CATW 1 article, "What Are Friends For" on page 1 (the third page) of the CATW Packet for Monday

3. Complete the Writing Without Adjectives assignment for Tuesday

Recommended Viewing: Eyes of the Rainbow

If you have a free 45 minutes this weekend, you should definitely check out this 1997 documentary by Cuban film director Gloria Rolanda about Assata Shakur.  You will hear Assata Shakur speak about her life, her activism, and her life in Cuba. It also includes interludes of Afro-Cuban music and artistic expression.  It's a tribute to women warriors and the African ancestors.  Check it out.

Class Recap and Homework--02/24/21

Class 11

Objectives:

to finish work in groups to list the most important events of the story

to have groups present their section of the story, working through the plots and starting to note some of the deeper meanings in the text

"Concepts Of Text Fly From Text Book" by Vichaya Kiatying-Angsulee

Homework:

1. Reread "Drown." We will finish group presentations tomorrow.

Class Recap and Homework--02/23/21

Class 10

Objectives:

to review some features of fiction (style, narration, time) in the short story "Drown"

to work in groups to list the most important events of the story

Class Notes: February 23rd

"Concepts Of Text Fly From Text Book" by Vichaya Kiatying-Angsulee

Homework:

1. Reread "Drown" and complete the list of 5 events for your assigned section.

Group 1: Pg 1-2 (ending at “...not even dictionaries.”)
Group 2: Pg 2-3 (ending at “Am I watching television here or what?”)
Group 3: Pg 3-5 (ending at “...fingers pressing together.”)
Group 4: Pg 5-6 (ending at “There’s a lot out there.”)
Group 5: Pg. 6-7 (ending at “Eat me.”)
Group 6: Pg. 7-8 (end of story)

Class Recap and Homework--02/22/21

Class 9

Objectives:

to commence Parts of Speech Part 2 in which we:

-reflect on academic language and changing language through study of Assata Shakur's grammar

-continue to develop an understanding of parts of speech by noticing patterns of word forms and how to change words from one part of speech to another

-develop understanding of changing parts of speech by replacing adjectives with figurative language

Class Notes: February 22nd 

Homework:

1. Read and annotate "Drown" for tomorrow

Please note that the Guided Reading assignments for "Drown" that follow are OPTIONAL, but highly recommended.

2. Complete the Writing Without Adjectives Assignment

Guided Reading of "Drown": Listing the Events Part 4

In the last section, we got to know a little bit more about the narrator's prospects in life, his relationship with the larger world. What would you say is the narrator's relationship with school? What do you see him doing with his life? What directs his life?

Now for this next post, you're going to read pp. 7 (starting with "Twice. That's it...") through the end. You're continuing to look for important events, but now you're only listing 6 events, so you're expanding your powers of synthesis without losing any of your attention to detail. Continue to keep track of what is happening in the present and what is happening in the past (introduce past events with "He remembers when...").

Challenge Paragraphs:

"Twice. That's it." The narrator has two sexual encounters with Beto. The first one was a surprise. The second one was not a surprise, but how does he feel about it?

"He put his hand on my shoulder, my pulse a code under his palm. Let’s go, he said. Unless of course you’re not feeling good.

I’m feeling fine, I said.

Since his parents worked nights we pretty much owned the place until six the next morning. We sat in front of his television, in our towels, his hands bracing against my abdomen and thighs. I’ll stop if you want, he said and I didn’t respond. After I was done, he laid his head in my lap. I wasn’t asleep or awake, but caught somewhere in between, rocked slowly back and forth the way surf holds junk against the shore, rolling it over and over. In three weeks he was leaving. Nobody can touch me, he kept saying. We’d visited the school and I’d seen how beautiful the campus was, with all the students drifting from dorm to class. I thought of how in high school our teachers loved to crowd us into their lounge every time a space shuttle took off from Florida. One teacher, whose family had two grammar schools named after it, compared us to the shuttles. A few of you are going to make it. Those are the orbiters. But the majority of you are just going to burn out. Going nowhere. He dropped his hand onto his desk. I could already see myself losing altitude, fading, the earth spread out beneath me, hard and bright.

I had my eyes closed and the television was on and when the hallway door crashed open, he jumped up and I nearly cut my dick off struggling with my shorts. It’s just the neighbor, he said, laughing. He was laughing, but I was saying, Fuck this, and getting my clothes on."

Why does the narrator describe his pulse as "a code under his palm"? If his pulse is a code, what is the message?

Why does the narrator say "I wasn't asleep or awake, but caught somewhere in between"?

Why does Beto say "Nobody can touch me"? 

Why does he think about school at this moment? Why does he remember visiting Beto's campus and about what his high school teacher said?

What makes the narrator say "Fuck this"?

Share your list of events and answer the Challenge Questions here:

https://forms.gle/1w6iHFevWGzUKmjh9

Feel free to share your questions and thoughts on the reading in Comments section.

Guided Reading of "Drown": Listing the Events Part 3

 In the next section of our reading, we've gotten to know a little bit more about the narrator, his world, and relationships? What are some things you notice about him? What do you notice about his family? Do you feel you can characterize better his friendship with Beto?

Now for this next post, you're going to read page 5 (starting with "Nights I drink with...") up to 7 (ending with "Eat me"). You're continuing to look for important events, but still you're only listing 7 events, continuing to practice really synthesizing (boiling things down to a nutshell). Continue to keep track of what is happening in the present and what is happening in the past (introduce past events with "He remembers when...").

Challenge Paragraph:

When the narrator first meets the recruiter, the military recruiter talks about how the army has given him "a house, a car, a gun, and a wife. Discipline. Loyalty." When the narrator sees the recruiter during his run, he says,

"He’s a southerner, red-haired, his drawl so out of place that the people around here laugh just hearing him. I take to the bushes when I see his car on the road. These days my guts feel loose and cold and I want to be away from here. He won’t have to show me his Desert Eagle or flash the photos of the skinny Filipino girls sucking dick. He’ll only have to smile and name the places and I’ll listen."

Why does he take to the bushes when he sees the recruiter's car? Why does he say the recruiter won't *have to* show him his Desert Eagle (gun) or flash the photos? What would the recruiter have to get him to do to get him to listen? Why will he listen? And if he'll listen, why is he hiding?

Also, for the last scene of this section, it's important for you to know that the word "pato" is a Spanish word that literally means duck but is used as a derogatory, insulting term for gay men.

Share your list of events and answer to the Challenge Paragraph questions here:

https://forms.gle/TixThDYwKTRiGaNC8

Feel free to ask any questions or share any thoughts about the reading in the comments below.

Guided Reading of "Drown": Listing the Events Part 2

 So after the first few pages, you're starting to get a sense of the narrator's friendship with Beto. What do you think is the narrator's deal with Beto? Any insights? Predictions?

Now for this next post, you're going to read 2 (starting with "We live alone...") up to  (ending with "the bones in our fingers pressing together"). You're continuing to look for important events, but now you're only listing 7 events, so you're going to have to really synthesize (boil things down to a nutshell). Continue to keep track of what is happening in the present and what is happening in the past (introduce past events with "He remembers when...").

Challenge Paragraph:

In the first paragraph of this section about halfway in, the narrator writes:

"She has discovered the secret to silence: pouring café without a splash, walking between rooms as if gliding on a cushion of felt, crying without a sound. You have traveled to the East and learned many secret things, I’ve told her. You’re like a shadow warrior."

Why does he describe his mom in this way? What is he telling us about her? Why does he tell her she’s traveled to the East and learned secret things, that she’s like a shadow warrior? Has she really been to the East? What does he mean by this? Why does he tell her this? What does it suggest about their relationship?

You can share your list of events and answer to the Challenge Paragraph questions here:

https://forms.gle/48ffzsSTTWn1GKQ57

Feel free to write in questions you have on the reading in the comments section below.

Class Recap and Homework--02/18/21

Class 8

Objectives:

to discuss what is an essay and the purpose of writing an essay, what is a paragraph, and to think about general essay structure

to begin work on the CATW through the CATW Packet, analyzing the Writing directions (pg. 1), introducing the CUNY Start CATW structure (pg. 2)

Class Notes: February 18th

Homework:

1. Finishing the Academic Language Free-write from two weeks ago - this is due Monday

2. The Assata Shakur Comprehension Questions #3 and #5 - this is due Monday

3. Read and annotate "Drown" - this is "due" Tuesday (we will discuss it in class on Tuesday)

Please note that the Guided Reading assignments for "Drown" that follow are OPTIONAL, but highly recommended.

Guided Reading of "Drown": Listing the Events Part 1

In "Drown," we have an unnamed narrator who recounts experiences in two verb tenses. You will note that sometimes he uses the present tense ("My mom tells me Beto's home), and sometimes he uses the past tense ("We were raging then"). So there's a little grammar practice with this reading where we're going to want to pay close attention to verb tenses because our story is happening in two time periods: the narrator's present circumstances and the past he remembers.

Read pages 1-2, stopping at "not even dictionaries." Note the important things that happen, describing them in a sentence or 2 in your own words. If something is happening in the present, just write about it in the present tense. If it's happening in the past, start with "He remembers when/how..." You need to come up with 10 events for this section. 

Example for first paragraph:

1. The narrator's mother lets him know that Beto's home, but he acts like he doesn't care until she goes to sleep and he goes to look for him.

2. He remembers when they were friends two years ago and Beto was like a member of the family.

3. .....


Challenge Paragraph: Note this challenging paragraph when the narrator is at the community pool.

The water feels good. Starting at the deep end I glide over the slick-tiled bottom without kicking up a spume or making a splash. Sometimes another swimmer churns past me, more a disturbance of water than a body. I can still go far without coming up. While everything above is loud and bright, everything below is whispers. And always the risk of coming up to find the cops stabbing their searchlights out across the water. And then everyone running, wet feet slapping against the concrete, yelling, Fuck you, officers, you puto sucios, fuck you.

Do the cops actually appear in this scene? Note that he says "And always the risk of coming up to find the cops." What does that mean?

You can complete your list of ten events and share with us your ideas on the Challenge Paragraph here:

https://forms.gle/AaLGfLAMNBJruEEk9

Recommended Viewing: The Passion of the Black Messiah

 One of your classmates mentioned having seen Judas and the Black Messiah. If you don't have HBOMax and haven't been able to watch or even if you have seen it, you should check out this documentary that shows a lot of great real footage of the great Fred Hampton. 

You can start some discussion in the chat.

Class Recap and Homework--02/17/21

Class 7

Objectives:

to continue to discuss the Assata Shakur reading
to understand ironizing quotation marks (when you put quotation marks around something to say "not really")
to make connections to the world today (riots/Vietnam War and wars today)

"Concepts Of Text Fly From Text Book" by Vichaya Kiatying-Angsulee

Homework:

Complete Questions 3 and 5 in the Assata Shakur Reading Comprehension Questions for tomorrow

Class Recap and Homework--02/16/21

Class 6

Objectives:

to go over the background to the Assata Shakur reading with Assata Shakur's bio
to begin to discuss the Assata Shakur reading

Class notes: February 16th

"Concepts Of Text Fly From Text Book" by Vichaya Kiatying-Angsulee

Homework:

Complete Questions 3 and 4 in the James McBride Practice Reading Test Questions for tomorrow

Continue to read and annotate Assata Shakur (doc) or (pdf--you only have to read until page 159 on this one) for continued discussion tomorrow