MRBB Substitute assignmnet

Students are to read Act 2 of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” in small groups and answer the following before the end of class:

On pages 57-58 Toledo discusses the metaphor of African Americans being “a leftover from history.”  Discuss his metaphor more fully.   How does this metaphor impact the way a people might view themselves (identity), their past, and their futures?   How do we see these ideas play themselves out in the tensions of the play?

Questions for  10/18/2017: These will be part of a Socratic quiz.

1. How are the blues used as both metaphor and “way of life”/”way of expression” in this play? Consider what Ma says about the blues, why the music is so important to Levee and Ma, what their individual views about their playing of the music is, etc. How is music reflective of life and thinking?

 

2. Compare the ways Levee, Cutler, Toledo, and Ma go about living their lives and what they think about themselves in relation to the world. Why do they think as they do? What evidence from the play can you use to support your answer?

 

3. Power plays a big role in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Who really has the power at each point in the play, and how do they get it? What ‘power plays’ are made throughout the story, and are they successful?

 

4 Ma believes that “only black people understand the blues.” Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?

NO RED INK CODES

Class Join Codes:

2nd - same gate 94

3rd:  short pear 81

5th:  greasy soup 14

6th:  steep iron 51

7th:  furry knot 7

take each of the diagnostic quizzes listed

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom - READING - Act 1 10/4 (A) 10/05 (B)

Read Act 1 of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom - 

Tracking Characters: 

As this play is about identity, community, relationships, and whether one should sacrifice culture for the promise of "participation" in society, you will need to maintain a character log. 

The format for the final TYPED log is here: Character Map Template

It is also on Classroom

Whitman/Hughes Poetry Due 10/9 (B) 10/10 (A)

Whitman Prompt

 

1. Given “I Hear America Singing,” what is Whitman’s essential understanding/vision about America?

Assertion.
Provide two bullet points of support
So what? How does your support reinforce the idea in your assertion AND HOW is it essential to Whitman’s vision of “America”?

Hughes Prompt

  1. Task: Identify the tone shifts in “I, Too”, then determine how these changes communicate the speaker’s complex relationship with America (and perhaps Whitman).

 2.  Writing:

Compose an analytical paragraph that examines how tone, diction, and selection of detail reveal the speaker’s complex relationship with America in Langston Hughes' “I,too".

 

Let America . . .  

Compose 6 - 8 lines of poetry in the style of Langston Hughes' "Let America be America Again" for voices that are not necessarily heard in his poem. Title your poem with the stanza number your lines will follow.

As you write Consider:  Rhythm, figurative language (metaphor, simile, personification), repetition, AND diction. 

 

America - Common Lit Assignment and sign up Due 10/02 (A) 10/03 (B)

Common Lit - America by Claude McKay

Please go to Google Classroom and follow the link for Common Lit to access your assignment / assignments. Remember to complete the free response question (yes, you must answer the question and provide evidence with commentary so draft it BEFORE you type it in the prompt box as I will be using the Common Lit feedback tools for grading.

Common Lit Assignment 2 - WEB DuBois and Booket T Washington Comparison

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom Periods 2 and 3 - Due Beginning of class 9/28

Pre-Reading

Some of this will be redundant for 2nd period; however, we had some absences and 3rd period is behind you.

1. Analyze the list of characters from the play handout (1st page of pack). 

a. where do you expect to find conflict (overt and covert) among the characters and why?

b. what do you think will be the three primary sources of conflict in the play.

2. Read to page 30 of your handout. Pay particular attention to "The play", "The Setting", and all italicized text (which are Wilson's stage and character directions).

3. Consider the roles status and power in the lives of these characters. Who has it, who doesn't, why don't they, and the litmus test: would these roles be different if the characters lives were different, or to put in another way: would their opportunities be the same if these factors were changed. 

4. Remember to listen to your "Blues Song" and to PRINT a copy of the lyrics

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Due  Tues 9/26 (A) and 9/27 (B)

1. Read all introductory materials before the start of class

2. Read at least 5 pages of "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" by August Wilson

      a. Mark any questions with ?

      b. Mark anything you really like and why with !

      c. Mark anything confusing with ??

3. Come to class with an answer to these questions.

      1. Who are these people, really? elaborate.

      2. What are your 1st impressions of each character?

      3. What might life have been like for these men.

4. Draw a design of the stage from Wilson's Stage description.

5. Listen to your selected song. Think of the definitions listed on "The Blues Impulse Handout," how is your song representative of the "Blues"?