Asking Questions Homework

Today, we focused on asking questions within literature. 

For homework (6th period only), you need to find four appropriate questions to ask for the following statement:

"The man left me on the side of the road, but I was still far away from a gas station and, honestly, feared for my life."

What questions can you ask concerning the sentence?

1. 

2.

3.

4.

Next, write six appropriate questions for the story we will be reading for the next few days. You only know this much information, so you will have to base your six questions on that information:

The story is called "The Lottery."

The main characters are Bill and Tessie Hutchinson

The story is set in a small village town. 

Write six questions you already have about what we will be reading. 

You need to have these questions ready to turn in tomorrow when you walk in the door. 

Thriller!

This week, we are working on learning the individual parts of plot summary and how they relate the overall story to the reader. What better way to understand plot than to watch Michael Jackson's "Thriller"?!

 There is a full plot line throughout the video, but it's important to understand that the very first part of the video, where Michael turns into a werewolf, is merely a movie that "real Michael" and his girlfriend are attending, so that would all be included in the introduction.

It's easy to think that the story starts there, but it actually doesn't start introducing the characters until Michael and his girlfriend are inside the movie theater and she walks out because she's too scared.

Use the following chart to fill out the plot summary:

Thank You, Ma'am Full Text

This week, we are focusing on the short story, "Thank You, Ma'am," by Langston Hughes. The students have been examining Hughes's writing style and his ability to characterize the characters in different ways, along with determining which examples of cause and effect exist in the story. Below is a link to the story, so the students can read it at home and complete their homework.

Full text of "Thank You, Ma'am"

Happy reading!

Mr. Lowe

Welcome to Mr. Lowe's Class!

Welcome to the 2012-2013 school year!

I'm excited to have all of my new students in my class and ready to learn! This website will be the best place to go for updated calendars and things that we're covering in class.

I will be sending home a parent letter and syllabus tomorrow, so be sure to ask your student for it. There is a parent survey attached, where I simply ask your opinion on matters pertaining to your child's education, so please return that with your student on Monday with all the information filled out so that I can better get to know you, as well as your student!

This year is going to be great, so keep posted and I look forward to meeting all the parents!

Thanks for your support and your time!

Mr. Lowe

March 23, 2012

HOMEWORK DUE MONDAY!
8-3: Read to page 110 (until the middle of "November 24)
8-4: Read to page 133 (until "December 2")
8-1: Read to page 120 (until "November 25")
8-9: Read to page 110 (until the middle of "November 24)
8-2: Read to page 120 (until "November 25")

For those who have yet to buy the book or turn in a permission slip:
Elements of Literature, "Drummer Boy of Shiloh"
Read pages 203-208
Answer questions 1-7 on page 212

John decides to leave New Orleans and travel to Mississippi to see what it's really like in what many consider the most racist state in America. Sterling is very nervous of the idea and tries to dissuade (or talk out of) John from going, warning him that there's a good chance that he'll be seriously injured or even killed if he goes.

He goes to the bus station and attempts to buy a bus ticket with a $10 bill, but the white receptionist refuses to break the bill. Confused, John persists and the woman finally gives him his ticket, but she throws his change on the counter and gives him a disgusted "hate stare," something John has not experienced yet.

As the bus ride begins, he meets a black man named Cristophe who seems to really dislike the black race. He talks about how "ignorant" and poorly-dressed black people are and it seems as though he would rather be white. He's very loud and begins to embarrass the other black passengers.

Halfway through the trip, the driver pulled into a small town for a ten-minute restroom break, but the driver refused to let any of the black passengers off to use the facilities. Bill, a friend that John had met on the bus, made it past the driver and walked on without responding to the racist chants of the driver. Angry that they couldn't use the restroom, a few of the passengers agree that everyone should use the back of the bus as a restroom, with one of them actually urinating in the back. An older man disagrees, saying that if they do it, "it'll just give them something else to hold against us."

When the bus finally arrives in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, John calls his friend and fellow writer, P.D. East, to come pick him up. P.D. East is a white newspaper editor who advocates for civil rights in that newspaper, which has created some enemies for him among southern white folks. P.D. and John drive back to New Orleans and meet with Dean Gandy, the head of Dillard University, one of two all-black universities in New Orleans. They discuss the voting rights of blacks in the South and P.D. tells a joke about a black man trying to vote:

The white man taking his application gave him the standard literacy tests:
"What is the first line of the thirty-second paragraph of the United States Constitution?"
The applicant answered perfectly.
"Name the eleventh President of the United States and his entire cabinet."
The applicant answered correctly.
Finally, unable to trip him up, the white man asked, "Can you read and write?"
The applicant wrote his name and was then handed a newspaper in Chinese to test his reading. He studied it carefully for a time.
"Well, can you read it?"
"I can read the headline, but I can't make out the body text."
Incredulous, the white man said: "You can read that headline?"
"Oh, yes, I've got the meaning all right."
"What's it say?"
"It says this is one Negro in Mississippi who's not going to get to vote this year."

March 22, 2012

HOMEWORK DUE TOMORROW:
8-3: Page 83
8-4: Page 110
8-1: Page 99
8-9: Page 83
8-2: Page 99

Answers from today's quiz!

Where is John Griffin originally from? Mansfield, Texas

Who was Sterling Williams? The shoeshiner in New Orleans who helped John successfully enter the "Negro world."

Whom did he first tell about his idea for the book? George Levitan

Where did John begin his experiment? New Orleans, Louisiana

The story took place in 1961. False (it took place in 1959-1960)

Whom did John call to pick him up when he first arrived in Mississippi? P.D. East

What insult did the young man who followed John use against him? Mr. No-Hair

Good job to those who did well on today's quiz! Make sure to keep up on your reading so that you can do well on the end-of-unit test, in addition to the analysis due at the end of the unit (you'll receive instructions on this on Monday, March 26).

Happy Reading!

March 21, 2012

HOMEWORK DUE TOMORROW:
8-3: Read to page 76 (up until "November 15") and be ready to discuss
8-4: Read to page 99 (up until "November 21") and be ready to discuss
8-1: Read to page 76 (up until "November 15") and be ready to discuss
8-9: Read to page 76 (up until "November 15") and be ready to discuss
8-2: Read to page 76 (up until "November 15") and be ready to discuss

For those who have not turned in your permission slip or purchased your book, your homework assignment is:
Elements of Literature textbook
Read pages 547-554 and answer questions 1-7 on page 556.

Review of what we've read thus far.

Black Like Me pgs. 30-50

After John makes the transformation into an African-American and enters the "Negro world" through Sterling and Joe, the men who run the shoeshine stand on Rampart Street.

Pgs. 20-21: John boards a city bus to get somewhere and sits in the middle of the bus. An older, white woman gets on, but stands in the aisle because there aren't any seats left next to white passengers. John motions to her that she can have his seat because she looks very tired and he's being a gentleman. However, the black passengers give him dirty looks because they see it not as an act of politeness, but as a surrender to the white race. On the other hand, the white woman sees John looking at her and motioning to sit down as a threat and responds by saying to another white passenger, "They're (African-Americans) getting sassier everyday." John now understands the constant racial "tug-of-war" that goes on in even the simplest places, like a bus.

Pgs. 33-36: John leaves his hotel to get something to eat, but is soon being followed by a muscular, white young man who begins to hassle him. The young man keeps calling him "Baldy" and "Mr. No-Hair" while shouting other inappropriate things to John, who is obviously scared and looks for help. He approaches a white couple on the sidewalk and asks for help, but they ignore him, he insists that he needs help, but by then the young man has disappeared, so the couple thinks John is drunk. As soon as the couple leaves, the young man reappears and begins harassing John once again. Eventually, John gets up the courage to jump into an alley and threaten the boy from there, saying that he's "just aching to feed you a fistful of brass knucks right in that big mouth of yours." The young man, feeling threatened, leaves John alone and disappears. John returns to the Catholic church he visited earlier and sits down to calm himself, but the words from the young man ring clear. John reflects on what he's gone through in the past 24 hours and how he's been treated. He offers a very powerful assessment of the situation.

Page 36, toward the bottom of the page
"The word 'nigger' picked up the bell's resonances and repeated itself again and again in my brain.
"Hey, nigger, you can't go in there.
"Hey, nigger, you can't drink here.
"We don't serve niggers.
"And then the boy's words: Mr. No-Hair, Baldy, Shit-head. (Would it have happened if I were white?)
"And then the doctor's words as I left his office yesterday: Now you go into oblivion."

In 24 hours - since he left the dermatologist's office - John has not been able to cash a check, he experienced racial tensions on the bus and became everyone's enemy, he was treated rudely when trying to buy cigarettes, and he was stalked through the street and under the threat of physical attack.