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."
Friday, March 23, 2012
Thursday, March 22, 2012
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!
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!
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
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.
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.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Emmett Till Source Assignment
Your assignment is to compare and contrast the differing perspectives of primary sources. The video displays various primary and secondary sources that give the side of Emmett Till and his family. The article is from Look Magazine in 1956 - it gives the perspectives of Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, who were also primary sources.
Remember that just because someone is a primary source, that doesn't mean that they're telling the whole truth or if they're hiding something.
1. Watch the video and read the excerpt of the magazine article.
2. Find the unique details of each version of the same story.
3. Find the similarities between the two stories (which parts of the story are the same?)
Emmett Till's family's version
Roy Bryant/J.W. Milam's version
About 7:30 p.m., eight young Negroes -- seven boys and a girl -- in a '46 Ford had stopped outside. They included sons, grandsons and a nephew of Moses (Preacher) Wright, 64, a 'cropper. They were between 13 and 19 years old. Four were natives of the Delta, and others, including the nephew, Emmett (Bobo) Till, were visiting from the Chicago area.
Bobo Till was 14 years old: born on July 25, 1941. He was stocky, muscular, weighing about 160, five feet four or five. Preacher later testified: "He looked like a man."
Bobo's party joined a dozen other young Negroes, including two other girls, in front of the store. Bryant had built checkerboards there. Some were playing checkers, others were wrestling and "kiddin' about girls."
Bobo bragged about his white girl. He showed the boys a picture of a white girl in his wallet; and to their jeers of disbelief, he boasted of his success with her.
"You talkin' mighty big, Bo," one youth said. "There's a pretty little white woman in the store. Since you know how to handle white girls, let's see you go in and get a date with her?"
"You ain't chicken, are yuh, Bo?" another youth taunted him.
Bobo had to fire or fall back. He entered the store, alone, stopped at the candy case. Carolyn was behind the counter; Bobo in front. He asked for two cents' worth of bubble gum. She handed it to him. He squeezed her hand and said: "How about a date, Baby?"
She jerked away and started for Juanita Milam. At the break between counters, Bobo jumped in front of her, perhaps caught her at the waist, and said: "You needn't be afraid o' me, Baby. I been with white girls before."
At this point, a cousin ran in, grabbed Bobo and began pulling him out of the store. Carolyn now ran, not for Juanita, but out the front, and got the pistol from the Milam car.
Outside, with Bobo being ushered off by his cousins, and with Carolyn getting the gun, Bobo executed the "wolf whistle" which gave the case its name:
[47]
THE WOLF-WHISTLE MURDER: A NEGRO
"CHILD" OR "BOY" WHISTLED AT HER
AND THEY KILLED HIM.
That was the sum of the facts on which most newspaper readers based an opinion.
The Negroes drove away; and Carolyn, shaken, told Juanita. The two women determined to keep the incident from their "men-folks." They didn't tell J. W. Milam when he came to escort them home.
By Thursday afternoon, Carolyn Bryant could see the story was getting around. She spent Thursday night at the Milams, where at 4 a.m. (Friday) Roy got back from Texas. Since he had slept little for five nights, he went to bed at the Milams' while Carolyn returned to the store.
During Friday afternoon, Roy reached the store, and shortly thereafter a Negro told him what "the talk" was, and told him that the "Chicago boy" was "visitin' Preacher." Carolyn then told Roy what had happened.
Once Roy Bryant knew, in his environment, in the opinion of most white people around him, for him to have done nothing would have marked him for a coward and a fool.
On Friday night, he couldn't do anything. He and Carolyn were alone, and he had no car. Saturday was collection day, their busy day in the store. About 10:30 Saturday night, J. W. Milam drove by. Roy took him aside.
"I want you to come over early in the morning," he said. "I need a little transportation."
J.W. protested: "Sunday's the only morning I can sleep. Can't we make it around noon?"
Roy then told him.
"I'll be there," he said. "Early."
J. W. drove to another brother's store at Minter City, where he was working. He closed that store about 12:30 a.m., drove home to Glendora. Juanita was away, visiting her folks at Greenville. J. W. had been thinking. He decided not to go to bed. He pumped the pickup -- a half-ton '55 Chevrolet -- full of gas and headed for Money.
J. W. "Big Milam" is 36; six feet two, 235 pounds; an extrovert. Short boots accentuate his height; khaki trousers; red sports shirt; sun helmet. Dark-visaged; his lower lip curls when he chuckles; and though bald, his remaining hair is jet-black.
He is slavery's plantation overseer. Today, he rents Negro-driven mechanical cotton pickers to plantation owners. Those who know him say that he can handle Negroes better than anybody in the country.
Big Milam soldiered in the Patton manner. With a ninth-grade education, he was commissioned in battle by the 75th Division. He was an expert platoon leader, expert street fighter, expert in night patrol, expert with the "grease gun," with every device for close-range killing. A German bullet tore clear through his chest; his body bears "multiple shrapnel wounds." Of his medals, he cherishes one: combat infantryman's badge.
Big Milam, like many soldiers, brought home his favorite gun: the .45 Colt automatic pistol.
"Best weapon the Army's got," he says. "Either for shootin' or sluggin'."
Two hours after Big Milam got the word -- the instant minute he could close the store -- he was looking for the Chicago Negro.
[48]
Big Milam reached Money a few minutes shy of 2 a.m., Sunday, August 28. The Bryants were asleep; the store was dark but for the all-night light. He rapped at the back door, and when Roy came, he said: "Let's go. Let's make that trip now."
Roy dressed, brought a gun: this one was a .45 Colt. Both men were -- and remained -- cold sober. Big Milam had drunk a beer at Minter City around 9; Roy had had nothing.
There was no moon as they drove to Preacher's house: 2.8 miles east of Money.
Preacher's house stands 50 feet right of the gravel road, with cedar and persimmon trees in the yard. Big Milam drove the pickup in under the trees. He was bareheaded, carrying a five-cell flashlight in his left hand, the .45 in the right.
Roy Bryant pounded on the door.
Preacher: "Who's that?"
Bryant: "Mr. Bryant, from Money, Preacher."
Preacher: "All right, sir. Just a minute."
Preacher came out of the screened-in porch.
Bryant: "Preacher, you got a boy from Chicago here?"
Preacher: "Yessir."
Bryant: "I want to talk to him."
Preacher: "Yessir. I'll get him."
Preacher led them to a back bedroom where four youths were sleeping in two beds. In one was Bobo Till and Simeon Wright, Preacher's youngest son. Bryant had told Preacher to turn on the lights; Preacher had said they were out of order. So only the flashlight was used.
The visit was not a complete surprise. Preacher testified that he had heard of the "trouble," that he "sho' had" talked to his nephew about it. Bobo himself had been afraid; he had wanted to go home the day after the incident. The Negro girl in the party urged that he leave. "They'll kill him," she had warned. But Preacher's wife, Elizabeth Wright, had decided that the danger was being magnified; she had urged Bobo to "finish yo' visit."
"I thought they might say something to him, but I didn't think they'd kill a boy," Preacher said.
Big Milam shined the light in Bobo's face, said: "You the nigger who did the talking?"
"Yeah," Bobo replied.
Milam: "Don't say, 'Yeah' to me: I'll blow your head off. Get your clothes on."
Bobo had been sleeping in his shorts. He pulled on a shirt and trousers, then reached for his socks.
"Just the shoes," Milam hurried him
"I don't wear shoes without socks," Bobo said; and he kept the gun-bearers waiting while he put on his socks, then a pair of canvas shoes with thick crepe soles.
Preacher and his wife tried two arguments in the boy's behalf.
"He ain't got good sense," Preacher begged. "He didn't know what he was doing. Don't take him."
"I'll pay you gentlemen for the damages," Elizabeth Wright said.
"You niggers go back to sleep," Milam replied.
They marched him into the yard, told him to get in the back of the pickup and lie down. He obeyed. They drove toward Money.
Elizabeth Wright rushed to the home of a white neighbor, who got up, looked around, but decided he could do nothing. Then, she and Preacher drove to the home of her brother, Crosby Smith, at Sumner; and Crosby Smith, on Sunday morning, went to the sheriff's office at Greenwood.
The other young Negroes stayed at Preacher's house until daylight, when Wheeler Parker telephoned his mother in Chicago, who in turn notified Bobo's mother, Mamie Bradley, 33, 6427 S. St. Lawrence.
Had there been any doubt as to the identity of the "Chicago boy who done the talking," Milam and Bryant would have stopped at the store for Carolyn to identify him. But there had been no denial. So they didn't stop at the store. At Money, they crossed the Tallahatchie River and drove west.
Remember that just because someone is a primary source, that doesn't mean that they're telling the whole truth or if they're hiding something.
1. Watch the video and read the excerpt of the magazine article.
2. Find the unique details of each version of the same story.
3. Find the similarities between the two stories (which parts of the story are the same?)
Emmett Till's family's version
Roy Bryant/J.W. Milam's version
About 7:30 p.m., eight young Negroes -- seven boys and a girl -- in a '46 Ford had stopped outside. They included sons, grandsons and a nephew of Moses (Preacher) Wright, 64, a 'cropper. They were between 13 and 19 years old. Four were natives of the Delta, and others, including the nephew, Emmett (Bobo) Till, were visiting from the Chicago area.
Bobo Till was 14 years old: born on July 25, 1941. He was stocky, muscular, weighing about 160, five feet four or five. Preacher later testified: "He looked like a man."
Bobo's party joined a dozen other young Negroes, including two other girls, in front of the store. Bryant had built checkerboards there. Some were playing checkers, others were wrestling and "kiddin' about girls."
Bobo bragged about his white girl. He showed the boys a picture of a white girl in his wallet; and to their jeers of disbelief, he boasted of his success with her.
"You talkin' mighty big, Bo," one youth said. "There's a pretty little white woman in the store. Since you know how to handle white girls, let's see you go in and get a date with her?"
"You ain't chicken, are yuh, Bo?" another youth taunted him.
Bobo had to fire or fall back. He entered the store, alone, stopped at the candy case. Carolyn was behind the counter; Bobo in front. He asked for two cents' worth of bubble gum. She handed it to him. He squeezed her hand and said: "How about a date, Baby?"
She jerked away and started for Juanita Milam. At the break between counters, Bobo jumped in front of her, perhaps caught her at the waist, and said: "You needn't be afraid o' me, Baby. I been with white girls before."
At this point, a cousin ran in, grabbed Bobo and began pulling him out of the store. Carolyn now ran, not for Juanita, but out the front, and got the pistol from the Milam car.
Outside, with Bobo being ushered off by his cousins, and with Carolyn getting the gun, Bobo executed the "wolf whistle" which gave the case its name:
[47]
THE WOLF-WHISTLE MURDER: A NEGRO
"CHILD" OR "BOY" WHISTLED AT HER
AND THEY KILLED HIM.
That was the sum of the facts on which most newspaper readers based an opinion.
The Negroes drove away; and Carolyn, shaken, told Juanita. The two women determined to keep the incident from their "men-folks." They didn't tell J. W. Milam when he came to escort them home.
By Thursday afternoon, Carolyn Bryant could see the story was getting around. She spent Thursday night at the Milams, where at 4 a.m. (Friday) Roy got back from Texas. Since he had slept little for five nights, he went to bed at the Milams' while Carolyn returned to the store.
During Friday afternoon, Roy reached the store, and shortly thereafter a Negro told him what "the talk" was, and told him that the "Chicago boy" was "visitin' Preacher." Carolyn then told Roy what had happened.
Once Roy Bryant knew, in his environment, in the opinion of most white people around him, for him to have done nothing would have marked him for a coward and a fool.
On Friday night, he couldn't do anything. He and Carolyn were alone, and he had no car. Saturday was collection day, their busy day in the store. About 10:30 Saturday night, J. W. Milam drove by. Roy took him aside.
"I want you to come over early in the morning," he said. "I need a little transportation."
J.W. protested: "Sunday's the only morning I can sleep. Can't we make it around noon?"
Roy then told him.
"I'll be there," he said. "Early."
J. W. drove to another brother's store at Minter City, where he was working. He closed that store about 12:30 a.m., drove home to Glendora. Juanita was away, visiting her folks at Greenville. J. W. had been thinking. He decided not to go to bed. He pumped the pickup -- a half-ton '55 Chevrolet -- full of gas and headed for Money.
J. W. "Big Milam" is 36; six feet two, 235 pounds; an extrovert. Short boots accentuate his height; khaki trousers; red sports shirt; sun helmet. Dark-visaged; his lower lip curls when he chuckles; and though bald, his remaining hair is jet-black.
He is slavery's plantation overseer. Today, he rents Negro-driven mechanical cotton pickers to plantation owners. Those who know him say that he can handle Negroes better than anybody in the country.
Big Milam soldiered in the Patton manner. With a ninth-grade education, he was commissioned in battle by the 75th Division. He was an expert platoon leader, expert street fighter, expert in night patrol, expert with the "grease gun," with every device for close-range killing. A German bullet tore clear through his chest; his body bears "multiple shrapnel wounds." Of his medals, he cherishes one: combat infantryman's badge.
Big Milam, like many soldiers, brought home his favorite gun: the .45 Colt automatic pistol.
"Best weapon the Army's got," he says. "Either for shootin' or sluggin'."
Two hours after Big Milam got the word -- the instant minute he could close the store -- he was looking for the Chicago Negro.
[48]
Big Milam reached Money a few minutes shy of 2 a.m., Sunday, August 28. The Bryants were asleep; the store was dark but for the all-night light. He rapped at the back door, and when Roy came, he said: "Let's go. Let's make that trip now."
Roy dressed, brought a gun: this one was a .45 Colt. Both men were -- and remained -- cold sober. Big Milam had drunk a beer at Minter City around 9; Roy had had nothing.
There was no moon as they drove to Preacher's house: 2.8 miles east of Money.
Preacher's house stands 50 feet right of the gravel road, with cedar and persimmon trees in the yard. Big Milam drove the pickup in under the trees. He was bareheaded, carrying a five-cell flashlight in his left hand, the .45 in the right.
Roy Bryant pounded on the door.
Preacher: "Who's that?"
Bryant: "Mr. Bryant, from Money, Preacher."
Preacher: "All right, sir. Just a minute."
Preacher came out of the screened-in porch.
Bryant: "Preacher, you got a boy from Chicago here?"
Preacher: "Yessir."
Bryant: "I want to talk to him."
Preacher: "Yessir. I'll get him."
Preacher led them to a back bedroom where four youths were sleeping in two beds. In one was Bobo Till and Simeon Wright, Preacher's youngest son. Bryant had told Preacher to turn on the lights; Preacher had said they were out of order. So only the flashlight was used.
The visit was not a complete surprise. Preacher testified that he had heard of the "trouble," that he "sho' had" talked to his nephew about it. Bobo himself had been afraid; he had wanted to go home the day after the incident. The Negro girl in the party urged that he leave. "They'll kill him," she had warned. But Preacher's wife, Elizabeth Wright, had decided that the danger was being magnified; she had urged Bobo to "finish yo' visit."
"I thought they might say something to him, but I didn't think they'd kill a boy," Preacher said.
Big Milam shined the light in Bobo's face, said: "You the nigger who did the talking?"
"Yeah," Bobo replied.
Milam: "Don't say, 'Yeah' to me: I'll blow your head off. Get your clothes on."
Bobo had been sleeping in his shorts. He pulled on a shirt and trousers, then reached for his socks.
"Just the shoes," Milam hurried him
"I don't wear shoes without socks," Bobo said; and he kept the gun-bearers waiting while he put on his socks, then a pair of canvas shoes with thick crepe soles.
Preacher and his wife tried two arguments in the boy's behalf.
"He ain't got good sense," Preacher begged. "He didn't know what he was doing. Don't take him."
"I'll pay you gentlemen for the damages," Elizabeth Wright said.
"You niggers go back to sleep," Milam replied.
They marched him into the yard, told him to get in the back of the pickup and lie down. He obeyed. They drove toward Money.
Elizabeth Wright rushed to the home of a white neighbor, who got up, looked around, but decided he could do nothing. Then, she and Preacher drove to the home of her brother, Crosby Smith, at Sumner; and Crosby Smith, on Sunday morning, went to the sheriff's office at Greenwood.
The other young Negroes stayed at Preacher's house until daylight, when Wheeler Parker telephoned his mother in Chicago, who in turn notified Bobo's mother, Mamie Bradley, 33, 6427 S. St. Lawrence.
Had there been any doubt as to the identity of the "Chicago boy who done the talking," Milam and Bryant would have stopped at the store for Carolyn to identify him. But there had been no denial. So they didn't stop at the store. At Money, they crossed the Tallahatchie River and drove west.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Poetry Anthology
You will be required to create an anthology of personal poetry based on the notes and discussions we had in class this past week. The six types of poetry are:
1. Narrative
2. Ballad
3. Sonnet
4. Lyrical
5. Haiku
6. Free Verse
If you have any questions about the form of one of the types of poetry, consult your notes or e-mail me at lowe.kbms@hotmail.com.
The requirements for the anthology are as follows:
1. Narrative:
a. it must be 24 lines (6 stanzas of 24)
b. it must have a rhyme scheme, but you can choose the pattern of rhyme
2. Ballad:
a. 16 lines
b. you must choose a beat or a song that you know (it can be any beat to any
song) and re-write the words to the beat so that it qualifies as a ballad.
3. Sonnet:
a. 14 lines
b. rhyme scheme: a-b-a-b c-d-c-d e-f-e-f g-g
4. Lyric:
a. 12 lines
b. it can be about any emotion or feeling, but it must fall in line with the
requirements for a lyric that are listed in your notes
5. Haiku:
a. 3 lines
b. Line 1: 5 syllables Line 2: 7 syllables Line 3: 5 syllables
6. Free Verse:
a. doesn't have to rhyme, but you can include rhymes
b. it must have characteristics of a poem (line structure, punctuation
structure, looks like a poem, etc.)
c. for more guidance, refer to "A Promise to California" by Walt Whitman
All of these poems can be about any topic you choose, but they must be appropriate and they must follow the rules outlined above. They must also be original work, I will be able to find out if you just got them on-line.
There must be a cover page with a title of your anthology. They must also be typed.
In addition, you must do research either on-line or at the library and find one example of each type of poetry from a famous poet that you really like and include it with your anthology.
This is a chance for you to express yourself! Have fun with it, be silly, take risks and push yourself!
This will be due Thursday, October 13.
1. Narrative
2. Ballad
3. Sonnet
4. Lyrical
5. Haiku
6. Free Verse
If you have any questions about the form of one of the types of poetry, consult your notes or e-mail me at lowe.kbms@hotmail.com.
The requirements for the anthology are as follows:
1. Narrative:
a. it must be 24 lines (6 stanzas of 24)
b. it must have a rhyme scheme, but you can choose the pattern of rhyme
2. Ballad:
a. 16 lines
b. you must choose a beat or a song that you know (it can be any beat to any
song) and re-write the words to the beat so that it qualifies as a ballad.
3. Sonnet:
a. 14 lines
b. rhyme scheme: a-b-a-b c-d-c-d e-f-e-f g-g
4. Lyric:
a. 12 lines
b. it can be about any emotion or feeling, but it must fall in line with the
requirements for a lyric that are listed in your notes
5. Haiku:
a. 3 lines
b. Line 1: 5 syllables Line 2: 7 syllables Line 3: 5 syllables
6. Free Verse:
a. doesn't have to rhyme, but you can include rhymes
b. it must have characteristics of a poem (line structure, punctuation
structure, looks like a poem, etc.)
c. for more guidance, refer to "A Promise to California" by Walt Whitman
All of these poems can be about any topic you choose, but they must be appropriate and they must follow the rules outlined above. They must also be original work, I will be able to find out if you just got them on-line.
There must be a cover page with a title of your anthology. They must also be typed.
In addition, you must do research either on-line or at the library and find one example of each type of poetry from a famous poet that you really like and include it with your anthology.
This is a chance for you to express yourself! Have fun with it, be silly, take risks and push yourself!
This will be due Thursday, October 13.
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