Recap and Homework
Wednesday we met in the Library for an orientation with Steve Gerstle. Today, for those students who are not caravanning to Sacramento to protest police violence, we will review preposition and verbal phrases, along with the next Coach T's section, and prepare for the next essay. I hope to give everyone back their essays this morning. Remember, today is my long day. I will be around until 3 p.m. (12 noon to 3 p.m.) in the Writing Center (L-234). Come by, no appointment is necessary. The phone number there is (510) 748-2132.
We will also continue our conversations on Obama. We are up to Chicago (Chapter 6). Some of you are further along than that. Keep reading and begin to think about a theme you'd like to consider for an essay. The midterm next month will take its theme from Dreams. It will be 4-5 pages long, and utilize 4 sources, one of them Obama's first book.
If you didn't pick up a copy of the handout with the code to use the library databases off campus, get one from the librarian at the reference desk. It is an invaluable resource you cannot access without a charge on-line.
Also, I put one copy of Pidd on reserve in the library and another copy on reserve on the bookshelf in the Writing Center (L-234) ask for it and do your assignments at the college if you do not have materials.
Homework is to read to Chapter 12. Students who came to class without their books were advised to go to the library and borrow a book on reserve to read there. Some students were upset, but there was nothing they could do today without books if they weren't prepared.
The Literature Circles looked at the various characters in the book so far, charted Obama's travels and places mentioned. They looked at the author's literary devices like flashback, dialogue, narrative voice....I asked students to consider the plot, thesis or main point the author is making in the book. One student said it was a search for his identity which he felt was connected to that of his father's whom he didn't really know. The book is a search for the absent father.
I liked the way students in the first class were lively in their conversation, passionate, would be a better term. All of those in the group were contributing valuable perspectives on the topics raised.
In the second class students in one group exchanged email addresses for a later recap. Other students read together in pairs. Still others who were in similar places in the book got together for discussion.
You probably noticed the exercises in the next two sections are a little more time consuming than those in the prior chapter. If you haven't started complete the exercises. There is a lot of valuable practice on fixing sentence fragments and recognizing phrases, pronouns which take a singular verb and those which do not, and those which can take either.
I am looking forward to identifying errors in Pidd's second essay, "Pronoun Agreement," on Monday, Feb. 23 (see page 86-89).I'd like to have the essay written by Thursday next week for the peer review check-list. Perhaps we'll look ahead next week also at future essays.
Start carrying Alehouse daily.
Field Trip
I'd like to recommend we attend the play, For Colored Girls Who've Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Was Enuf by Ntozake Shange at the Black Rep in Berkeley on closing day, March 1. The playwright will be there.
Here is a review by Andre (English 1A, 9-9:50 AM).
Andre Stephens
English 1A 9:00 – 9:50
Professor Sabir
February 17, 2009
For Colored Girls Who Have Attempted Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf
On Saturday, February 14, I attended the play For Colored Girls Who Have Attempted Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf. Sean Scott is the co-director and his grandparents started the Black Reportore Theater in Berkeley, CA, 44 years ago. Sean was a linebacker for the Denver Broncos and Oakland Raiders which are two of my favorite NFL teams. Sean had described the play as a coreopoem so I figured there would be dancing and poetry. The play was written by Ntozake Shange in 1974. According to Sean, the play is going to be produced in New York by Whoopi Goldberg.
There are 10 main actresses at the beginning of the show wearing different colors. One other actress appears at different parts of the show and does dance numbers, but has no speaking part. Although the women are from different cities and states, all of them share the fact that they have been mistreated by men. None of them have had an easy life because of rape, abortion, abuse, being cheated on, and taking care of their man. The women seem to have lost their self-respect and the thing that seems to give them hope is music and dancing, and being there for each other.
The cast was diverse and all of the actresses talented. The performance by the woman who played a little girl running away to see Toussaint was great. Later on she played a boyfriend who had been abusing his girlfriend and gets drunk and angry when she refused to marry him. In the end, the abusive drunk drops his kids out of the window of an apartment. All the women lay hands on the mother of the kids and it seems to allow God to take control of her life. They all end up finding their strength and will not longer allow lives be controlled by a man. They realize they are beautiful black women. The production was centered on hope and inspiration.
After the play was over, the actresses lined up and everyone got a chance to shake their hands. I would absolutely recommend seeing this play. There was some questionable language, but it didn’t take away from the play.
Wednesday we met in the Library for an orientation with Steve Gerstle. Today, for those students who are not caravanning to Sacramento to protest police violence, we will review preposition and verbal phrases, along with the next Coach T's section, and prepare for the next essay. I hope to give everyone back their essays this morning. Remember, today is my long day. I will be around until 3 p.m. (12 noon to 3 p.m.) in the Writing Center (L-234). Come by, no appointment is necessary. The phone number there is (510) 748-2132.
We will also continue our conversations on Obama. We are up to Chicago (Chapter 6). Some of you are further along than that. Keep reading and begin to think about a theme you'd like to consider for an essay. The midterm next month will take its theme from Dreams. It will be 4-5 pages long, and utilize 4 sources, one of them Obama's first book.
If you didn't pick up a copy of the handout with the code to use the library databases off campus, get one from the librarian at the reference desk. It is an invaluable resource you cannot access without a charge on-line.
Also, I put one copy of Pidd on reserve in the library and another copy on reserve on the bookshelf in the Writing Center (L-234) ask for it and do your assignments at the college if you do not have materials.
Homework is to read to Chapter 12. Students who came to class without their books were advised to go to the library and borrow a book on reserve to read there. Some students were upset, but there was nothing they could do today without books if they weren't prepared.
The Literature Circles looked at the various characters in the book so far, charted Obama's travels and places mentioned. They looked at the author's literary devices like flashback, dialogue, narrative voice....I asked students to consider the plot, thesis or main point the author is making in the book. One student said it was a search for his identity which he felt was connected to that of his father's whom he didn't really know. The book is a search for the absent father.
I liked the way students in the first class were lively in their conversation, passionate, would be a better term. All of those in the group were contributing valuable perspectives on the topics raised.
In the second class students in one group exchanged email addresses for a later recap. Other students read together in pairs. Still others who were in similar places in the book got together for discussion.
You probably noticed the exercises in the next two sections are a little more time consuming than those in the prior chapter. If you haven't started complete the exercises. There is a lot of valuable practice on fixing sentence fragments and recognizing phrases, pronouns which take a singular verb and those which do not, and those which can take either.
I am looking forward to identifying errors in Pidd's second essay, "Pronoun Agreement," on Monday, Feb. 23 (see page 86-89).I'd like to have the essay written by Thursday next week for the peer review check-list. Perhaps we'll look ahead next week also at future essays.
Start carrying Alehouse daily.
Field Trip
I'd like to recommend we attend the play, For Colored Girls Who've Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Was Enuf by Ntozake Shange at the Black Rep in Berkeley on closing day, March 1. The playwright will be there.
Here is a review by Andre (English 1A, 9-9:50 AM).
Andre Stephens
English 1A 9:00 – 9:50
Professor Sabir
February 17, 2009
For Colored Girls Who Have Attempted Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf
On Saturday, February 14, I attended the play For Colored Girls Who Have Attempted Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf. Sean Scott is the co-director and his grandparents started the Black Reportore Theater in Berkeley, CA, 44 years ago. Sean was a linebacker for the Denver Broncos and Oakland Raiders which are two of my favorite NFL teams. Sean had described the play as a coreopoem so I figured there would be dancing and poetry. The play was written by Ntozake Shange in 1974. According to Sean, the play is going to be produced in New York by Whoopi Goldberg.
There are 10 main actresses at the beginning of the show wearing different colors. One other actress appears at different parts of the show and does dance numbers, but has no speaking part. Although the women are from different cities and states, all of them share the fact that they have been mistreated by men. None of them have had an easy life because of rape, abortion, abuse, being cheated on, and taking care of their man. The women seem to have lost their self-respect and the thing that seems to give them hope is music and dancing, and being there for each other.
The cast was diverse and all of the actresses talented. The performance by the woman who played a little girl running away to see Toussaint was great. Later on she played a boyfriend who had been abusing his girlfriend and gets drunk and angry when she refused to marry him. In the end, the abusive drunk drops his kids out of the window of an apartment. All the women lay hands on the mother of the kids and it seems to allow God to take control of her life. They all end up finding their strength and will not longer allow lives be controlled by a man. They realize they are beautiful black women. The production was centered on hope and inspiration.
After the play was over, the actresses lined up and everyone got a chance to shake their hands. I would absolutely recommend seeing this play. There was some questionable language, but it didn’t take away from the play.
posted by Professor Wanda's Posse at 6:40 AM
4 Comments:
Nely Ruiz
English 1 A
9:00am - 10:00am
This play sounds wonderful.
We need to get all the details worked out, and organize a group.
Rebecca Evans Eng 1a 9-10 synopsis up to chapter 8
In synopsis of “Dreams of my father” up to chapter eight, a profile of Obama has begun to develop as well as a plausible thesis.
Obama is a man searching for an identity. All young adults must find their identity and acquire values and a sense of place in the world. For some this task comes quite easily, or so it seems. I think the search for self is a lifelong process but a base foundation is important and that is what Obama is creating.
Being multiracial he is faced with an even more difficult dilemma. He was raised by his mother, a white woman from the south and was born from a Kenyan father. Both parents were well educated. His father left when Barack was very young. He primarily grew up with his mother, grandfather (gramps), and grandmother (toot). He was raised with a forward thinking outlook. Racial segregation and labeling were not a variables in their lives. Toot perhaps was the only one that had reservations concerning racial issues.
Being a black man growing up in a white family, Barack had no one to teach him “how to be black”. His mother educated him on the civil rights movement, Martin Luther king Jr., Rosa Parks and other historical figures. He also read Langston Hughes, W.E.D Du bios, and Malcolm X but there still remained a deeper recognition and identity search. This void was partially filled with the help of friends. Ray, an older friend in high school, prompted Obama with thoughts of black empowerment and an ownership whites had to blacks for allowing racist relationships in history. Ray felt a rage at the white world, he felt he was powerless and felt insignificant. He felt a right to fight for himself and his freedoms.
Frank, a friend of Gramps, also enlightened Obama. He told him facts including the need to protect oneself. Blacks had a stigma attached to them. Even the perceived loving and accepting blacks were held with distrust and distaste. Frank saw college as an institution. Obama would learn and become well educated, only to be thrown into the real world and reminded that no matter his degree or education he was black and that meant he was lower. Obama didn’t accept these accusations at face value. He felt a deeper yearning in him. He is creating himself and his passions. Recently in chapter 7 and 8 Obama was introduced to Marty, a community organizer in Chicago. Obama is finding his calling, to bring the grassroots together, mobilize the less fortunate, and make equal change.
He learns hard lessons like that from Reverend Smalls, the exact way Frank had for seen. He didn’t want Obama’s help, he didn’t need him, and he said Obama was not special just because he was college educated.
Obama saw a common theme between blacks and other minorities: they felt an obligation to prove themselves. Obama wants to face these issues with equality instead. He wants to see people as people not their skin color. Racism is a cultural stigma that is taught no human is born racist. Obama still employs these ideas in his current presidency: equality and involvement especially the mobilization of all people from all cultures and statues to some together and better the community and country.
Obama’s thesis encompasses his drive for mobilization. He outlines his thesis as the mobilization of all people coming together for the greater good; this is his ambition in life. Through “Dreams of my father” Obama highlights how his life experiences have lead him to his goals and ambitions in life.
The story will continue with Obama continuing to test his skills at community organizing while creating self. He will travel to Kenya to help fill his sense of self and establish his African American side. In doing this he will begin to become more confident and in turn be able to connect with people, with his own experiences versus creating a patchwork of ideas from other’s memoires and experiences.
Obama uses description, similes, and metaphors. I feel that I am there with him. Recently in chapters 6-8 I found the following literary devises:
Ch 6
“The city was way out of control, they said, the polarization a natural phenomenon, like monsoons or continental drift” (ch.6 pg. 122)- simile
“Set against green hills during carnival. In Technicolor splendor, set against scenic green hills, the black and brown Brazilians sang and danced and strummed guitars like carefree birds in colorful plumage” (ch.6 pg. 123)- descriptive simile
“We rolled across deep fields of grass and hills that bucked against an orange sky” (ch.6 pg.128)- alliteration
Ch 8
“they appeared as Marty had described them: laid-off steel workers, secretaries, and truck drivers, men and woman, who smoked a lot and didn’t watch their weight, shopped at Sears or Kmart, drove late-model cars from Detroit and ate at red lobster on special occasions” (pg 151)- description
“Like a political convention or a TV wresting match” (pg 152) simile
“The absence of heat and light and space to breathe” (pg 155) - metaphor
“the boarded up homes, the decaying storefronts, the aging church rolls…the discarded wrappers tumbling down the block, all of it whispered painful truths, told them the progress they’d found was ephemeral, rooted in thin soil that might not even last their lifetimes” (pg 157) description
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I looked at the rep theater website, there are showings at 3 and 6 on march 1st. ?It is very close to ashby bart i put an email in about getting ticket!
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