Slave Narratives Unit Oct. 29 - Dec. 20 Learning Goals Tools

THE IMPORTANCE OF SLAVE NARRATIVES
ENGLISH 11 OCT. 29 – DEC 20, 2010
MR. CARSON-ROOM 569


In exploring the unique Slave Narrative Genre, will work through Constitutional documents, attempting to better understand the motivating forces behind those “judging” and determining the fates of an entire race through defining “humanity”. From Thomas Jefferson’s “Notes on the Sate of Virginia”, to full autobiographies of Mary Prince and Fredrick Douglass, to poetry from Phillis Wheatley and essays and speeches from Historian and scholar, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., scholars will scrutinize “Equality”.


Correlating Quotes
“As long as I have any choice, I will stay only in a country where political liberty, toleration, and equality of all citizens before the law are the rule.”
Albert Einstein

“The soul that is within me no man can degrade.”
Fredrick Douglass

“When we abolish the slavery of half of humanity, together with the whole system of hypocrisy it implies, then the "division" of humanity will reveal its genuine significance and the human couple will find its true form.”
Simone de Beauvoir

Essential Questions
What was essentially at stake, with the Phillis Wheatley Trials?

How is “America” a grand paradox?

Who were the key players in shaping the definitions of Equality?

How has slavery and thirst for emancipation defined the nation?

How did the Founding Fathers view the “Other”?


Materials: “Notes on the State of Virginia”, by Thomas Jefferson (excerpts XIV)
Selected poems by Phillis Wheatley
The Trials of Phillis Wheatley, by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
The Classic Slave Narratives, by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. ISBN =9780451528247
“The History of Mary Prince” and “Narrative of the Life od Fredrick Douglass”
Excerpts of “The Life of Olaudah Equiano” and “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl”

Themes: Equality, legal racism, reason, rationale, identity, naming, escape, Othering, Rhetoric

Time frame 6-7 weeks

At the end of this unit I will be able to:

1. Writing for SELF

a—Begin to assert scholar’s own unique voice
b—utilize greater understanding of terms, vocabulary and themes
c—explore creative voice through original “slave narratives”

2. Continued work on effectively producing Thesis Statements from SRFs

a—understanding where they belong
b—what must be within one


3. Understand Greater importance of Reading

a—For content—new uniquely American genre
b—building stamina (up to an hour every night, including weekends and holidays)
c— building vocabulary, for practical use


4. Understand two of four Reading Strategies (1-2)

a—scanning
b—annotating
c—Post-Its
d—Window Journals = (WJs) (cross-connect to Note-Taking) = Cornel Notes

5. Continue to utilize five of eight methods of Time Management (College Readiness)

a— study groups
b— bi-weekly visits with Guidance Counselors
c— communicating concerns and strengths
d—delegating and compromising
e—re-organizing
f— PRIORITIZING
g— dissect the 24-hour day into manageable hours of production, rest, relaxation and extras

6. Begin to navigate technologies using:

a—continued perusal of www.mygradebook.com , www.goodreads.com , www.freerice.com , www.easybib.com—to create the flawless bibliography; www.easywhois.com —to learn whom own a domain.

b—www.bigwords.com, www.textbooks.com or www.half.com — to order books and other
materials—CHEAPER

c—better utilizing BOOLEANS, KEYWORDS and other tools for Safe Searching every
topic—always

d. —e-mail to send ATTACHMENTS of written work, PowerPoints and photos
to fellow classmates, team members and teacher for edits, feedback and credit.

e. — Saving everying in three places: laptop, Flash and e-mailing everything as RichText, Word 1997 or similar documents that MHSHS computers recognize and can open.

f—visiting Ms. Tartaglione (Librarian) for more information, books and magazines for IRBs


Vocabulary
elegy, philanthropy, apostrophize, rabble, ode, encomium, panegyric, trope, chiasmas, synecdoche, rhetoric, indict, sadism, explicate, verisimilitude, shrewdly, requisite, extemporaneous, attestations, condolence, incurred, ambidextrous, oestrum, impugned, incisive, incidious, impetus, vexed, mulatto, vendue,

Anticipate your learning
Based on my prior knowledge and review of this sheet, what am I most interested in learning about in this unit?



Knowledge Inventory = K-W-W-L
In the two areas provided, list what you already know about [UNIT SUBJECT] and what you would like to know regarding [UNIT SUBJECT] in the other.
What do I know about UNIT already?


What would I like to learn more about regarding UNIT?


Why is it important to understand or learn about this unit?

Self Assessment = L or the traditional K-W-W-L
How well do you think you are learning this material? What we have learned can be divided into two (2) categories; the facts and concepts that make up this unit, and the skills and habits that are required to be a good learner in college. Your teacher will ask you to complete this approximately half way through the unit and at the end.


I will fill out a chart on large Poster Paper as many aspects of this unit that I can recall starting with A, B, C, D—through Z.

What do the numbers mean?
1= Really don’t understand this material or skill at all. Can’t do much without a lot of help from the teacher.

2= I can do some of this myself, but I need help from the teacher/peer study group or other proficient guide to get all of it.

3= I get mostly everything! Not everything, but 85% of this I understand and I can replicate next week; next year, forever!.


4= I own it! Move aside teacher, I can teach this next year to your class. I really get this stuff completely.

What is an action plan?
If you think you need to keep on working with this material, what are you going to do to improve your grade? Those steps are your action plan. An action plan can be going to SOS, Lunch and Learn, speaking to your teacher, doing Castle Learning questions, etc.




Midway Assessment
Number-Unit Content:
Number-College Skills:
Notes/Action Plan: