For Educators WoW! 2009

 

...	Dear Educators, This year, members of the Skyline Language Arts faculty developed book guides on texts from selected presenters at the WOW! 2007 conference.  Our hope is that having these guides may inspire you to use a WOW! book in your composition, literature, or reading, class. Book guides are available for: Love and Other Impossible Pursuits by Ayelet Waldman (Keynote Speaker) Erika Dyquisto, Contributor                                            Samba Dreamers by Kathleen De Avezedo (Book Talk Panelist) Hilda Fernandez, Contributor House of Thieves by Kaui Hart Hemmings (Book Talk Panelist) Linda Vogel, Contributor Imagine Your Way Home with Olive by Olive Hackett-Shaughnessy (Workshop Facilitator) Georgia Gero, Contributor Rose of No Man’s Land by Michelle Tea (Book Talk Moderator and Workshop Facilitator) Kathleen Feinblum, Contributor I Stand Here Ironing by Tillie Olsen Lucia Lachmayr, Contributor If you adapt or use the guides we ask that you acknowledge the book guide contributor in your course materials or handouts. Many thanks to Erika Dyquisto, Kathleen Feinblum, Hilda Fernandez, and Linda Vogel of the Skyline College Language Arts department for taking the time to read these books and create the guides. Happy Reading & Lesson Planning to All! Georgia Gero, WOW! Coordinator Love and Other Impossible Pursuits by Ayelet Waldman (novel) 2006.  Doubleday.  0385515308 Contributor:  Erika Dyquisto dyquistoe@smccd.edu Synopsis A youngish (early 30s) now upper-middle-class New York lawyer learns how to love her precocious stepson after the loss of her own infant daughter.  At the same time she finds reconciliation, if not forgiveness, with her own father, who—on some levels—is similar to the man she has married.  The protagonist also finds a greater understanding of how her mother managed to raise two stepchildren who never seemed to appreciate her. What course(s) or learning communities do you think the book works with and why? The book is suitable for a literature course focusing on the ideas of love and forgiveness.  The text can also be used in a course for a re-entry learning community and lends itself to expository essay units which explore either of the following themes: The cultural icon and stereotype of the stepmother. Perceptions of love and forgiveness. Would you recommend using the entire text or specific portions? This book needs to be read in its entirety to truly understand it, and the slow, back and forth pacing is key to understanding the topic of the book. Pre-Reading/Schema Activation Quick slide show of scenes from Central Park in various seasons.  Freewrite prompt: How do the seasons impact one’s emotional mood and tone?  What does this scene make you think or feel? Vocabulary Vocabulary mapping: A lot of vocabulary in this book will probably be unfamiliar.  Students should collect vocabulary that’s unfamiliar to them and then, in groups, map how the words relate to each other in the context of the story.  For instance, if certain vocabulary relates to certain people or places, map out those relationships using a bubble map. Mapping of Events in/on Central Park The majority of events take place in Central Park, and location is a key part of this book.  It might help students’ understanding to provide a wall map of Central Park and, in groups, map the events of the book on the map.  Then students might order the events (follow the path in Central Park).  This might provide a visual key on which to focus both the order of events and the “nature” of events that occur.  Discussion Questions Does the author learn to forgive, why or why not? How does William relate to the other characters in terms of maturity? How is love shown in the novel? Have students use the Questioning Circles or Questioning Levels to come up with their own questions for group/class discussion.  Show how those can be turned into theses for papers. Journal Prompts Write about a time when you made it difficult for your parents to love or understand you.   What were the issues or behaviors you had that created problems for your parents and how did they react?  Why do you think they reacted that way? Write about a time when it was hard to love your children/stepchildren.  Why do you think they were acting this way? (Prompt specific to a re-entry learning community.) What is love? If love is learned, how does one learn to love? Writing Prompts How does the author use nature in the text, and how does the theme of nature relate to the controlling theme? How is location used in the text, and how does it relate to the controlling theme? How does the protagonist’s actions reflect her movements toward a new understanding of relationships and of herself? Describe which scene you feel was most important in resolving the conflicts in the story.  Analyze how this scene allowed for those conflicts to be resolved. Additional Readings (when love and forgiveness is a theme in a literature class)Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, Paula by Isabelle Allende
Questioning Circles Questioning Circles is a teaching strategy (Christenbury 1994) that provides a structured framework for developing questions about a text.  The strategy helps teachers to devise questions that are interesting and engaging to students; it helps students to think more critically about a text and to see how the text connects personally to their own lives. The questioning circle consists of three overlapping areas of knowledge that expert readers bring to bear when reading: Knowledge of the text being read                              Text Personal response to the text                                   Reader Knowledge of the world and other texts                     World As the following diagram shows, the three areas overlap and create a central dense area.  The dense centre represents the highest-order thinking about a text.  Students need to inquire into and reflect upon these complex questions.
Although teachers may frame the questions, a more powerful strategy is to encourage students to work collaboratively to devise questions using the framework.  Introduce students to the idea that the question is the answer i.e. in thinking carefully about framing a question, the answer to the question is explored. The following questions are based on the poem ‘Domestic Quarrel’ Domestic Quarrel The walls of the house are paper thin. Lying awake in the pit of the night He hears his parents arguing, And lights a candle stealthily. The world’s two halves are closing in A sounding shell; the voices flicker, Knives that violate the night. He lies imprisoned inside a whale, His blind eyes trace its arching ribs. The dark beats down. Somewhere, offstage, ripples of distant thunder. The windows frames momentary bleached photographs Cold as a moon landscape. He blows the candle out and waits For sleep or the consummation of rain On the tin roof, the tides of drowning sound.                                                 S McInerney Text Why can the boy hear everything that his parents say? Why are the window frames “momentary bleached photographs”? Text/Reader Have you ever felt imprisoned like the boy in the poem? Do you sympathize with the boy in the poem? Reader How do you feel when members of your family quarrel? Reader/World How are your views about parents influenced by the experiences of your friends? World What are some of the causes of family disputes? Do you think that quarrels occur in all families from time to time? World/Text Do you think that the boy’s experience of lying awake at night listening to his parents quarrel is a common one in Australian society? What is the poet’s attitude to domestic quarrels? Dense Questions: How do people generally react to the type of situation that this boy is in?  With sympathy or disinterest? What might the poet say about the power of poetry to comment on important issues in society? For more information about Questioning Circles see: Wilhelm, J. D. (2001) Strategic Reading, Boyton-Cook/Heinemann, Portsmouth. Christenbury, L. (1994) Making the Journey: Being and Becoming a Teacher of English Language Arts, Boynton-Cook/Heinemann, Portsmouth. Downloaded from:  http://wwwfp.education.tas.gov.au/english/questcirc.htm Samba Dreamers by Kathleen De Azevedo (novel) 2006.  The University of Arizona Press. 0816524904 Contributor: Hilda Fernandez fernandezh@smccd.edu Synopsis The Brazil of the imagination is shattered in this novel of two tortured souls wrestling with the myths of movies, politics, and the American Dream. Laced with fantastic tales of bird-boys and cannibal rituals, it spins a compelling story of desperation as it reminds us that American freedom and the myth of unbridled opportunity can also consume and destroy. What course(s) or learning communities do you think the book works with and why? With literary analysis scaffolding, the text is appropriate for composition, reading, and integrated-reading writing (IRW) courses one level below the CSU/UC transfer level.  The text is also suitable for English or literature courses at or above the transfer level. Would you recommend using the entire text or specific portions? Recommend reading the text in its entirety. Pre-Reading/Schema Activation In groups, students list and discuss several comic or cartoon superheroes. After they complete their list, they select one and describe the special attributes, powers, or talents the superhero has. Students are then asked to match a Hollywood figure that would best portray the superhero and present their selection. Teacher explains connection between specific characteristics and an actor/actresses’ typical movie roles. Teacher explains the term “persona” and then asks students to list several Hollywood actors/actresses that have a unique persona. (Elvis, Jessica Simpson, Brad Pitt)·        Students then compare how a persona is different than the artist’s true character and then discuss why Hollywood figures would create a persona for themselves. Class then lists any foreign Hollywood actors or actresses that have developed a persona.  (Ricky Martin, Ricky Ricardo, Salma Hajek)·         Class then discusses how Latin foreigners are typically stereotyped in Hollywood. What roles do they play in movies? Why? Who decides? Finally, class discusses the novel, Samba Dreamer, by making inferences on the stereotypes on the cover page. House of Thieves by Kaui Hart Hemmings (short story collection) 2005.  The Penguin Press.  1594200483 Contributor Linda Vogel vogel@smccd.edu Synopsis House of Thieves is a collection of nine short stories of bold characters in modern day Hawaii.  Hemmings style is dramatic.  She has a clear vision of the paradoxes within American families even when they are in so-called paradise.  Her stories are told from different points of view:  the frustrated teenager; jealous mother; lonely teenager; and others.  The characters struggle with timeless issues of parental neglect, love, acceptance, coming of age, abandonment, and anger.  "Rooted in the circumstances and situations of island people, they reveal the mundane cycle of small triumphs and tragedies that make up the lives of ordinary people everywhere.  A single mother's discovery of a pornographic magazine in her thirteen-year-old son's room sends her down a spiral of jealousy that ultimately guarantees her loss of him.  A middle-aged man struggles with his secret hatred for his brother…. A white man who is left by his native Hawaiian wife struggles to understand why he and his daughter, abandoned together, feel such deep resentment for each other…" The stories reflect the complexity of families today. What course(s) or learning communities do you think the book works with and why? This text might work in courses aimed for either a Kababayan or re-entry learning community.  The text is also appropriate for English courses at the transfer level. A portion of the book could be used to develop various themes, such as interracial marriage, parental neglect, love, etc. Journal and Discussion Prompts Compare the themes of two stories, e.g. "Island Cowboys" to "Begin with an Outline."  Choose 2 stories that have an ironic/sarcastic tone and discuss specifically how the author develops tone. Compare/contrast two characters, e.g., Scottie in "The Minor Wars" to Nicole in "House of Thieves."  Rewrite the ending of "The Minor Wars." Imagine Your Way Home with Olive, by Olive Hackett-Shaughnessy (CD) 2006.  Hackett-Shaughnessy Contributor:  Georgia Gero gerocheng@smccd.edu Synopsis In this CD, Olive Hackett-Shaughnessy, a storyteller, curriculum consultant and writer in San Francisco where she has been an artist-in residence in public and private schools for twenty years, retells seven stories from the oral folk and fairytale tradition.  What course(s) or learning communities do you think the CD works with and why?The CD is ancillary material to a unit in which students analyze fairytales as conveyers of cultural messages.  Although this material is easily adapted to a transfer-level composition and/or literature course, it lends itself particularly well for use in a reading course or an integrated reading-writing (IRW) course and when focused primarily on a gender analysis, a re-entry course.  Use of both written and oral versions of the fairytales lulls students into a comfort zone from which they then venture into unknown territory, as typically, they have not looked at these tales from a socio-cultural perspective.   For reading and IRW courses, I would stress the similar elements in the taped and print versions, as well as the strategies students must utilize to be both an active listener and reader. Would you recommend using the entire text or specific portions? Although there is value and enjoyment in all the tales on this CD, Mother Holle, The Queen Bee and The Seven Ravens lend themselves best to a critical analysis and print versions of these tales from the Brothers Grimm are readily available. Readings The following readings are essential to help students analyze the tales: Bettelheim, Bruno.  (1989.)  The uses of enchantment: The meaning and importance of   .............fairytales.  New York:  Vintage Books. Patterson-Neubert, Amy.  (2003.)  Experts say fairy tales not so happy ever after.  http://www.purdue.edu/UNS/html4ever/031111.Grauerholz.tales.html ........  .Download 8.2/2005 For print versions of the tales: The Complete Grimm’s Fairytales.  (1944.)  New York: Pantheon Books. Classic Fairytales. (1974.)  Iona and Peter Opie.  New York:  Oxford University Press. Students may select a print version of any of the fairytales below.  I suggest sorting students into fairytale groups; some students will have to make compromises on their selections, but this will then allow them to analyze the tales collaboratively. From The Complete Grimm’s Fairytales Little Snow White                   Cinderella (Ashenputtel)         Rumpelstiltskin Rapunzel                               Death’s Messengers              The Seven Ravens Mother Holle                          The Queen Bee                      Hansel and Gretel From Classic Fairytales: Beauty & the Beast                 Sleeping Beauty                       Jack and the Beanstalk  Pre-Reading/Schema Activation Invite students to write on a large sheet of butcher paper the names of their favorite fairytales.   Have students respond briefly in writing and then afterwards in class discussion to the following prompts: Why is this story your favorite?  Why does it appeal to you? Describe how you first felt when you heard, read or saw (students may list fairytales that have been adapted or generated by the movie industry) this fairytale. What did you learn from this fairytale? What message do you think this fairytale conveys? Questions for Analyzing a Fairytale              1.  What psychological problem or emotional issue does your tale deal with?  How do you know?  (Support your answer with the text.) 2.  What message does the tale send about that problem or issue? 3.  What aspects of the tale support this interpretation? (Support from the text.) 4.  Does the tale stereotype? Who? How?  (Support from the text.) 5.  What other messages does your tale send? In what ways are those messages positive?  Negative? (Support from the text.) 6.  How does your tale portray gender roles? What do the women in the story do?  How do they achieve success?  Love?  Happiness?  (Support from the text.) 7.  What do the men in the story do?  How do they achieve success?  Love?  Happiness?  (Support from the text.) 8.  Do you believe the story portrays gender roles positively or negatively?  Why?  (Support from the text.) 9.  Does the analysis of this tale change your previous perspective on this tale or on fairytales in general?  Why? Essay Prompts 1.  What psychological problem(s) does your chosen fairytale help readers or listeners deal with and in what ways? 2.  What messages does your chosen fairytale deliver and are those messages positive, negative, a mixture? (Think in terms of stereotypes, class, values.) 3. Analyze your fairytale for how it portrays gender roles.  What messages does your fairytale send about how women or men should behave?  Do you believe the fairytale’s message about gender roles is positive, negative, a mixture? Rose of No Man’s Land by Michelle Tea (novel) 2006.  MacAdam Cage.  1596921609 Contributor:   Kathleen Feinblum feinblumk@smccd.edu Synopsis Trisha Driscoll comes from a dysfunctional family. Her mother is a reclusive hypochondriac and her mother’s boyfriend, Donnie, is a semi-employed “slacker.”  Trisha’s sister, Kristy, a cosmetology graduate from a vocational education program, works at Jungle Unisex, a salon in the mall. Kristy gets Trisha a job at the trendy clothing store, Omigod! as a fill in for Kim Porciatti, an employee who is out because of a suicide attempt. Trisha cannot fit in with the store’s “pretentiously hip” image and is fired, but not before swiping the cell phone that belonged to Porciatti. She meets up with Rose, a misfit who works in a mall fast food restaurant. Both of them leave the mall and decide to hang out together. Kim’s phone rings and Trisha answers it, posing as Kim. The caller sounds rather sleazy. Fired up by curiosity,  Rose and Trisha hitchhike a ride to Paulie’s and his father Harry Chester’s house in Revere Beach. Rose and Trisha find out that Paulie has been taking nude pictures of Kim and that he is a drug dealer. They buy crystal meth from him, and then proceed on a drug, sex, and tattoo spree which results in a hot affair between Trisha and Rose. Trisha returns home to her dysfunctional family but realizes that at least she has established herself as an individual among the chaos. What course(s) or learning communities do you think the book works with and why? This book, a coming of age story, would work with composition and integrated reading-writing courses one and two levels below the CSU and UC transfer level. Would you recommend using the entire text or specific portions? I’d recommend using the entire novel. There are some good stylistic passages that an instructor may want to use. Pre-reading/Schema Activation Think of a time in your life where you rebelled against your family and/or society. Did you know what you were rebelling against? How did you choose to rebel? Was the outcome of your rebellion constructive? Destructive? What did you learn at the end? Questions and Journal Prompts 1.   In looking at the mall culture, are there stores considered to be “cooler” than others? How does a store in a mall maintain its image? Use a store you are familiar with as an example. 2.    Why is Kristy not able to realize her sexuality as a lesbian but Trisha is? 3.   How do young people negotiate power struggles in the absence of parents to teach them how to    behave, or when adults act like children themselves? 4.    Why do Trisha and Rose get caught up taking meth? Do you feel they will become addicts? 5.    Why do so many young people engage in dangerous/self-destructive behavior? 6.    Do you think Rose’s and Trisha’s relationship will get stronger? Why or why not? 7.    What particular problems face gay/lesbian youth? “I Stand Here Ironing” by Tillie Olsen (short story) From Tell Me a Riddle.  Delacorte Press 1961. New York Contributor: Lucia Lachmayr  lachmayrl@smccd.edu Synopsis A mother stands ironing a dress and is questioned by an unknown interlocutor who may be a teacher, a counselor, or perhaps even a social worker, asking the mother to “…come in and talk with me.” Her daughter, Emily, who had been unhealthy and socially awkward throughout her childhood is suddenly finding success in performing and now someone probably from the school, wants to speak to her. Although the story is sparse in dialogue, the mother’s internal thought processes detailing the difficulties that the mother has had to endure and that have colored her relationship to her daughter. She seems to at once resent the interlocutor as well as hope that he/she will be able to intercede on her behalf to convey an emotional connection to her daughter that she is incapable of articulating personally.   What course(s) or learning communities do you think the essay might work with and why? This reading would work well with a reading or integrated reading-writing course one level below the transfer level in that it deals with a mother/daughter relationship that is troubled and that trouble is brought about in no small measure due to the working class necessities and hardships endured by the mother, something many of the pre-transfer students may still be dealing with as many live at home. The story would also be a wonderful read for re-entry or women’s learning community  or a Literature class in which you wanted to look at particular elements of a story. Journal and Discussion Prompts Rewrite this piece from the perspective of the daughter. Rewrite this piece from the perspective of the interlocutor. Compare this daughter to the daughters in “Everyday Use.” Which do you think this daughter is more like and explain why you think so. List some of the conflicting emotions that the mother seems to be having and surmise why she might be having them. What do you think is the overall theme/message of this piece? Why doesn’t the mother simply tell Emily she loves her? Does Emily appear to you as the mother has described her? Why is that so? Do you think the interlocutor will advocate to Emily on behalf of the mother? Do you think the mother will change her ways as a result of this visit? How this reading could be used This reading could be used alone or in conjunction with another reading. Using it alone students could: Act out each of the roles, preparing in groups to come up with dialogue they could use as well as a rationale that explains why they are saying what they are saying. Do a focused freewrite, making connections between their own relationships with their mothers or fathers and comparing/contrasting the differences they see with the text Get into groups and come up with different scenarios that predict what will happen from here Use the internet to find out what problems exist for children raised in poverty and with very young parents Do a vocabulary log of the words they had difficulty with Using other texts, students could: Compare and contrast characters from Olsen’s piece to another one Show how environment problematizes the character’s existence, using another work to bolster claims in the Olsen piece. Other short stories of a similar thematic nature that could be used in tandem with Olsen’s “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker “In Search of our Mother’s Gardens” by Alice Walker “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty “No Name Woman” by Maxine Hong Kingston Poems “a song in the front yard” by Gwendolyn Brooks “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” by Adrienne Rich Novels Sula by Toni Morrison Television Media Television representations of a similar nature: “My sister, my Sitter” or “Little Big Mom” episodes of the Simpsons in which Lisa tries to tackle Marge’s job as homemaker and caretaker, losing her cool in the former episode and failing miserably in the latter.