To begin the unit I
will ask students to examine their own conceptions of childhood and adulthood and then consider the events and moments in their own lives that have marked their own coming of age. We will pay particular attention to how one’s beliefs about the world change as he or she moves from innocence to experience. The first piece of fiction will examine a pivotal moment in a young girl’s life. This piece will provide students with a basic understanding of the arc of a coming of age story: the protagonist experiences something that significantly changes the way he or she sees the world.
Objectives:
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· Students examine their own conceptions of childhood and adulthood and then consider the events and moments in their own lives that have marked their own coming of age
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· Students will use appropriate strategies before, during and after reading in order to construct meaning.
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· Students interpret, analyze and evaluate a visual and print text in order to extend understanding and appreciation.
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· Students recognize that readers and authors are influenced by individual, social, cultural and historical contexts.
Activities:
I’m going to ask students to bring a picture of themselves as a child between the ages of four and ten to class. If they don’t want to bring in a picture or can’t find one, they will be encouraged to create a detailed mental picture. To get into the child’s perspective, I will ask students to journal briefly about their child selves. What do you imagine you were doing before the picture was taken? After? What were you looking forward to? What were you dreading? What were you afraid of? Who was your best friend? Did you like school?
I’ll then ask students to complete two identical sentence completion exercises, one as the child self and another as themselves in the present. The sentence stems will encourage students to reflect on how their perspectives have changed over the years. For example: I believe life is fair/unfair because… The best thing about school is…I believe/don’t believe my parents will always be able to protect me because… I think boys are…I think girls are…
As a class we will chart some of their responses. Next, I will ask students to complete this sentence as many times as possible in a five minute period: I used to believe…but now I see …. Their homework tonight will be to choose one of the lines and write specifically about why and how their view point has changed.
After we establish that these changes are a part of coming of age we will view a piece of art work by Norman Rockwell depicting Ruby Bridges being walked to school by federal marshalls. The painting, “The Problem We All Live With” portrays the child’s point of view. She is wearing a starched white dress: the picture of innocence in a hateful world. There are rotten tomatoes burst on the wall behind her and the word nigger is sprawled across the bricks. I will ask students to describe what they see and ask them if they can imagine what the child might be thinking at the moment.
I will then read a picture book written by Ruby Bridges as an adult. One of the interesting recollections that Bridges, a New Orleans native, had was that she wasn’t afraid of the crowd at first because she was used to noise and chaos of Mardis Gras. In fact she didn’t realize how malevolent the protestors were until one of them showed her a little black doll in a coffin.
Ms. Bridges also writes eloquently about the differing viewpoints of her parents: her mother was always in favor of her going to the white school. Ruby was invited to do so because of her high test scores. Her mother believed that she would have a greater opportunity to reach her potential at a white school. Ruby’s father, on the other hand, was against having his daughter spearhead integration at an all white school. He wanted to shield her from the hate and predjudice that she would be exposed to. Of course, the pair ultimately decided to send Ruby to the white school. Their decision was difficult because it was problematic. Both of Ruby’s parents had valid points of view. I will challenge students to avoid seeing either parent as right or wrong and encourage them to recognize the complexity of the situation.
Next we will read
The Flowers,
a very short piece by Alice Walker. This story features a young girl, Myop, who is the daughter of a sharecropper. She, like Ruby Bridges, has a very abrupt coming of age experience. During a carefree walk through the woods, she literally stumbles over the skeleton of a man who has been lynched. Walker beautifully depicts how the child’s view of the world changes in that moment.
Prior to reading the story, I will ask children what they about the south during the period of reconstruction and hate groups like the KKK flourished during this time. We will define the word sharecropper and consider what it might be like to be a black child living in this rural setting.
Although this is a very short story, it a complex one. The diction, images and sentence structure present problems for inexperienced readers. In the past, I’ve found it helpful to read aloud to the students as they follow along. I will stop at strategic points to check for understanding, making sure that I ask students to point out what in the text of their piece makes their conclusions make sense. After the reading I will have students write their first response to the story using the reader response prompts: I was surprised when… It doesn’t make sense to me that… Students can choose one of these prompts or simply jot down their initial reaction to the story. I will then have students read their responses to the person next to them. Students will then share out to the group. I will ask students to record at least two of their classmates ideas during our discourse: one thing that they hadn’t thought of before and one thing that affirms their point of view.
At this point I will point out to students that the name Myop is similar to the word
myopic
which literally means nearsighted or shortsighted. I will ask students to consider whether or not they believe Alice Walker’s choice of name had any significance in the context of the story.
Next, I will ask students to draw a representation of Myop and her view of the world before her discovery and after. After discussing how Myop’s way of seeing changes, I will assure students that it is possible to capture Myop’s perception with very simple drawings or cutouts from magazines or the internet. I will explain that this assignment is more about ideas than artistic talent. I encourage them to think symbolically. For example a pair of dark glasses might stand for blindness. I also will allow them to use words in their picture. I’ll explain that the they will need to write an explanation of why they chose to use the pictures and cite sections of text that support their choices.
I’ll explain that in this story we don’t really get to get a glimpse of Myop’s actual thoughts because it is written in the third person, therefore in order to do the assignment students had to examine Myop’s actions and the way that Alice Walker describes her. I will ask students to cite pieces of text that gave them clues as to how Myop is thinking and feeling. Students will then share their choices and explain how they made the inference.
If no one has pointed out the last line of the text, I will direct the classes attention there:
Myop laid down her flowers. And the summer was over.
I will explain that often in short stories, endings are especially meaningful. We’ll discuss the inferences they made about the last two sentences. In the context of the story, what might the flowers or the end of summer symbolize?
“The Flowers” portrays a very dramatic moment of initiation into the adult world. Other pieces of literature depict more subtle awakenings. In the past, after I’ve taught the flowers and I asked students to describe their own coming of age moments, they were quick to point out that it’s not that that easy because they have “never accidently stepped on a dead body” or done something equally as dramatic. I encourage students to think about ordinary moments when they might have realized that the world was not always safe or fair. I usually tell them about how horrified I was the first time I saw a homeless person sleeping in an alley when I was on a trip with my family in Boston or about how in the middle of the “civil defense” drills we used to have at my elementary school I suddenly realized that crouching under our desks wouldn’t protect us from atomic bombs. I encourage students to be on the lookout for experiences that change their own perspective-when they, like Myop, suddenly see the world through a new pair of glasses. This is a simple concept, but an awareness that is central to understanding how people and fictional characters change in reaction to to their experiences.