Literary Legacies of Locomotion

Some of my classmates had read Locomotion in Dawan’s class and everyone gave it raving reviews so I was really excited to read it for this class. I really enjoy books that are in poetry form, but still with a story told throughout the whole book that is clear and easy to follow. This book would be great to use in the classroom for so many reasons. We have the poetry and lyrical prose aspect, we have the diversity aspect, and we have foster care and what a family looks like, too. I would love to use this in my classroom – it would be so good!

In the article about the guy who goes with his father to The South in 1853 (Ben), I was very impressed by the young man’s opposition to the slave trade when his father was all for it. I also thought it was sweet the way Samantha was introduced. Honestly, though, I just kept thinking about Mississippi Trial, a book we read for Dawan’s class – about how, unless you were raised in the south it really was hard to understand why slavery existed.

In The New Advocate article, his discussion on “political correctness” and how there is no definition and all he wanted to do was write an interesting story, but one of his readers was very offended on one character calling another character a name when it was really just to demonstrate his growth throughout the book. It breaks my heart that we constantly get so hung up on calling people the right words that won’t offend people. And the fact of the matter is, that someone will be offended no matter what we say. Some African Americans only want to be called that, while others think that if I were to call myself white, then I should be able to call them black. I completely agree that the N-word is not used – even though in the African American community it seems to be a term of endearment. Bottom-line, where is the line? As teachers we have to be aware of not hurting people’s feelings, but we still have to teach equality and camaraderie among the races.

I loved, in Who Can Tell My Story, the part when he talks about “Standard English” being like a Sunday church suit – makes you look more presentable, but not what you wear on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Talking about the different filters that we see things and how our experiences shape even our dialects is a very interesting way to communicate why everyone sounds differently. I remember when I was working at the Boys and Girls Club here in Athens while in EFND with Dr. Dotts, he always told us not to directly correct the students if they were not speaking in “Standard English” because that would be a shot at their personal identity. I don’t know, though, exactly how to overcome this obstacle in the classroom because we need students to speak in a manner that will get them jobs and help them get ahead in the world, but we don’t want them to stop being who they are just so they can be another cog in the machine.

Lester, J. (1971). Ben. In J. Lester. The long journey home: Stories From Black History (pp.60-88). New York: Dial.

Paterson, K. (1994). Cultural Politic's from a Writer's Point of View. The new advocate, 7, 84-91.

Woodson, J. (20101997). Locomotion. New York: Puffin Books. 

Naturally Nice Native-Americans

Reading The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie was so fun! I loved it!! I laughed and wanted to keep reading – it wasn’t just funny though. I felt like there were a  lot of good messages. Like when Mr. P was explaining about “kill the Indian, save the man” – that is such a key concept that I never even heard about until I was in college, so I feel like it would be very beneficial for middle school students to be made aware of this rough moment in our nation’s history. I don’t know how comfortable I would be with using it in my classroom, though, because of some of the violence and fighting and the whole masturbation section at the beginning. I just don’t know how that would go over – it would depend on my students, but I will certainly have it on my bookshelves and encourage students to read it. As for striking at the minority string, I felt like only his ethnicity made him an Indian – Junior went out of his way to make a new name for himself, no matter the cost. And that is another wonderful message for middle school students who are struggling with their own identity.

In Using multiethnic literature in the K-8 classroom, I loved how they started the article talking about Disney’s Pocahontas. I am a huge Disney fan and so I was instantly engaged with the article. As I read, I was interested in the following statement: “Non-Native writer in America have frequently been drawn to topics and themes related to Native Americans…[probably] because they believe Indians are more honest and brave than other peoples.” I was so taken aback by this statement for some reason…I don’t even really have an explanation for why, but I just kept reading those lines and mulling it over. Of course, the next part after this whole idea of those authors that are drawn to the Native American way, they said that often they just play into more stereotypes while writing because they do not do enough research or get bad secondhand information. I completely agree that true Native Americans need to get more of their own stories out and published by themselves.

In the article from Sports Illustrated, I could not believe that first little story. I understanding that you might not know if something would offend someone or not, but once they tell you it does, you STOP! I have heard of many different areas changing their mascots so that they will not offend anyone. To me, your average while female of an upper-middle class SES, I never meant doing the tomahawk at the Braves game offensive, but looking back now, I see how it comes across. That’s honestly what I think the biggest problem is. Not that everyone wants to be racist against Native Americans, or anyone else for that matter, but that was just the environment they grew up in and they never recognized how it could offend someone. Once we educate people, then I think their consciousness of other minorities would prevent many of the offensive things that end up happening.

Alexie, S. (2007). The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian. New York: Little, Brown.

Harris, V. J., & Reese, D. (1997). Native Americans in Children's Literature. Using multiethnic literature in the K-8 classroom (pp. 155-185). Norwood, Mass.: Christopher-Gordon.

Price, S. (2002, March 4). The Indian Wars. Sports Illustrated, 96, 66-72.

Odd Octavian Observations

Reading Response #7

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: Traiter To The Nation: Volume I: The Pox Party was a very interesting book. It personified a different type of character than we normally read about. The diction and writing style was intriguing – it reads like a classic out of the Cannon. All that being said, I don’t know if I would use this book in my classroom. It just seems too advanced for a middle grade class as a whole, but I would recommend it to individuals perhaps.

The book starts with Octavian and his mother Cassiopeia, an African princess, living in a house full of philosophers and scientists in colonial Boston. They were doing lots of different experiments and research on pretty much everything! This first part has a couple of different sections that you could use for read alouds in a science classroom – about deeper thinking and reasoning. Like when Mr. Gitney, also known as 03-01, always asks Octavian what he is thinking and why.

Eventually, Cassiopeia angers the beneficiary of the Society and they are kicked out and have to go be a part of another experiment with Richard Sharpe.  In this situation, a group of businessmen, who own slaves, are appearing to rig the experiment with Octavian in order to prove that Africans are inferior.  This is a good section to discuss with the class about how this is not true, how no race is superior – you could do this in a social studies classroom and talk about African Americans in the Civil Rights movement or Hitler trying to make the perfect Aryan race.

After a nasty Pox Party (when I almost vomited!), Cassiopeia dies and is dissected in the house. This infuriates Octavian, so he runs away and joins the Colonial Army. Octavian's military adventures are narrated mostly in epistolary form by Private Evidence Goring, a private in Octavian's regiment who befriends him, in letters to his sister Fruition. This could be a good part to use in an English classroom – to discuss how that type of writing works and how it is and isn’t effective. There are several other source texts that you could use to tie all of this together.

All in all, this book has several useful points that I could use in the classroom, but as a whole, I would not teach this book. It is just too complex for the average middle school student – and even for me, at times. And I think some of the qualities I liked about this book, I could find in a more age appropriate text. Much like pieces in the Cannon, I am glad to say I read this book, but did not fully enjoy it as just a regular reader.

I would just like to finish with this quote by Dr. 09-01: “The pupil is black, and as large as a world” (p. 61). This is a very profound statement – which is very fitting for such a profound book (which it certainly was!).

Anderson, M. T. (2006). The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: Traiter To The Nation: Volume I: The Pox Party. Cambridge, Mass.: Candlewick Press. 

Al + Alcatraz = Awesome

Reader Response #6

I’ve been your typical good girl my whole life. The few rules I have broken, I normally go crying to my parents to confess. This is to say that jail was never really a thought on my horizon for me. Many of my guy friends used to play jailbreak and games of that nature, but I was uninterested.  As a college student, I watch a lot of TV. At the beginning of this school year, I watched the whole season of Lost on Netflix. When I saw that there was a show by the same people coming out about Alcatraz, I knew I needed to watch it. And once I did, I regretted the childhood wasted on avoiding all things to do with jail. So when I read the back of Gennifer Choldenko’s Al Capone Does My Shirts and saw that it was about Alcatraz, I was hooked.

I realize that was a lot of back-story, but I wanted you to understand my point of view going into this book. I knew it was about a little boy who lived on Alcatraz with his family, but I did not realize a giant factor in this story – that his sister suffered from a mental illness that pretty much controlled their family. It was really cool to see how well Moose interacted and cared for his deranged sister, Natalie, even though she was actually older than he was.

The adventures Moose gets himself into on the island are mainly due to his peers – Piper, Theresa, Annie, and Jimmy.  It was excellent to see a male protagonist who was cool and “hip” but still with the knowledge of what was right and what was wrong. Moose stood up for what he knew was the right thing to do, obeyed his parents, looked after his sister, played baseball, and had fun friends – he is a dream protagonist! Parents want their kids to be like him and kids want to be him.

Since this book does have a male lead character and deals with jail stuff, girls probably wouldn’t like to read it, but I feel like boys of all ages would love to read it! The characters are relatable and realistic. Choldenko did a wonderful job portraying each and every one of them. Even the ones we don’t get to meet in this book, the simple mentioning of them is deep enough to give them some dimension.

As for the teachable value for this book, you have the historical element of Alcatraz. It seems like Choldenko did her research and most of it is semi-accurate and she added the historical note at the end with even more information. But then, there is also the element of Natalie. This would be an excellent book to introduce mental illnesses without singling someone out or, hopefully, making anyone uncomfortable. Because all the point of view is from Moose, all of the observations are tame and relatable to people who know people with disabilities, but developed enough to paint a picture for those that do not.

My only con is that it seemed to have a couple of grammatical mistakes that I noticed and that distracted me from my reading at times. But I doubt that students would pick up on that and so it would be fine for a middle school student.

I loved this book and I would love to teach it in my classroom. I will probably not be teaching history, but stylistically this book has some wonderful points. Character development, the short but packed chapters, symbolism and writing style could all be taught from this book.

Choldenko, G. (2004). Al Capone Does My Shirts. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 

Wonderful Words on World War

Book Response #5

Black. White. Red.

“’Look at the colors,” Papa said. It’s hard to notice a man that not only notices the colors, but speaks them.” (Pg. 87)

Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief is about more than just a story, but about words and colors and death. Well, actually, Death is the narrator for much of the book.  This interesting perspective makes for a very enjoyable read. In Nazi Germany circa World War II, little Liesel Meminger is going through some major changes: foster parents, The Grave Digger’s Handbook, new friends, and life lessons. This book is written from a different point of view and so it provides such a wonderful insight.

I had read this book before, my freshman year of college to be exact; because my aunt told me it was one of her new favorites (which is a total honor for any book to be put up there because she reads a lot and is very picky). Anyways, I figured I would like it because I have a thing for World War II books and have read a good number of them before – both adult and young adult. Once I picked it up and started reading, I was mesmerized – and this time was no different!

Liesel is a huge fan of here books – both ones stolen or given freely. After a rough deal from the cards of life: she ends up away from her mother, her brother is dead, and she wakes every night with horrible nightmares, but there is good in her life too. A new friend who thinks he is Jesse Owens, a loving Papa who cradles her when she awakes at two in the morning, and the newfound knowledge of literacy! The books twists and turns, full of action, but not overbearing with suspense – it is a perfect mix and a delightful read!

Liesel is a character that everyone could, in some form, relate to. She is brilliant and caring, but not always a soft and gentle girl – she’s got spunk, and what girl doesn’t want some spunk?! Rudy might be in bad circumstances since he has such a big family at such a poor economy time for Germany, but his character’s personality fits right into what you would expect of any boy that age – a hundred years ago or now. Max is a hidden Jew whose father saved Liesel’s Papa during the First World War – he is a street fighter and a loyal friend.

Though the main protagonist is a girl, boys would enjoy this book because of Rudy, Max, Papa, and the fact that Death is doing all the talking. Plus, there is thievery, fighting, fire, soccer, racing, and battles. What boy wouldn’t want to read about all that?

“It kills me sometimes, how people die.” (Pg. 464)

People dying do make up a fairly large majority of the book. That is to say, that many of the main characters end up dead, but their lives are stained with love and friendship – these are the colors that Death is haunted by (he admits this on the last page how effected he is by all the souls he carried limply away).

This book would probably only get used to its full capacity if it was taught in an upper level class – 7^th or 8^th grade, maybe even honors. There are just so many wonderful things in this book! You have the different perspective of narrator, the precisely unique language used that describes everything, the symbolism, and solid historical content – it could serve as a mentor text in so many ways.

All in all, I love this book! I love how it is full of words about words – it is so metapoetic and I absolutely adore it! Death is so eloquent with his words, Liesel is so heartbreaking with her story, and all the relationships are beautiful and refreshing. I loved reading The Book Thief the firs time, I loved reading it this time, and I would love to teach it in the future!

“I have hated the words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right” (Pg. 528).

Zusak, M. (2006). The Book Thief. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.