Today's Lesson

Subject: Narrative Essays/H.L. Gates' "What's in a Name?"
Learning Objective(s): Students will: discuss their response questions to generate greater understanding of Gates' essay.

Notes on class: We had a long discussion today and I hope you all learned as much as I did. Again, like on Friday, you all had some terrific insights and seemed comfortable sharing them.

Among the more important and interesting insights: as one of you mentioned in class, Gates does a terrific job of showing how we "internalize" the problem of racism, whether we are the perpetrator of a racist act or its victim. Whereas the perpetrator will use even very subtle and "more socially acceptable" means, as in Mr. Wilson calling Gates' father "George," the victim of racism will also internalize his or her victimization of racism by "forgetting" a racist event occurred. Gates makes it clear that this is what he does, thereby helping to continue the problem of racism. This is a delicate, complicated matter indeed.

Today's Lesson

Subject: Narrative Essays
Learning Objective(s): Students will: read Henry Louis Gates' essay "What's in a Name?" as an example of a narrative essay; identify its main idea; answer specific comprehension questions on the essay.

Notes on class: Today went well overall. I thought you all understood some subtle aspects of Gates' essay; there's quite a lot going on for such a short piece. Nice work overall.

Click here for more info on Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Notes on Today's Class

On Wednesday, first we played a game. Some call it "Bob the Weasel." I laughed when I heard a student say they had last played it in pre-school...

The silly games we play offset and balance out all the sitting and reading and writing we do. It also allows us to have fun with a group. This particular game we played is curiously related to the writing process, only in that it has to do with deception, and ultimately, revealing the truth...

After we played our little game, we sat down and read. We read a happy little essay by Joan Didion, entitled "Girl of the Golden West," about the infamous Patti Hearst. What an uplifting little tale.

I took a risk with this essay. It's quite long, involved, and written in a sophisticated way. Still, I think it gives students a good idea of a well-written, powerful essay. My objective was to show them that good essay writing is not dull and academic, and I think we achieved that...(we'll practice our own writing on Friday...)

There's a terrific interview with Joan Didion here.