Week 1 Syllabus: October 23-25
HOW DOES JACK’S VIEW OF HIS BI-RACIAL IDENTITY change over the course of Ken Liu’s short story “The Paper Menagerie”? As we finish first quarter, we will review the reading, annotation, writing and discussion skills that we have practiced. NOTE: If you have an assignment marked “missing” or a grade that is an “F,” I expect that you will see me outside of class to make up that work. Only students who did NOT turn in an assignment would receive an “F” grade on an assignment. There is NO work that you shouldn’t make up or complete.
MONDAY, October 23
Re-listening to the LeVar Burton reading of our current story.
Then, using a google spreadsheet to analyze the short story, “The Paper Menagerie.”
Examining an article about the mail-order bride business from a 1986 NYT article. Why do individuals get involved in this business? What are the advantages and disadvantages, according to the article?
HW: Finish your reading of the article. If anything is missing on your spreadsheet, please complete it.
WEDNESDAY (anchor day)
Small group sharing of annotations on the NYT article.
Reviewing and discussing your A-B-C-D answers on the spreadsheet from Monday.
HW: Revisit your annotations in the short story. Do your notes reflect the reader’s dialogue with the text about meaning?
THURSDAY, October 26
Discussion of “The Paper Menagerie.”
Introduction to our next short story, “The Kind of Light That Shines in Texas.”
HW: Read and annotate this story, keeping marginal notes on how racism emerges in the characters and in the plot.