The Big Easy: Literary New Orleans and Intangible Heritage

CONTENTS OF CURRICULUM UNIT 11.04.02

  1. Unit Guide
  1. Introduction
  2. Rationale
  3. Background Information
  4. Demographics
  5. The Song and Title
  6. The Play
  7. The Texts
  8. Imagery
  9. Objectives
  10. Strategies
  11. Classroom Activities
  12. Appendix A
  13. Appendix B
  14. Appendix C
  15. Appendix D
  16. References
  17. Endnotes

Strange Fruit: An Exploration of Imagery and Socio-politics of Post-Katrina New Orleans

Amanda Lynch

Published September 2011

Tools for this Unit:

References

05-068 (Mapping Katrina). (n.d.). Brown University. Retrieved July 13, 2011, from http://brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/2005-06/05-068.html

This website provides valuable information about the impact of the storm damage and flooding in coastal Mississippi and New Orleans and the impact on the regions poor and predominately black neighborhoods.

Beckett, S. (1954). Waiting for Godot; Tragicomedy in 2 Acts,. New York: Grove Press.

This play is a great resource to use juxtaposed to the song Strange Fruit. The symbolism of the dehumanizing conditions hurled at the survivors of Katrina resonates with the relationship between the characters in this play.

Brinkley, D. (2006). The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. New York: Morrow.

This text provides information about the effects of Katrina on the Gulf Coast region.

Chan, P. (2010). Waiting for Godot in New Orleans: A Field Guide (1. ed.). New York, NY: Creative Time [u.a.].

This text provides press clippings, photographs, interviews and other information about the production of Waiting for Godot that was staged in the Lower 9th Ward after Hurricane Katrina.

Codrescu, A. (2006). New Orleans, Mon Amour: Twenty years of writings from the city. Chapel Hill, N.C.: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.

This is a collection of essays created by NPR contributor Andrei Condrescu. Through these essays Condrescu details his love affair with the city which spans a twenty year period.

Crocco, M., Alcantara, L., Lee, S., & Pollard, S. (2007). Teaching the Levees: A Curriculum for Democratic Dialogue and Civil Engagement. New York: Teachers College Press.

This teacher resource has lesson plans and comprehension questions that can be used in conjunction with Spike Lee's, When the Levees Broke. This is an excellent resource to facilitate discussion about the film.

Drye, W. (2005, August 31). New Orleans Flooded in Wake of Hurricane Katrina. Daily Nature and Science News and Headlines | National Geographic News. Retrieved July 17, 2011, from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/08/0831_050831_katrina_flooding.html

This site provides news articles and photographic essays about the events surrounding Hurricane Katrina.

Drye, W. (2005, September 14). Hurricane Katrina: The Essential Time Line. Daily Nature and Science News and Headlines | National Geographic News. Retrieved July 17, 2011, from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/09/0914_050914_katrina_timeline_2.html

This site provides a time line of events surrounding Hurricane Katrina.

Dyson, M. E. (2006). Come hell or high water: Hurricane Katrina and the color of disaster. New York: Basic Civitas.

This novel is a good teacher resource to gain background information about New Orleans and the racial, political and economic landscape of the community.

Eggers, D. (2009). Zeitoun . San Francisco: McSweeney's Books.

Zeitoun is a harrowing non-fiction account of a Syrian-American man and his family after Hurricane Katrina is a powerful indictment of Bush-era policies.

Flooding devastates historic Richmond, Va. - Weather - Weather News - msnbc.com. (n.d.). msnbc.com - Breaking news, science and tech news, world news, US news, local news- msnbc.com. Retrieved July 13, 2011, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5851220/ns/weather-weather_news/t/flooding-devastates-historic-richmond-va/

This website provides a news account about the events that occurred in Richmond, Virginia after Tropical Storm Gaston.

HURRICANE GASTON AUGUST 27 - SEPTEMBER 3 2004 âé" GES DISC: Goddard Earth Sciences, Data & Information Services Center. (n.d.). GES DISC Home Page âé" GES DISC: Goddard Earth Sciences, Data & Information Services Center. Retrieved July 13, 2011, from http://daac.gsfc.nasa.gov/hurricane/additional/science-focus/HurricaneGaston2004.shtml

This site provides information about Tropical Storm Gaston and the impact that it had on Richmond, Virginia.

Intangible HeritageÂ:ÂUNESCO-CULTURE. (n.d.). United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Retrieved July 16, 2011, from http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=34325&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

This site gives the UNESCO definition of Intangible Heritage and provides links to the Intangible Heritage sites that are located throughout the world.

Neufeld, J. (2009). A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge. New York: Pantheon Books.

This graphic novel is an easy read and can be used with high school students at any reading level.

"Paul Chan - Waiting for Godot - New Orleans - Art - New York Times." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/arts/design/02cott.html?pagewanted=2&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1313757031-yYMHylq1tyNVdFomCivSRQ (accessed August 19, 2011).

Piazza, T. (2005). Why New Orleans Matters. New York, NY: Regan Books.

This novel explores the importance of New Orleans to the literary, political and cultural landscape of America.

Project Citizen: A portfolio-based civic education program. (pp. 3-12). (2009). Public Policy. Calabasas, CA: Center for Civic Education.

This text is used in conjunction with the Congress funded Project Citizen program.

Reed, I. (1972). Mumbo Jumbo ([1st ed.). Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday.

This colorful novel is about the power of culture and dance in New Orleans.

Reizenstein, L. v., & Rowan, S. W. (2002). The Mysteries of New Orleans . Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Teaching The Levees » About the Project. (n.d.). Teaching The Levees. Retrieved July 19, 2011, from http://www.teachingthelevees.org/?page_id=10

This is an excellent resource for both students and teachers that provides a flood map of New Orleans and other valuable statistics.

The Online News Hour: After Hurricane Katrina | PBS. (n.d.). PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Retrieved July 15, 2011, from http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/weather/july-dec05/katrina/index.html

This site is a PBS special edition about Hurricane Katrina.

Toole, J. K. (2006). A Confederacy of Dunces ([Repr.] ed.). New York, NY: Grove Press.

This historical fiction novel could be used with more advanced readers. It is a colorful novel about a variety of characters that live and work in and around the French Quarter.

Vollen, L., Ying, C., Eggers, D., Aab, S. P., Black, M. B., Dabkowski, C., et al. (2006). Voices from the storm: The people of New Orleans on Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. San Francisco: McSweeney's Books.

This text provides eye witness accounts and tales of survival from those who survived Hurricane Katrina.

Zeitoun by Dave Eggers: Questions and Book Club Reading Group Guide/Discussion Guide. (n.d.). BookBrowse.com: More than 20,000 book reviews, reader reviews, critic's reviews, book excerpts and more. Retrieved July 17, 2011, from http://www.bookbrowse.com/reading_guides/detail/index.cfm/book_number/2433/Zeitoun

This site provides discussion questions to be used with the text Zeitoun.

Drains, W. T., & System., p. i. (n.d.). Tropical Storm Gaston: Richmond's Shockoe Bottom Flooded - WTVR. CBS 6 News WTVR, Richmond News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | WTVR.com | Richmond News | CBS 6 WTVR TV - wtvr. Retrieved July 13, 2011, from http://www.wtvr.com/news/wtvr-gaston-anniversary20100830,0,785309.story

This website provides news information about the lingering effects of Tropical Storm Gaston on the Richmond Metropolitan area.

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