Narratives of Citizenship and Race since Emancipation

Resources

Journal Entries for "Writing Home"

For each entry, you must include some (at least two) visuals: they may be computer-generated, photographs, copies of photographs, pictures from magazines and newspapers, or original drawings.

1. Write the word "HOME" in the center of the first page. Then, in the space of one minute, write the first words and ideas that come to your mind when you think about home. Prepare to share this with a partner, and then with the class.

2. Geography – Using GoogleEarth or MapQuest or a real estate data bank, locate and print up your house/neighborhood. It may be a street map, an actual photo, whatever. You may take pictures of your house and street. This should focus on exteriors.

Make a list of the things on the outside of the house that identify it as your home. For example, house number, name on the mailbox, outdoor furniture, fences, plants, flowers, etc.

Make a list of the immediate landmarks around your house. For example, your neighbor's house, the mailbox, fire hydrant, telephone poles, bus stops, hedges, open lots, playground, etc.

Make a list of the sensory elements of your home: sound of traffic, smell of flowers, touch of your doorknob, sight of your curtains, taste of your favorite snack.

VISUALS

3. Memories – think of the memories that, for you, exemplify what home is like.

First, write about a very early memory you have of your home. It may be of your room, your yard, your kitchen, a fireplace. Include as many sensory details as you can about the room and about the way you felt in that space.

Second, write about a family gathering in your home. What was the occasion? Who was there? What about this occasion gave it the feeling of home?

Third, write about something you did that is directly connected with your home. For example, did you decorate your room? Did you help to buy furniture, build a deck, or plant a garden? In what way have you imprinted yourself upon your home?

VISUALS

4. Far-off relatives. Do you have relatives living in other states? Other countries? How many places can you list where you have family connections? How many of them have you visited? Print up a map on which you can pinpoint the various branches of your family. What are the reasons you and/or your relatives moved?

VISUALS

5. Kidnapped! Lucy Terry and Phillis Wheatley. Write what you think each of these poets has to say about her homeland and where she is now. This may require some "reading between the lines." What feelings and observations are behind the "veil" in these poems? What is ironic about the relationship between the poets, Christianity, and the Christians who kidnapped them?

VISUALS

6. Think of the many situations in which the characters in A Mercy find themselves. Some are chattel slaves. Some are indentured servants. One is a mail-order bride, of sorts. There are free blacks. For each of the following characters, describe what he or she wants in a home. Florens, Jacob Vaark, Lina, Rebekka Vaark, Senhor D'Ortega, and the blacksmith. Describe what he or she gets for a home. How does this affect that character? Which of these characters has an understanding of home closest to your own? Explain.

VISUALS

7. In Flyin' West, emancipated blacks are given the chance to buy land and create a town of their own. Describe the composite family that the characters create. What makes them a family? What values do they share? How does the term "kinwork" apply to their family and its relationship to the land itself and to the larger community? Contrast the way Sophie views the land to the way Frank views it. Sophie and Frank also view freedom differently. Explain.

VISUALS

8. In Gem of the Ocean, nearly all the important events occur in Aunt Esther's kitchen. In many ways, the kitchen is regarded as the "heart of the home," and it functions, literally, as the theatre for family life. How does the "kitchen as theatre" work in this play? What aspects of black and/or family tradition are found in Aunt Esther's kitchen? What does the kitchen mean to Black Mary? What happens to Citizen while he's there? What happens to Solly Two Kings?

VISUALS

9. In Invisible Man, the narrator finds himself most comfortable in Mary Rambo's home, particularly in the kitchen. Write about the quotation below:

"Then from down the hall I could hear Mary singing, her voice clear and untroubled, though she sang a troubled song. It was the 'Back Water Blues.' I lay listening as the sound flowed to and around me, bringing me a calm sense of my indebtedness" (Ellison 1995, 297). Why is Mary singing the blues? Explain how the blues creates a troubled/untroubled mood.

What is one of your favorite dishes prepared in your kitchen at home? Find the recipe. Describe a memory you have about it. Take a picture of it.

VISUALS

10. In Song of Solomon, houses are used as a vivid method of characterization. For each of the main characters, write a 1-page description of how his or her home portrays character. Use specific examples from the text. These characters will include Macon Dead, Milkman Dead, Ruth Foster Dead, Pilate Dead, and Circe. You may also choose to include the perspectives of Magdalena, First Corinthians, Sweet, and Michael Mary Graham.

VISUALS

11. Describe your ideal home. What does it look like? Where is it located? Who lives there? What are the essential things you need for it to feel like home? Write your home "Bill of Rights." Include serious things ("You have the right to a key to the door.") and less serious things ("You have the right to decorate as you please.")

VISUALS

12. First Step Away From Home. What do you anticipate you will miss the most when you move into a college dorm? What do you think you will enjoy the most when you are living away at college?

VISUALS

13. If you were to make a care package for yourself that contained items that would bring a "little bit of home" to you at college, what would be in it?

VISUALS

14. Culminating Project: Drawing from your writing and the images you have collected, create a poster that, for you, will exemplify what you think home is about. You may incorporate words of your own, poetry, excerpts from the literature we've read, street names, family names, a picture of your room. This piece should measure at least 18 X 24 inches. Your name should be readily visible. Once you have put this together, we will get it laminated so you can take it to school with you. This project will include an artist's statement, describing your piece in terms of image selection, text selection, arrangement, and overall effect. Your "Home Bill of Rights" will be edited, set in a formal type font such as Book Antigua or Copperplate Gothic, and printed on a parchment-style paper.