Activities
All of these activities involve at least one of the strategies above, and often more than one. In addition to these activities, which emphasize the use of supplementary primary and secondary sources, we will also have lessons that focus on the literary aspects of the novel. For example, we will do a very close read of the four pages at the beginning of Part I that precede the first chapter, especially the opening and closing lines, which hint strongly at main themes. Page four is an excellent example of Morrison’s descriptive, lyrical writing that establishes a sense of place. We will revisit these pages after we read the last chapter of the novel, as well.
I. Doing history with soldier narratives and images.
On the first of two days, students will review what it means to annotate well and will use these skills throughout the unit. They will spend time doing a close read of Horace Pippin’s excerpt and annotating both that document and the photograph from Colored Soldiers. I will pass out hard copies to each student to write on. On the second day, they will read closely and annotate the brief excerpt from the fictional narrative. In groups of three they’ll compare their work and pay close attention to the language of both narratives. Each group will report back with their findings and the answers to these questions: 1) Which is the authentic narrative? Give two reasons why. 2) Which narrative does the photograph go with and why? 3) Give three specific things that you notice about the language of the two soldiers, paying close attention to diction, vocabulary, and content. I’ll finish with the big reveal and lead a discussion of the problems associated with the fictional Colored Soldiers and its white author, including his possible intentions and the collectability of that book today (good copies are available online for upwards of 265.00).
II. Community newspaper writing
We will have read at least the three pieces from the all-black Cincinnati newspaper The Union from the first part of the 20th century. It is a paper that our characters might have read. One is a letter to the editor criticizing the behavior of women. Another is an editorial (probably) bemoaning the changing characteristics of men and women. If we find truth in fiction, then students will show the truths they find in their lives, their time by writing letters and editorials criticizing or extolling their own society. Done today, they might write about protests, current movements and issues like the BLM or Back the Blue movements. If gender roles were in flux then, they certainly are more visibly so now; this could be a topic for an interested student, as well. Students may write collaboratively or on their own.
III. Primary and secondary sources with Jamboard
It is likely that I will teach at least some of this unit during a period of distance learning during the current pandemic, so this activity is especially intended as an attempt to engage my students so that they might be prepared for a writing assignment that asks them to consider several sources and come to their own conclusions with the support of those sources. Ultimately, they are seeing the answer to this question: are all-black towns viable today? Students will assess Study of Conditions among the Negro Population of Tulsa by Interracial Committee of Y.W.C.A. of 1938 and the James Farmer excerpt from Freedom—When? along with watching either or both short videos about Oklahoma’s all-black towns. We will use three-four Jamboard pages to document our notes (pulled also from our annotations of the written documents). The first Jamboard page will ask students to note the appealing sides of living in this North Tulsa neighborhood in 1938. Each student will have to add at least one original note. On the other side they will do the same noting the drawbacks, both stated and implied. After watching either or both videos, they will do another two-sided Jamboard page with the same practice. This time the two sides are reasons all-black towns may and may not be viable today, based on the content of the video(s) and deductions. Students will have to annotate and carefully consider the content of James Farmer’s excerpt about integration. He ultimately favors integration, but that is not clear right away. On this board students will use their notes to do another two-columned board. Sticky notes on one side favor integration; sticky notes on the other favor separation. After completing these boards, students will use them to write an informal but well-supported analysis piece of three paragraphs in which they answer the question above: are all-black towns viable today?
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