American Foreign Policy 1898-Present

As our class shifts our focus from the domestic issues that enveloped the United States in its young history to America's role in the world from 1898 to the present, it is important for us to have a sense of the major foreign policy concerns facing the United States today. Ultimately, we will be using the history that we learn to understand, judge, and recommend the choices and decisions for the government to follow in its relationships today.

Two important current foreign policy considerations for the United States are the ongoing war in Afghanistan and the protests that are occurring in Egypt. As we move ahead in this unit you will be asked to make specific connections between these events and the events of the past.

In order to set the context for these connections, today your task will be to form a basic understanding of the current status of each of these two events. For each event, you should have a separate page of notes in your notebook. You should divide the page in half and on one side of the page keep notes from the stories, articles and videos you see and on the other side of the page you should keep a list of questions that you have about that event. You will have approximately one hour to explore each of these events. Click the links below to be taken to the NY TIMES TOPICS site containing current information and updates about each event. We suggest that you begin by reading the overviews that appear at the start of the page and then browse the different articles, videos, graphics, or other multimedia presentations.

The War in Afghanistan

The Protests in Egypt

Always Do The Right Thing

 After a great discussion of our first impressions of Spike Lee's film yesterday, we want to gather two other sets of thoughts.

First, in a new post, please write a paragraph response to this question:  What similarities / differences do you see between Do The Right Thing and "How Bigger Was Born"?  What are the specific ideas and examples used by each text to make their points?  What conclusions can be made as a result of this comparison / contrast?  (Note - this is an analytic statement, not a personal one, so you should avoid using "I" - stick with what is expressed in the film and essay)

Next, in the same post but a new paragraph, respond to this question: What are your personal (emotional, critical) responses? What are your feelings, at the movie's end, for Mookie, for Sal, for the police, for the community, for Radio Raheem? Who does--and who does not do--"the right thing"? Whose actions seem meaningful, purposeful, humane? What has been earned, learned, or lost? (Note - this is a personal statement, so should be all about the use of "I")

Lastly, you will go to another person's blog - the person whose name appears above yours on the list - and respond to what they said by writing a comment.

If you have time left at the end, feel free to browse and respond to other blogs in our class.

Moving Forward in the Civil Rights Movement

Welcome Back!
Today, as we work our way back into our study of the Civil Rights Movement, you will be asked to review and make some conclusions about an aspect of the movement that enhances and takes us beyond the ideas and events we studied just before we left on break (think about the March on Washington, "I Have a Dream", Selma and the Voting Rights Act). We'll start today by listening to two songs, A Change is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke and Say It Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud)by James Brown. Click on the links to read the lyrics for each. Then, your group will be assigned a set of documents to read, summarize, connect, and make conclusions about. Please follow these instructions:

1. Go here and open up your assigned set of documents.
2. Everyone in your group should read the introduction to your "episode" and then divide the rest of the documents among the members of your group.
3. Each member should then read their assigned document(s) and do a post on their blog that summarizes the document(s) (what was it, who said or wrote it, what were the key ideas) and then answers one of the questions that follows the document (you can choose which question to respond to).
4. Once everyone in the group has posted their summaries and responses, go to each other's blogs and read each other's posts about their documents.
5. Then, as a group discuss the common themes and ideas that stem from the group of documents. What are they about? How are they related? What ideas link them together? In addition, discuss which of the two songs above seems better connected to this group of documents (or are they both connected? If so how?) Are there other songs from this era that might also apply to the ideas you are discussing?
6. Finally, as a group, write a detailed paragraph that summarizes and describes your discussion from #5 above.
7. When finished, email a copy of your group paragraph to Mr. Rigler or Mr. Kramer.

Subjectivity and Representation at the end of Book 1 of Beloved

In the first part of class today, you read and discussed chapters 16-18, and how each one represents a different perspective on the same event.
Then you did a close reading of some of those passages, keeping track of key details, descriptive words, figurative language, structure, and the "goal" of each perspective.
Now, you will put that information together in a Venn diagram.
Click here for a template for your group to use.
Your group will need only one computer to enter the evidence you found.
Be sure to print out a copy for each member of your group and one to sumbit to us.
(20 minutes)

Then, individually, you will write a paragraph response, exploring the ways in which values and identity shape the ways in which a narrator recounts an event.  Be sure to make use of the evidence on your diagram as a way of naming the similarities and differences.
(30 minutes)

Baby Suggs - Her Sermon and Ways to Hear It

In class last Friday, I played several video clips to suggest ways of imagining Baby Suggs's sermon in the clearing.
First, to think of it as gospel music, I played this song from Mahalia Jackson, one of the greatest gospel singers of all time.
Next, to think of it as revolutionary ideas communicated through the power of the spoken word, I played this song from Gil Scott-Heron.
Last, to think of it as a dance and celebration, combining elements of both of the above examples, I played Kanye West's "Jesus Walks."
I also shared with you a short clip from the film version of Beloved - it captures a powerful combination of these ideas. 
What did you think?  Did you find these clips to be helpful?  Share your thoughts below.

Beloved - Memory, Rememory, and the Power of the Past

After you complete your reading for today, we'd like you write your journal entry for chapter 9 as a blog post.  The focus of it revolves about the issue of Memory, Rememory, and the Power of the Past - what is the novel saying about these topics at this point?  What are the challenges and issues that arise when the past is either raised or specifically avoided?  When is it embraced - when is it hidden - why?

Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Self-Reliance"

First of all, here are a few resources you might find helpful: various definitions of Transcendentalism, and some background information about its history.

For today, you will write a new blog post about Emerson's essay focusing on this question:

How does (and should) a person define his/her place in society? (what does Emerson mean by "society" anyhow?)

Please be sure to use a quotation from Emerson in your response.

After your initial post, please go to the two blogs above your name on the list and post a comment in response to that person's post on this topic.