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American Historiography
Due Date	Assignment
Monday, Feb 6th	Read the 2nd chapter of Autobiography of Malcolm X.
Thursday, Feb 2nd	Read the 1st chapter of Autobiography of Malcolm X, pages 79-102
Wednesday, Feb. 1st	The first draft of your poems are due!
Tuesday, Jan. 31st	Makes sure you are ready to perform you poem for Poetry Out Loud!
Thursday, Jan. 26th	Memorize your poem. Finish your freewrite from class. Bring in a binder for your portfolio if you don't have one yet. (i.e. Eliza, Elizabeth)
Wednesday, Jan. 25th	"English-to-English Translation": Having distilled your Poetry Out Loud poem down to its incident, revelation, and consequence, use this story-skeleton (incident, revelation, consequence) to tell the story of your poem differently. This is a creative writing assignment -- use it as such.
Tuesday, Jan. 24th	Pick up a poem to memorize and perform from http://poetryoutloud.org/poems-and-performance/find-poems
Friday, Jan. 20th	Read "The Forethought" and "Of Our Spiritual Strivings" from W.E.B. Du Bois' The Souls of Black Folk (linked here).
Wednesday, Jan. 18th	Read "Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" by Peggy McIntosh (linked here).
Tuesday, Jan. 17th	Based on your observations about the Table of Contents of the textbooks, write a response paper in which you make draw inferences about the kind of "history" these books are telling. Questions to consider might include: Who is writing these books? For whom? What kind of story are they telling, and why are they interested in telling this particular story? What do they have to lose or gain? Who is the protagonist/antagonist of the story? The exposition? The inciting incident? The rising action? The point of no return? The conflict? The climax? The falling action? The resolution? (These are just a few of the questions you may want to look at. Spend the weekend reflecting on the aspects of the exercise that you found compelling. What shocked you? What didn't shock you?)
Thursday, Jan. 11th	Work on your monologue according to the individual assignment I gave you in class.
Wednesday, Jan. 10th	Pick one or more characters from Buster Keaton's "Sherlock Jr." and describe in detail how their physical acting choices determine their character's status, personality, relationships, etc. How would you describe the character(s), and what specific physical choices the actor made led you to see the character in this way?
Monday, Jan. 9th	1) Memorize the monologue from Spoon River that you are planning to perform. 2) In the voice of that character, write a monologue that talks about another character from Spoon River.
Friday, Jan. 6th	For those of you who weren't in class, do an English-to-English translation of one the monologues you picked from Spoon River. You do not have to stick to a literal translation -- your translation is an interpretation.
Thursday, Jan. 5th	Pick three monologues from Spoon River that you find compelling.
Wednesday, Dec. 21st.	If you haven't finished your revisions for your paper yet, they are due. Distinctions folks, bring "The Woman Who Watches Over the World" with you to class.
Monday, Dec. 19th	Write a short reflection to Anna Deavere Smith's "Fires in the Mirror." What feeling did the docudrama leave you with? What was the message it conveyed? What did you learn about the Crown Heights riots? How did Anna Deavere Smith's performance of the characters and her choice of what interviews to use inform the story? If you haven't read the Fanny Howe piece, read it. And if you owe me a paper, finish it by Wednesday.
Tuesday, December 6	Practice your radio commentaries! Read them aloud to yourselves, a friend, a pet or a stuffed animal! Just practice them. Be sure to bring your commentary with you to school. Bring a cold lunch for the field trip tomorrow, as well as subway passes (if you have them.)
Monday, Dec. 5th	Final Draft of Radio Commentary due.
Tuesday, Nov. 22nd	First draft of ongoing colonialism research paper due.
Wednesday, Nov. 16th	Bring in a working thesis to class.
Monday, Nov. 14th	Prepare for our text-based seminar. The guiding prompt for Resistance to colonialism is a journey homeward, a journey of remembrance, and a journey to get well. How do colonial structures seek to impede these journeys, and how do indigenous peoples continue to resist in the face of these obstacles? Main texts: Ceremony Rabbit-Proof Fence Rubric: http://www.cushycms.com/temporary_uploads/171629/Rubric for Text-Based Seminar.docx
Thursday, Nov. 10th	DISTINCTIONS: Read through pg. 30 in "The Woman Who Watches Over the World"
Tuesday, Nov. 8th	Reflecting on Rabbit-Proof Fence, and considering our ongoing conversation about colonialism and resistance to colonialism, respond to the following questions in writing: In what various ways does the Australian state seek to destroy the livelihood and culture of Aboriginal peoples? Where do we see examples in the film? In what various ways do the Aboriginal characters in the film resist this process of cultural genocide? Where do we see examples of this resistance in the film?
Friday, Nov. 4th	Finish reading Ceremony.
Wednesday, Nov. 2nd	Your annotated bibliography is due. It should include at least 3, thorough annotations. Use Syd's annotations as a guideline.
Monday, Oct. 31st	DISTINCTIONS: Read "Acts of Transfer" by Diana Taylor. Write a 2-3 page double-spaced reflection using specific support from the text (quotations, footnotes, etc.) Use the following as a guiding question: "How has privileging the archive over the repertoire (i.e. documentation over performance) served to maintain a colonial power structure in the Americas?" (we will talk about this tomorrow in class)
Friday, Oct. 28th	In preparation for Tarfia's visit tomorrow, please bring a personal freewrite (or free-art, or free-dance, etc) to share with the class and with her, thinking about the questions of sickness, getting well, and community that we have been discussing.
Wednesday, Oct. 26th	You should have an article from a scholarly journal that you print out and bring to class tomorrow. You can use JSTOR (on the BPL database) to find these. Continue to take notes on your sources. Bring any notes you've taken so far in to class tomorrow.
Tuesday, Oct. 25th	IMPORTANT (for those who do not have a BPL card): Bring 1) your Meridian school ID, 2) any picture ID you may have with address and signature on it, 3) a piece of postmarked mail (utility bill, etc) with your family's name and address on it, 4) the application form filled out and signed. Those who do not have a library card should sign up for an E-Card this evening: http://www.bpl.org/general/circulation/ecards.htm With an e-card or your regular library card, you can access the online databases. Use the databases to find at least 3 sources from journals, which you can use in your research. On the BPL website, look up 3 scholarly books that you can use in the library tomorrow for your research.
Monday, Oct. 24th	Take detailed, legible notes (preferably using Noodle Tools) on 3 of your sources. Your notes should pull out the main ideas from your sources and help you to hone and specify your Research Question. Bring your notes to class.
Friday, Oct. 21st	Read through pg. 186 of Ceremony. Take detailed notes (with pg. #s) of instances in the text that help you answer the question: "What must Tayo do in order to get well?"
Wednesday, Oct. 19th	Find 3-5 preliminary sources that you can physically have in class to work with tomorrow (likely books, articles, or online sources). Bring them to class with you. DISTINCTIONS: Read the Paula Gunn Allen article and look up any unfamiliar words.
Monday, Oct. 17th	Write a one page proposal for your research project on ongoing colonialism in the Americas. Your proposal should: 1) Clearly identify and explain the issue that you intend to research. You should assume the reader of your proposal has little to no knowledge of this issue and its history. 2) Illustrate the issue's relationship to the history of colonialism in the Americas AND to the structures that continue to enact colonialism in the Americas today. 3) Articulate the major research question(s) that you hope to investigate. 4) Explain WHY you chose this particular topic. What is its significance/resonance for you and for your audience.
Tuesday, Oct. 11th	As this Monday is "Columbus Day," and therefore a memorial to the beginning of colonialism in the Americas, I'd like you to spend some time reflecting on the question that we collectively banged our heads against on Friday: "What does it mean that colonialism is ongoing in the Americas?" I'd like you to write a short 1-2 page journal entry in which you try to answer this question, in your own way. Many of you were struggling (in a good way) with the term "colonialism" on Friday, so I'm posting a definition below. co·lo·ni·al·ism [kuh-loh-nee-uh-liz-uhm] 1. the control or governing influence of a nation over a dependent country, territory, or people. 2. the system or policy by which a nation maintains or advocates such control or influence. Read through pg. 120 of "Ceremony"
Friday, Oct. 7th	Write down five possible research project topics that relate to the ongoing colonial project in the Americas.
Thursday, Oct. 6th	Read through pg. 75 of "Ceremony."
Monday, Oct. 3rd	Revised Creation Myth due.
Wednesday, Sept. 28th	Write a poem that expresses some aspect of your experience at the Powwow. Choose something that honestly moved you or stuck with you, and use your poem as an opportunity to reflect on that experience in detail. Bring in some sort of raw material with which to make our visual/physical altar tomorrow.
Thursday, Sept. 22nd	Come up with and write down a detailed idea for how we, as a group, could show our gratitude to Chief Caring Hands and her tribe for inviting us to their ceremonial ground. Really spend some time thinking -- think creatively, and from the heart, as I know you all are capable of. Take this seriously. I do. Read the history of the Natick Praying Indians at: http://natickprayingindians.org/history.html
Wednesday, Sept. 21st	Read Chapter 1, "Columbus, The Indians, and Human Progress" in Howard Zinn.
Tuesday, Sept. 20th	Add a final sentence to our American Story, attached below: A while back, people fleeing tyranny and seeking a place for themselves where they could live freely, set out for a strange new land. There, they built a free country, where those who work hard prosper and everyone enjoys certain rights and freedoms. People from all over the world came to America for better opportunities.
Monday, Sept. 19th	Read "The Declaration of Independence" and "The Constitution of the Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook - Abenaki People." Keep in mind our conversations about power and self-sovereignty, and take notes on how these two documents grapple with the question of sovereignty.
Friday, Sept. 13th	Read "Damage" and "Healing" by Wendell Berry. This is a short reading, but each sentence packs a poetic punch, so spend some time really trying to unpack what it is that Wendell Berry is trying to say. When you've finished the reading, I'd like you to write about a very specific moment in which you've inflicted damage, and a very specific moment in which you've participated in healing. You can interpret damage and healing broadly, but tell us exactly what you mean. Describe these moments in detail and then briefly reflect on them, in the way that Berry does in the first few paragraphs of "Damage." In the style of Berry, your reflections should be short, but well chosen and well articulated.
Monday, Sept. 12th	Read "What is a Myth" by Karen Armstrong. "A myth, therefore, is true because it is effective, not because it gives us factual information. If, however, it does not give us new insight into the deeper meaning of life, it has failed. If it works, that is, if it forces us to change our minds and hearts, gives us new hope, and compels us to live more fully, it is a valid myth. Mythology will only transform us if we follow its directives. A myth is essentially a guide; it tells us what we must do in order to live more richly. If we do not apply it to our own situation and make the myth a reality in our own lives, it will remain as incomprehensible and remote as the rules of a board game, which often seem confusing and boring until we start to play." You've written your history. You've written your story. Now, after having read Karen Armstrong's "What is a Myth," write your personal creation myth -- the myth (the story) of how you came to be. Pay close attention to the excerpt quoted above, where she talks about what makes a myth true and effective. Your creation myth should be true for you, though that truth may not be factual.
Friday, Sept. 9th	Read "The Beginning of the Scientific Revolution" at http://vlib.iue.it/carrie/texts/carrie_books/gilbert/23.html
Wednesday Sept., 7th	Come to the first day of school with your summer assignments completed :-)