Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee excerpt

Native American Articles

Head on over to The Classroom for today's assignment...

• Then go to our article resource page.
• Read two articles
• Summarize (paragraph for each), integrating at least ONE quote in your summary, citing correctly
• Do a Works Cited right after your paragraphs
• Share/Print, hand in.

Native American Experience

Essential Question: How and why have Native Americans struggled with their cultural identity?

• We will read some contemporary fiction from Sherman Alexie, a humorous, poetic writer, and these stories from The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven all revolve around one reservation, and the way of life there.
• As for history, well, essentially our mistreatment and near eradication of Native Americans will be looked at, and how that has also formed the Native American Identity.
• Our schedule
• A nice introduction to contemporary reservation life is a 20/20 special, "Children of the Plains." and some guided questions
• Excerpt from Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States
• Sherman Alexie is charming on the Colbert Report...And again.
• If you would like to see what our assessment will be, it's here.
• Sherman Alexie: What do I take notes on?

Civil War Research/Letter Writing

To immerse ourselves in learning about the Civil War, you are to write two letters based on the viewpoint of a character which you have researched thoroughly. Steps to achieving this goal:

• Decide on a character. Use the character bio sheet to help.
• Research: Use the "Research Source Organizer" to analyze five primary sources. Use the libguide Ms. Hopkins made for us. Make sure to look at the exemplars of primary source analysis.
• Product: Look at the requirements and rubric!

Walt Whitman and the Civil War

Walt Whitman is considered by many to be America's first great poet. Why? He changed the game, and displayed a unique American voice. Often called "The Good Gray Poet" or "The Bard of Democracy," he essentially created free verse poetry. Here is some information on him.

What is free verse? It is an open form of poetry that does not use consistent meter patterns or rhyme. However, by repeating phrases and using commas, a poet can create both a rhythm and structure. Internal pattern of sounds, choice of exact words, and effect of associations give free verse its beauty.

Let's look at Whitman's "Beat! Beat! Drums!" as an example.

To open our unit on the Civil War (here's our schedule), you will look at some of Whitman's writing, as well as some Civil War photography, and make some connections. The ultimate goal is to create three original pieces—a piece of prose, a piece of poetry, and a photograph/illustration—interpreting what you have been given. Here is your project. We will eventually evaluate each other's work in a gallery-setting.

Also, on the agenda for today, is to watch part of Ken Burns' documentary on the Civil War, and answer some questions.