Essential Questions: Does our heritage dictate our identities and if so, to what degree? What obligations do we have to our culture and our ancestry?
All of the selections in this text set present identity as a composite of "pieces." The selections here were chosen because they expose the weighty dominance of ancestry or culture as an influential "piece" in forming identity and the often pricey consequences of breaking free from those identities. The one exception is Picasso's Girl Before a Mirror; it connects to no particular culture, but its acute representation of identity fragmentation and misalignment make it an indispensable teaching tool for the theme of this text set.
Text Set Overview:
Audience: 12th grade, standard level
Anchor Text: Gabi A Girl in Pieces
Standards: CCSS.ELA-Literacy. RL. 11-12.1; 11-12.2; 11-12.3; 11-12.4; 11-12.5; 11-12.6; 11.7
CCSS.ELA-Literacy. RI. 11-12. 1; 11-12.5; 11-12.6, 11-12.7;
CCSS.ELA-Literacy. SL. 11-12.1; 11-12.2; 11-12.3
CCSS.ELA-Literacy. L. 11-12.5
CCSS.ELA-Literacy. W. 11-12. 3; 11-12.10
Formats: novel, ebook, short story, fine art, movie clip, interview (text), TED & spoken word (poetry), utube video
Text Set Specifics:
* Novel [Anchor Text]: Gabi A Girl in Pieces
* Travel Journal [ebook/audio] Blue Highways (selection)
* Fiction [Short Story]: The Awakening
* Fine Art: Picasso's Girl Before a Mirror
* Critical Film Analysis [Instructional Voice Over & Movie Clip]: Joy Luck Club
* Interview: The New New World; Richard Rodriguez on culture and assimilation
* Performance [TEDx Talk & Spoken Word]: Melizarani Selva on "confused identity"
Utube video clip: Labels
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Audience: 12th grade, standard level
Anchor Text: Gabi A Girl in Pieces
Standards: CCSS.ELA-Literacy. RL. 11-12.1; 11-12.2; 11-12.3; 11-12.4; 11-12.5; 11-12.6; 11.7
CCSS.ELA-Literacy. RI. 11-12. 1; 11-12.5; 11-12.6, 11-12.7;
CCSS.ELA-Literacy. SL. 11-12.1; 11-12.2; 11-12.3
CCSS.ELA-Literacy. L. 11-12.5
CCSS.ELA-Literacy. W. 11-12. 3; 11-12.10
Formats: novel, ebook, short story, fine art, movie clip, interview (text), TED & spoken word (poetry), utube video
Text Set Specifics:
* Novel [Anchor Text]: Gabi A Girl in Pieces
* Travel Journal [ebook/audio] Blue Highways (selection)
* Fiction [Short Story]: The Awakening
* Fine Art: Picasso's Girl Before a Mirror
* Critical Film Analysis [Instructional Voice Over & Movie Clip]: Joy Luck Club
* Interview: The New New World; Richard Rodriguez on culture and assimilation
* Performance [TEDx Talk & Spoken Word]: Melizarani Selva on "confused identity"
Utube video clip: Labels
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, Anchor Text: Gabi A Girl in Pieces
820L
Told in the style of diary entries and poems, this easy to read text is a refreshingly honest account of what is like to be an intellectual, creative, overweight, light skinned, 17 year old Mexican America girl coming of age in her last stretch of high school. Gabi is a girl struggling with her identity; she is a girl "in pieces" - but pieces that don't necessarily play together nicely. A large part of Gabi's struggle is her disassociation with her Mexican ancestry and the expectations (and limitations) that heritage places on her.
Gabi's unapologetic journal entries are heart wrenching, silly, and wrapped up nice and tight with the drama that comes with surviving high school. Touching upon all manner of misfits, the novel embraces diversity, sensitivity and ultimately, the ascendancy of human connection. Despite some touchy topics such as teen pregnancy and drug addiction, vulgar language and sexuality, the text is far more fun than it is offensive. As a teaching tool, the writing is poetic and lyrical, offering many opportunities for personal reflection through the study of poetic prose and the liberal use of linguistic devices.
Gabi's voice is the voice of a 1,000 teens, believable and relatable to a high school audience. However, despite its lower Lexile level, the embedded sexuality and language earmark the text as more appropriate for upperclassmen.
This text presents an opportunity for engaging discussion for relating to Gabi's personal high school experiences. Students can follow the text's reading and discussion with their own free association journal writing exercises.
Quintero, I. (2014) Gabi A Girl in Pieces. El Paso, Texas: Cinco Puntos Press.
820L
Told in the style of diary entries and poems, this easy to read text is a refreshingly honest account of what is like to be an intellectual, creative, overweight, light skinned, 17 year old Mexican America girl coming of age in her last stretch of high school. Gabi is a girl struggling with her identity; she is a girl "in pieces" - but pieces that don't necessarily play together nicely. A large part of Gabi's struggle is her disassociation with her Mexican ancestry and the expectations (and limitations) that heritage places on her.
Gabi's unapologetic journal entries are heart wrenching, silly, and wrapped up nice and tight with the drama that comes with surviving high school. Touching upon all manner of misfits, the novel embraces diversity, sensitivity and ultimately, the ascendancy of human connection. Despite some touchy topics such as teen pregnancy and drug addiction, vulgar language and sexuality, the text is far more fun than it is offensive. As a teaching tool, the writing is poetic and lyrical, offering many opportunities for personal reflection through the study of poetic prose and the liberal use of linguistic devices.
Gabi's voice is the voice of a 1,000 teens, believable and relatable to a high school audience. However, despite its lower Lexile level, the embedded sexuality and language earmark the text as more appropriate for upperclassmen.
This text presents an opportunity for engaging discussion for relating to Gabi's personal high school experiences. Students can follow the text's reading and discussion with their own free association journal writing exercises.
Quintero, I. (2014) Gabi A Girl in Pieces. El Paso, Texas: Cinco Puntos Press.
Least Heat - Moon
|
Kate Chopin
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Picasso
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Amy Tan
|
Richard Rodriguez
The New, New World 1100 L Spotlight: Assimilation
Format: Interview (text) ------------------------------------------- As a controversial writer and educator, Rodriguez's open and often politically unpopular views provide a negotiable counterpoint to this text set's topic of multiculturalism. Speaking from his own experience, Rodriquez addresses the backlash of breaking away from cultural labels and expectations and further contests the notion that culture is static. Referring to a "pretense of diversity" and a "fluidity of culture", Rodriguez's interview on culture and assimilation presents substantial fodder for critical thinking and honest self -evaluation - as well as a open forum for argument. The interview's philosophical style and expression might prove challenging for some students. A teacher led exercise in annotation would accompany this reading for fuller comprehension. Gillespie, N. & Postrel, P. (Interviewers) & Rodriguez, R. (Interviewee). (2000). The New, New World [Interview Transcript] Retrieved from http://www3.gettysburg.edu/~dperry/Class--Language/rodriguez%202.htm |
Melizirani Selva
|
I am NOT Black, You are NOT White
Spotlight: No one and Everyone
Format: Utube Video
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This 4 minute short, I am not Black, You are not White is a provocative examination of society's obsession with identification and the dividing nature of diversity. Easy to watch, follow and understand (and thereby appropriate for lower level learners), this moving short delivers a strong message: Who are we really if we took away our labels? The video offers an exercise for self-reflection and reexamination of the current social norms of trademarking people based on anything tangible, traceable or nameable. The fact that this popular video has 10,000 "dislikes" is a testimony to its controversial message; as such it presents as a challenging if not goading opportunity for debate and rhetorical argument. The video loops back to the anchor text by reinforcing the idea that people cannot be sliced, segmented, and stamped; people instead are whole and impossible of being untangled.
The short video is meant to challenge the very theme of this text set and to address the possibility that diversity promotes social divisiveness. Instruction would focus on peer led groups with a goal toward developing collaborative argument with supportive rhetorical strategies.
Ea. P. (2015, November 2). I am not black, you are not white. [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0qD2K2RWkc&t=43s
Format: Utube Video
-------------------------------
This 4 minute short, I am not Black, You are not White is a provocative examination of society's obsession with identification and the dividing nature of diversity. Easy to watch, follow and understand (and thereby appropriate for lower level learners), this moving short delivers a strong message: Who are we really if we took away our labels? The video offers an exercise for self-reflection and reexamination of the current social norms of trademarking people based on anything tangible, traceable or nameable. The fact that this popular video has 10,000 "dislikes" is a testimony to its controversial message; as such it presents as a challenging if not goading opportunity for debate and rhetorical argument. The video loops back to the anchor text by reinforcing the idea that people cannot be sliced, segmented, and stamped; people instead are whole and impossible of being untangled.
The short video is meant to challenge the very theme of this text set and to address the possibility that diversity promotes social divisiveness. Instruction would focus on peer led groups with a goal toward developing collaborative argument with supportive rhetorical strategies.
Ea. P. (2015, November 2). I am not black, you are not white. [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0qD2K2RWkc&t=43s