Tuesday, February 2

Today, we began class by continuing yesterday's discussion of the use of a racial/ethnic epithet in To Kill A Mockingbird. To get yet another sense of different opinions about appropriation and the "n-word," we watched a short segment from a documentary -- entitled, appropriately, "The N-Word." View it at the link below:

The N-Word Documentary

Afterwards, we also discussed and viewed a (slightly bowlderized) version of comedian Richard Pryor describing his "conversion" around using the "n-word."

8B then wrote a brief, "content sandwich" paragraph in response to the claim below:

Books that include racial and ethnic slurs and insults should/should not be taught in schools.

We then moved on to poetry, and your poetry recitation projects. Today, you should have come to class with three potential recitation poems chosen. We gave you a packet (four sheets in all) and asked you to begin filling out the sheets, which are designed to get you thinking more about your poems in preparation for choosing ONE to memorize and recite. A copy of the packet is below:

Writing About Your Poems

For those of you who would like to write your answers directly onto the handout, here is a Word version of the same document:

Writing About Your Poems (Word Version)

You worked on this for the remainder of the period. The entire packet is due on Tuesday, February 9.

Don't forget that chapters 1-3 of To Kill A Mockingbird are due on Monday, February 8.