MRS. CONTRERAS Language Arts 11 th Grade – Eng III Honors Gifted Room C209

1. Welcome Braddock Bulldogs!!! MRS. CONTRERASLanguage Arts11th Grade – Eng III Honors GiftedRoom C209 2005-2006

2. Home Learning PLACE YOUR STAPLED ASSIGNMENT(S) IN TEACHER’S IN-BOX BEFORE THE BELL RINGS! • Write alternate ending to Iroquois myth pg 32 #3 "The World on the Turtle's Back" • Write a Siren Song pg 38 # 2 after reading "Song of the Sky Loom, Hunting Song & Dinni-e Sin" • Write explaining how you would create a pantomime to act out before the class pg 47 "Activities & Exploration" #1 after reading "Coyote Stories" • Complete Pronouns and Sentences charts & handouts (51-54, 73-76)

3. Weekly Forecast8/29/05 – 9/02/05 • Monday – discuss readings of “The World on the Turtle’s Back”; discuss repetition in “Song of the Sky Loom”, “Hunting Song” & Dinni-e Sin” pgs 33-36; in-class reading of “The Walum Olum” & “Listen! The Rain Approaches” • Tuesday – Discuss romantic song “Calling One’s Own” & trickster tales in “Coyote Stories” pgs 39-45 • Wednesday – Test (pronouns, sentences & home learning stories); Descriptive writing (Character Sketch of a fictional Native American) based on research of one Native American tribe. Student will infuse fictitious character with tribal traits researched and write a Creation Myth or Trickster Tale (see PP slides) • Thursday – Meet in Media Ctr. (Lab) to research a given Native American tribe • Friday – use graphic organizers to define and identify verbs (action/linking), verb phrases & order of subject/predicate, direct/indirect objects, subject/object complements (handouts 55-60 & 77-82); Native American Project

4. Home Learning By Tuesday, 9/6: • Complete verbs (action/linking), verb phrases & order of subject/predicate, direct/indirect objects, subject/object complements charts & handouts (55-60 & 77-82) • Descriptive writing (Character Sketch of a fictional Native American) in a Creation Myth, Song, or Poem (1 page; see PP slides) • Read historical narratives "La Relación" pg 72, "Of Plymouth Plantation" pg 81 & "Women and Children First: The Mayflower Pilgrims" pg 91; "Life of Olaudah Equiano" pg 93 Have a great week!

5. Monday, 8/29/05Timed Journal Topic: 5 minutes In paragraph form (5-7 sentences), describe your evaluation of any one of the works read for homework. Provide reasons to support your topic sentence.

6. Early American Literature… • Depicts life very differently from the experiences of the first settlers/colonists. • Tribal literature was tightly woven into the fabric of daily life and reflected the unmistakably American experience of living “with the land” or “in harmony with nature.” • Native Americans did not think of themselves as living in a single nation. They belonged to more than 200 distinct groups who spoke more than 500 different languages. • They had complex religious beliefs, sophisticated political systems and strong social values.

7. Early American Literature… • Early American literature is not limited to text, for much in the Native American tradition was primarily oral. The telling of a tale could change with each speaker. • Stories were passed from generation to generation by storytelling or performances. • Creation myths were a widespread type of literature, explaining the beginnings of the world, tales of heroes and tricksters who transformed the world to its present state.

8. Early American Literature… • Ritual songs and chants were not unpopular as a means of conveying these stories. • Language is poetic and moving. • Something is lost in not seeing these stories performed as originally intended. • More is lost when we read a translated version of the manuscript. • Modern-day Native American writers struggle with reconciling the old traditions and the new practices.

9. Iroquois Literature:“The World on the Turtle’s Back” Creation myth: a traditional story passed down through generations that explains how the universe, earth and life began. • Gives spatial account of life and its relationship to geological settings as well as alternate dimensions. Ex: what creatures are located where on earth & Sky World.

10. Iroquois Literature:“The World on the Turtle’s Back” Cause & Effect relationships: Situations where one event (cause) brings about another (effect), which can precipitate yet another. • In this myth, the actions of supernatural beings cause the present features of the world to exist. Ex: the Sky World’s residents failure to do anything about the woman fallingresulted in the turmoil of the twins, which in turn, established a balanced ecosystem.

11. Iroquois Literature:“The World on the Turtle’s Back” Misogynous Biblical Parallels: The introduction of how the world was formed is strikingly similar to the biblical Genesis account. The text alludes to a “Great Tree” in the center of the Sky-World, which symbolizes some sort of heavenly paradise. This tree is not to be touched. Additionally, it is the woman and her stubborn will, against her husband’s wishes, that causes the hole in the on the floor of the Sky-World. Her curiosity led to her fall and the troubles for mankind, just as in the Genesis account. All of creation moaned the predicament of the woman. Her offspring grew “cut off forever from the Sky-World above” (28), just like Adam & Eve were turned

12. Iroquois Literature:“The World on the Turtle’s Back” away from paradise, or the Garden of Eden. The West Wind impregnating “the girl” is similar to Mary’s immaculate conception. The twins wrestle in the womb just as Essau and Jacob. Their struggle ends in death, just as Cain and Abel. The balance struck by the quarreling of the twins created “a balanced and orderly world, and this was good,” (29) similar to God’s claim in Genesis that creation was good.

13. Iroquois Literature:“The World on the Turtle’s Back” Allegorical Elements: Allegory is a work of literature in which people, objects, and events stand for abstract qualities. In an allegory, a bird might represent freedom. The reader is to take the interplay of literary elements in a story to a higher level of meaning. Example: The mysterious man, the abstract West Wind, lays his quiver (sack containing arrows) across the body of the girl, who later finds out she’s pregnant. On a literal level, the arrows are representative of sexual intercourse. From an allegorical level, the arrows, while literally battle weapons, symbolize and foreshadow the imminent war between the twins inside and outside the womb.

14. Iroquois Literature:“The World on the Turtle’s Back” Gender relationships: Despite the misogynous biblical parallels and references concerning women’s rationale, the role of women is problematic in this work. First, it is not clear whether the woman fell through the Sky-World, or if her husband pushed her. While given reverence for fertility and procreation, the mother of the twins is killed by the stubborn, left-handed twin. Later, the right-handed twin, jealous of the love his grandmother has for her mischievous brother, kills her by cutting off her head.

15. Iroquois Literature:“The World on the Turtle’s Back” Ambiguity: While everything else in the poem is written in simple narrative style, explaining causes and effects, there are several elements of ambiguity that stand out due to the text’s otherwise explicit style. • Did the woman fall through the hole in the Sky-World or did her husband push her? • No one knows who impregnated the “girl.” • No one can say to what degree the left-handed twin had a hand in making man, so the matter of evil is not fully dealt with.

16. Iroquois Literature:“The World on the Turtle’s Back” • The Indians don’t call “the two ways of the world which are in all people. The Indians do not call these the right and the wrong [but] call them the straight mind and the crooked mind, the upright and the devious man” (28-29). • The matter of both twins knowing their “deepest minds” is ambiguous. We don’t know if the text is alluding to the ESP-related phenomenon attributed to twins or if supernatural powers were employed. Given the Native American’s spirituality, the matter is ambiguous.

17. Iroquois Literature:“The World on the Turtle’s Back” • Balance & Harmony in the universe While the twin’s turmoil, which ends in murder, seems harsh, their quarreling led to a balanced natural world including alternate dimensions. The right-handed twin is in control of light and day. The left-handed twin is in control of darkness and night.

18. Iroquois Literature:“The World on the Turtle’s Back” • Other/Questions of Text: “The left-handed twin also has many names. One of them is Flint. He is called the devious one, the one covered with boils. Old Warty. He is stubborn. He is through of as being dark in color.” Where does the racist remark come from? One thing is to associate light and dark to concepts of good and evil, but it’s quite another when these qualities of being are linked to skin color.

19. Tewa Literature:“Song of the Sky Loom” • Sacred song sung at religious rituals. • “Sky Loom” refers to small desert rains which resemble a loom (interweaving in right angles) hung from the sky. • Repetition or the recurrence of words, phrases or lines. • Tone is reverent and harmonious.

20. Navajo Literature:“Hunting Song/Dinni-e Sin” • A hunting song of the Navajo’s nomadic past prior to settling down to farming in the 11th C. • Claims to have been given to the Navajo by Hastyeyalti, the god of the sunrise and of game animals. • The Navajo prepared for the hunt by praying and singing hunting hymns. • Siren Song – the hunter is attempting to lure a deer to himself

21. External Resources • Native American Tribal Locations • “The Walum Olum” pg 8, pg 9, pg 10, pg 11 • “Listen! Rain Approaches” pg 12

22. Delaware:“Walam Olum” • Native American Song, a “painted record” that serves to chronicle the beginnings of the world and the origins of the Delaware, a tribe that lived in areas now called New Jersey, Delaware, parts of New York, and Pennsylvania. • The myth kept the Delaware in touch with their past and placed them within a framework of history as they remembered it. • The Manito is a supernatural force or spirit beleieved to be the source of good and evil. • The Delaware’s language is not based on phonetics as ours, but on pictures. Some pictures are easier to understand than others.

23. Navajo Literature:“Listen! The Rain Approaches!” • The Navajo settled in the Southwest where their culture still flourishes. • This song is one of many agricultural songs that celebrate the growth of crops and the vitally important rains. • The repetition of words and lines is characteristic of Native American ritual chants and songs. • This song would have been part of a ceremony with dancing, music and elaborate costumes.

24. Tuesday, 8/30/05Timed Journal Topic: 5 minutes In a brief paragraph, (5-7 sentences), explain what you think of when you hear the phrase “in harmony with nature.”

25. Okanogan Literature:“Coyote Stories” • Okanogan people lived in north central Washington state and southern British Columbia. • Folktales, like myths, are stories handed down by word of mouth through generations. • Trickster tales are folk tales that feature an animal or human character who engages in deceit, violence, and magic. Often trickster tales are mythic, explaining features of the world. • Contradictory qualities: foolish yet clever, greedy yet helpful, immoral yet moral

26. Okanogan Literature:“Coyote & The Buffalo” • While the plot unfolds as a series of casually related events, there is a greater cause and effect structure: because of his greed, coyote loses everything he ever pursued. • Dichotomies: immediately the tale sets the coyote and the buffalo at odds. • Tricksters in the tale: coyote and old woman • Irony: upon returning to Buffalo Bull’s herd, Coyote sees the killed cow alive. • Moral teaching: it pays to befriend enemies, greed will eventually be punished, a person can be tricked once • Gender roles: women cook

27. Okanogan Literature:“Fox, Coyote & Whale” • Theclimax of the tale is when Fox and Coyote rescue Fox’s wife. • Coyote is foolish because he’s too blinded by his love for his wife to listen to Fox’s comment. • Whale transforms itself into a tall handsome man with long-braided hair, who made love to the wife of Fox. • Violence against maidens (trick them into telling what they know only to kill them and steal their clothes)

28. Okanogan Literature:“Fox, Coyote & Whale” • Whales no longer live in fresh water so that they don’t steal away men’s wives. The saying that “sailors have women in every port” probably explains the tensions behind the land people and water people. • The tale is about the importance of family values and loyalty. • The Coyote is a trickster in the first story but in this one, he’s wise, loyal and hard-working.

29. External Resources • “Calling One’s Own” pg 13

30. Ojibwa/Chippewa:“Calling One’s Own” • A people who lived around the Great Lakes and throughout the Great Plains. • Song that sounds like love songs in English poetry. • The imagery is drawn from natural world, showing the close relationship between the Ojibwa and the landscape of waters, flowers, trees, and skies that surrounded them.

31. Thursday, 9/1/05Timed Journal Topic: 5 minutes Think for a moment about the various artistic forms we’ve examined in Native American literature (sacred songs, creation myth, hunting/siren song, and trickster tales). Take any one of the characters in the tales and begin to describe what he/she/it would look like. After you’ve written your description, draw a simple picture to illustrate some of your details.

32. Friday, 9/2/05Timed Journal Topic: 5 minutes Briefly define the following and describe the corresponding work we covered in class: • Creation Myth • Sacred Song • Hunting Song • Trickster Tale

33. What is Descriptive Writing? • Creates mood such as in a screenplay or movie script to help actors visualize how they should act in a given scene. Mood shifts alert readers to change in feeling toward the subject. • Goes beyond simple facts to convey sensory details, an effective picture to arrest the reader and solicit an emotional response. • The topic sentence in a descriptive paragraph should be an “overview” of the scene and summarize the content of the paragraph, establishing its mood. • Spatial order (nearest to farthest).

34. What is Descriptive Writing? • Use of transitions that connect one sentence or idea to the next and help show the relationship between the two – words like before, then, next, under, in front of, to the right of, and inside. • Use precise and vivid nouns for creating the effect you envision. By using words like Count Dracula and hurricane, instead of vampire and storm, you give a clearer, more complete picture to your reader. Keep your reader interested in what you have to say!

35. What is Descriptive Writing? • Select vivid modifiers like Adjectives and Adverbs to bring your descriptions to life. Make sure that each word’s connotation fits the impression you desire. It’s not the same to say “the shinning sword” to “the blazing sword.” • Don’t settle for dull, overused modifiers like “bad” or “good.” Select more vivid words like “wicked” or “honorable.” • Focus on the senses (touch, smell, sound, sight, taste)

36. Describing an Imaginary Person • What are my character’s prominent features? What does he/she look like? What does his/her appearance suggest about his personality? • What is the character’s behavior? How does my character move and talk/communicate? • What traits set my character apart from others? • Does my character’s appearance fit his/her personality? • Does my character have any unique quirks, strengths, or habits

37. Describing an Imaginary Person • The most inconsistent or unusual details usually convey a three-dimensional quality. • The order and way in which details are presented may be important. Placing the most important facts first may impress the reader • The character’s thoughts, words, actions, or reactions to other characters may or may not be consistent with his/her appearance. Don’t disregard these powerful elements that allow your reader to get a “reading” of your character. • Click for Sample

38. Weekly Participation -Please pass up the following: • 9/2 Journal Topic Place these items by date order. A stapler will be coming around for your use.

39. Resources/Handouts… • Grammar handouts: Verbs 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60 Order of Subject/Predicate 77, 78 Direct/ Indirect Object 79, 80 Object/ Subject Complements 81, 82 • (answers 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82)