9 T H GRADE ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTSDESIGNED BY OSMAN KHAN AND TEIGAN MCINTOSH

ENGL 3391SPRING 2011

Turn On the Power:The Stories of Janie and Bo

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Everyone struggles with choices.Relationship ProblemsJudgmentSelf-DiscoveryVarious hardships

Students connect to the text by relating to the characters allowing them to discuss their own issues and ideas dealing with concepts such as love, independence, and individuality.

YAL Text – Ironman by Chris Cutcher

This book pairs thematically with Their Eyes Were Watching God.

Family relationshipsPeer pressureSeeking independenceDealing with emotional issues

Essential Questions

1. What influences from others have had an effect on your own life decisions? What were these effects? How did they change the outcome of your decisions?

2. Explain the impact of abuse and violence on individuals and society.

3. What does the word “power” mean to you? How does one become powerful? What has to happen for someone to retain this power? How can they lose it?

Essential Questions

4. What do you believe life was like for an African American woman in the early 20th century? How do you think that it is different from an African American woman’s life now?

5. How have the public dynamics, including treatment and attitudes, between men and women changed in the past 100 years? Explain your answer.

6. How are men viewed in society? Are they held to some standard or classified to be stud athletes in order to get attention and respect from others?

Lesson One

Introducing the Harlem Renaissance and TEWWG

Historical Background (Handout)Handout Worksheet (Assessment)

Another short story by Zora Neale HurstonListen to a Jazz Clip from the 1920’s

Exploring other Authors of the Harlem Renaissance

Lesson Two

Dissecting the Dialogue

Discuss the division between black dialect versus voice of

narratorCell-Phone Activity

Listen to Chapter 1 by Ruby Dee

Lesson Three

Personification in TEWWG

Examples of personification in textExamine “Go Down Death” poem by James

Weldon JohnsonName abstractions (love, jealousy, etc.) and

personify them in groups

Mini Lesson

Janie a Blossoming Pear Tree: Imagery in TEWWG

“[Janie] was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree soaking in the alto chant of the visiting bees, the gold of the sun and the panting breath of the breeze when the

inaudible voice of it all came to her. She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the

thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom and frothing with

delight. So this was a marriage! She had been summoned to behold a revelation. Then Janie felt a pain remorseless

sweet that left her limp and languid.” (11)

Five Senses in the Passage

SightHearing

SmellTasteTouch

Example

Question #3

On the back of this page, recall a favorite memory or scene from your life and describe it addressing all of your five senses.

Try to paint a picture with your words so that your audience will be able to envision your experience.

Alternatively, if you have found another passage that illustrates a scene, repeat the exercise above.

The drawing is optional.