Week 1:
Lesson 1: Preview to
What’s On For
Today And Why:
In this lesson, I am introducing students to the novel they
will be reading over the course of the next four weeks:
What to Do:
I will read Chapter 23 (pp. 240-250) aloud to the class.
Then I will ask the students to free-write individually about what they just
listened to. In the free-write, they should focus on their initial impressions
of the novel, the characters, and any other observations they made in listening
to the chapter. After the free-write, I will hold a class discussion geared
towards making predictions about the novel. I will ask students’ questions
relating to their impressions of the names of the characters, the setting, the style of writing, the dialogue, and any other issues
raised by the students based on their free-write. I will also ask students to
talk about the cover of the book and what impressions it gives them about the
novel. Would it “grab” them if they saw it in the bookstore?
Homework:
Read Chapter 1 (pp. 3-16) for next class. Tell them to set
up
How Did it Go?:
My main objective for this lesson was to pique the
students’ interest in the novel and prepare them to read it. If the students
were engaged in the discussion and offered some interesting observations to
contribute to the class discussion, the class was successful.
Lesson 2: How would you get
What’s On For
Today And Why:
In today’s lesson, students will be thinking about how they
could turn Chapter 1 into a film treatment. They will draw upon their knowledge
of ‘shots’ and be able to use their IFC Film Glossary packet for help. In
groups of 3 or 4, they will have to write their film treatments and then read
them for the rest of the class.
What to Do:
Divide students into groups of three or four and have
students collectively write a film treatment based on the first chapter. They
will have most of the class period to work on them and the remainder of the
period will be spent presenting them to the rest of the class. As they are
working on them, I will circulate to each group and encourage them to consider
‘shots’, costume choice, who would play what part, and setting. Students will
be encouraged to change the time, place, and be daring. Each student will need
to have their own copy of the film treatment that will be kept in the class
folder, so they will have access to it later on for inclusion in their final
portfolio. At the end of class, explain a little bit more about what they
should consider in writing their blogs. The blogs are meant to be personal responses to their reading.
The topic is pretty much open to anything pertaining to the novel and should
reflect the students’ close reading of the novel and insight. The blog should be linked up to their final portfolio and
should contain no less than six entries.
Homework:
Read Chapters 2 and 3 (pp. 17-33) and go online and find
four or five pictures online to “illustrate” Chapter 1. They will need to save
these on their computers to access later for inclusion in their final
portfolio. A good place to start is the Google! Image search
engine.
How Did It Go?:
If students were all participating effectively in their
groups and came up with insightful and creative film treatments, the lesson
went well. I will be looking primarily at their creativity and ability to apply
what they read to a creative outlet. Their film treatments will be included in
their final portfolio which will be graded wholistically.
Lesson 3: Who’s who in this
novel?
What’s On For Today and Why:
In today’s lesson, students will create the beginnings of
character maps in order to follow who’s who and their relationships to each
other using textual evidence.
What To
Do:
First, I will ask students about the pictures they found
for homework. This is primarily to check if students are thinking on a higher
level and not simply finding pictures of
Homework:
Read Chapters 4 and 5 (pp. 34-59). Choose one character
(Elvis, Sunday, Redemption, or King of the Beggars) for the “chronology”
assignment.
How Did It Go?
If the students were active participants in the creation of
the character maps and were able to use textual evidence to support their
ideas, the lesson was successful and they have proven to me that they are in
fact reading the novel and paying attention to detail.
Lesson 4: Acting Out the
Novel
What’s On For Today and Why:
Today, students will be working with dialogue in Chapter 4
in order to really focus on the language and how they might “stage” this scene
in the novel if it were a play. The objective for this lesson is to get
students interacting with the language and to have them create a visual
representation of the scene collectively. Issues of blocking
and acting choice (how to say the line, subtext) will be of the highest
importance in today’s class.
What To
Do:
At the beginning of class, we’ll do some general
housekeeping: remind students that they should be keeping up with blogs (since no one wants to write six the night before)
and their reading. Also, remind and encourage them to add to their character
maps for extra credit (hint that last night’s reading should have given them
some more good ideas for Comfort, Beatrice, and Oye).
Then pass out Handout 1 to the
class.
Handout 1
Oye: “You should tell him about tha
operation, lass. He’s a strong lad, he’ll be okay. You have to prepare him. You
dinna have much time left.”
Beatrice: “Remember when I
had to carry coals from neighbors’ houses back to ours to light de hearth as a
child?”
O: “Yes, you were so scared
of tha fire.”
B: “It was hot and
dangerous.”
O: “I know, lass, but we
couldn’t afford matches in those days.”
B: “I will miss dis place, Mama.”
O: “Yes, lass. But we’ll call
you back to be reborn into tha lineage again.”
B: “As a boy next time!”
O: “Why? They are such
limited creatures.”
B: “But wanted.”
O: “I always wanted you.”
B: “I know, Mama. But
remember de songs dat de women would sing when a boy
was born? Ringing from hamlet to hamlet, dropped by one voice, picked up by
another until it had circled de town. And de ring of white powder we would wear
around de neck to signify de boy’s place as head of de family.”
O: “We sing for girls too.”
B: “Yes, Mama. A dirge. Mournful, carried by solo voices until all de town was alerted of de sadness of de family. And de ring of
powder we wore was around de elbow to show the flexibility and willingness to
work hard of de woman. When I come back, it will be as a boy. You know dat’s de only reason Sunday hasn’t taken another wife. Because I bore him a son.”
O: “Hush, lass, you need your
strength, but tell your son tha things he should
know.”
After passing out the script,
the class will be put into groups of three or four and will “block” the scene
and ready it for performance. Two students in the group will be the actors and
the other two will direct. The students will have about ten to fifteen minutes
to rehearse and “block” the scene and then the scenes will be performed. Each group
will have a chance to perform and then the directors will explain their
rationale for their “blocking” and the acting choices they made. The remainder
of the class will be spent discussing the role of women in Elvis’ life and
their position in Nigerian society as a whole based on the scene. Before the
end of the class, I will pass around a hat with numbers 1-4 on it (4 or 5 of
each) and these numbers will determine the order for the “fishbowl”
discussions. Those students who chose number 1 will go on Monday and will
receive their topic to prepare for Monday’s class. All topics will deal with a
different literary theory (all of which students have already been introduced
to in a prior unit) and will require research and preparation.
Homework:
Read Chapters 6 and 7 (pp.
60-81); work on blog; Group 1 will have to prepare
for their “fishbowl” discussion on Monday. Their assignment will read as
follows (they will each have a paper copy of it):
Your discussion topic will
focus on applying the feminist lens to
A quick reminder of what the
feminist lens is all about:
“A feminist critic sees cultural and economic
disabilities in a “patriarchal” society
that have hindered or prevented women from realizing their creative possibilities
and women’s cultural identification as a merely negative object, or “Other,” to man as the defining and dominating “Subject.”
Using textual evidence to
support your claim, analyze Chapters 1-7 through a feminist lens and closely
examine the portrayal of the characters, both female and male, the language of
the text, the attitude of the author, and the relationship between the
characters. You will be evaluated on your contribution to the discussion, your
ability to use textual evidence to support your ideas, and your ability to apply
the critical lens effectively.
Students will also receive
instructions regarding the “chronology” assignment where they were supposed to
choose one character (Elvis, Sunday, Redemption, or King of the Beggars) and
will be asked to start taking notes on their character as they continue reading
the novel. As part of their final portfolio, they will be asked to submit a
“character sketch” of that character, tracing their development throughout the
novel.
How Did
it Go?
If students were effectively working together to rehearse
and perform the scene and their choices reflected creativity and insight, the
class was successful. Since Beatrice and Oye’s
characters are not significantly developed in the novel, it will be interesting
to see the students’ interpretations of their significance and how they might
be portrayed through performance. Although informally assessed, the students’
participation in this exercise will count towards their class participation
grade.
Lesson 5: What’s In a Name?
What’s On For Today and Why:
In today’s lesson, students will investigate the
significance of the characters’ names in the novel. They will spend a good
portion of the class in the computer room researching information on the
significance of the characters’ names and then we will finish the class by
bringing back the information they gathered to class for discussion.
What To
Do:
In class, I will assign two or three students to a
character’s name (Elvis, Sunday, Redemption, Innocent, Felicia, Efua, Comfort, and Beatrice) and then we will spend the
next twenty minutes or so in the computer lab where students will research the
significance of their assigned name. After they have had a chance to research
their name, we will return to the class where they will share their findings
and discuss whether the name suits the character.
How Did It Go?
Hopefully, the students will be able to find some
interesting information regarding the significance of the names and this will
contribute to our understanding of the character. If students are engaged and
able to research the names effectively and make insightful observations about
how the information they found may contribute to our understanding of the
novel, the lesson was successful.
Homework:
For Monday: Read Chapters
8-12 (pp. 82-123); work on blog; Group 1 members
prepare for “fishbowl” on Monday; remind students to take notes on their
selected character for use as a reference in writing their “character sketch”.