Poverty and Literature

EU71

Spragins

Spring 2017

3rd Period Even Days; Drop Down Day 1

Second Semester Topics:

Urban Injustice: How Ghettos Happen (2004) by David Hilfiker, MD

Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (1892) by Stephen Crane

The Promised Land (1991) by Nicholas Lemann, Clarksdale and Chicago

Richard Wright (1908-1960)

Native Son (1940) by Richard Wright

The Promised Land (1991) Nicholas Lemann, Washington

Tally’s Corner (1966) by Elliott Lebow

Jitney (1977) by August Wilson

Month

Day

Cycle

Assignment

1         

23

6

Mon

Exam Make-up Day

1

24

7

Tues.

Cory Booker, Senator from New Jersey and former mayor of Newark

Paul Ryan, United States Representative for Wisconsin's 1st congressional district since 1999 and  now the Speaker of the House. He was the Republican Party nominee for Vice President of the United States in the 2012 election

Ben Carson, nominsted by President Trump to be the next head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development

Preliminary Poll 

Debating the War on Poverty Fifty Years Later:

• Cory Booker: Building on the Success of the War on Poverty The government's half-century of effort has slashed poverty rates. It's time to strengthen and scale up what works. (WSJ 1-25-14) (Study Guide)
• Paul Ryan: A New Direction in the War on Poverty It's time to for a new approach, says Rep. Ryan (WSJ 1-25-14) (Study Guide)

• Ben Carson, Experimenting with failed socialism again: Obama’s new housing rules try to accomplish what busing could not Washington Times 7-23-15
• Andrew Khouri,  HUD suspends FHA mortgage insurance rate cut an hour after Trump takes office (LA Times 1-20-17)
• (Study Guide)
  

Homework:

• Urban Injustice: How Ghettos Happen by David Hilfiker, MD, 
• Introduction and Chapter One, "Building the Ghetto: A History" ; (Study Guide) 
• (Hilfiker Essay) due on Thursday, February 2nd at 3:30 pm

1         

26

9

Thurs.

1       

27

10

Fri.

Sarah's Uncertain Path NYT 1-21-14
Profiling a pregnant teenager in Missouri, this short documentary provides a window into rural poverty in America's heartland.

Hilfiker Essay due on Thursday, February 2nd at 3:30 pm

Urban Injustice: How Ghettos Happen by David Hilfiker, MD  

Introduction:

• What is Hilfiker’s main idea? (1)
• What do you think of his credentials? (2)
• Define what Hilfiker means by "the surround". (3)
• Why did Hilfiker's political stance change over the years? (3)

Chapter One, "Building the Ghetto: A History" (Study Guide) (GoogleDocs Guide Chapter One) (Hilfiker Outline) (Blank Guide for your note taking)

Discussion: The Causes of Poverty:

• Macro vs. Micro Effects;
  
• Intended vs. Unintended; 
  
• Government Action vs. Private Action
• (Study Guide Answers)

Homework:

• Hilfiker, Chapter Two, "Pillaging the Ghetto: Other Causes of Poverty" (Study Guide) (Hilfiker Essay)

1     

30

1

Mon

1

31

2

Tues

The Problem We All Live With, Norman Rockwell (illustration for Look 1964)

Redlining in Baltimore

Liz Bowie and Michael Dresser, Maryland state and local governments urged to increase school funding by $2.6 billion The Baltimore Sun 12-8-16

Urban Injustice: How Ghettos Happen by David Hilfiker, MD

Hilfiker Essay due on Thursday, February 2nd at 3:30 pm

• Hilfiker, Chapter Two, "Pillaging the Ghetto: Other Causes of Poverty" (Study Guide) (GoogleDocs Guide Chapter Two) (the surround)
  
• Hilfiker Outline
• Discussion: The Causes of Poverty: Macro vs. Micro Effects
• (Study Guide Answers)
• Hilfiker's Recommendations: "What is to be done?"

Homework:

• Hilfiker Essay due on Thursday, February 2nd at 3:30 pm

• John Eligonjan, Trump’s Vision of ‘Carnage’ Misses Complex Reality of Many Cities NY Times 1-28-17
• Monica Davey and Niraj Choshijan, Trump Threatens Federal Intervention in Chicago, Citing ‘Carnage’ NY Times 1-25-17

2         

2

4

Thurs

Cliffdwellers  (1913) George Bellows (high resolution)

Jacob Riis, Mulberry Street


Jacob Riis, Bandit's Roost

Realism vs. Naturalism

• Perspectives on Poverty: Dickens, Riis, Howells and Crane
  
• Realism and Naturalism: The Ashcan School in Painting (ppt)

New York City 1888:

• Watch New York episode four Power and People: Emma Lazarus (1:14)
• Watch video on Jacob Riis, How the Other Half Lives (1888) (Ric Burns, New York episode three Sunshine and Shadow 1865-1898 (Clip) OR full episode's opening: Jacob Riis, then Bethesda Fountain, then Central Park, then the Five Points) (then go to Jacob Riis 1:20:44 to 1:32:48)
• If time permits, watch New York episode four Power and People: Triangle Shirtwaist Fire 1:19:45
• Literary Perspective: Dickens, Riis, Howells and Crane
• Naturalism: Literary Definition
• Silent Film Melodrama: The Little Matchgirl (1902) 

• Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (1892):  Chapter 1: The Street Fight (3-6)

• Read Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (part one) Study Guide

• Caleb Crain, The Red and the Scarlet The hectic career of Stephen Crane. New Yorker June 30, 2014
• Introduction to Stephen Crane
• Read Background to Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (Bloom)
• Crane Biography (YouTube)
• Crane's Naturalism (YouTube)
• Modernim and Existentialism (YouTube)
• Progressivism and Naturalism Projects

2

3

Fri

2         

6

6

Mon.

Little Mother (1890) Jacob Riis

Typical Toughs (1890) Jacob Riis
How the Other Half Lives (1890)

• Setting: Describe the situation of children who grow up in the Rum Alley ghetto.
• Plot: What can you predict will happen to the heroine in a melodrama?
  
• Pay close attention to Crane's style: what is his perspective on his characters?
• Can you pinpoint a moment in Jimmie’s development when he could have altered the final shape of his character?
• Can you pinpoint a moment in Maggie's development into adulthood when she could have altered the final shape of her character? (Look carefully at the moment when Maggie realizes the future which awaits her in the factory.)

• What are we to make of Crane’s brutal ridicule of the poor? Is his stereotyping justifiable? What does he find most contemptible about Jimmie, Pete and Maggie? 
• Could he be as savage in his depiction of the impoverished today? (Imagine Jimmy as a black man or as an Hispanic?)
  

Homework:

• Read Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (part two) Study Guide

For further reading:

Bowery Boy Movies:

• Dead End Kids "They Made Me A Criminal" (1939)
• Humphrey Bogart in "Dead End" (1937)
• Creative Writing ala Crane

42 Kids (1907) George Bellows	Stag at Sharkey's (1909) George Bellows

2         

7

7

Tues.

2         

8

8

Wed.

Henri, Robert
Salome 1909
Mead Art Museum

Jacob Riis, Mulberry Street

Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (part two) (Quiz 2) Study Guide  (Lecture)

• What is the primary obstacle to Maggie achieving the insight necessary to understand her situation? What makes her unable to accomplish this goal? Do you hold her responsible?
• What could Maggie have learned from Nellie? Would that have saved her?
• What has Maggie realized at the moment that she is dumped by Pete? What options does Maggie have at this point? 
• Could Maggie have done anything to interrupt this slide down the slippery slope?

Homework:

• Essay on Maggie due Monday 2/13 at 3:30 p.m

Criticism on Maggie:

• Bloom's Literary Reference Online

For further study: Silent Film Melodramas

• The Little Matchgirl (1902) a silent melodrama
• D.W. Griffith, Way Down East (1920) starring Lillian Gish
• D.W. Griffith, Birth of a Nation Clip 1 (1915)
• Alfred Hitchcock, Blackmail and Easy Virtue (1927)

2         

9

9

Thurs.

2         

10

10

Fri.

Jacob Riis, 5 Cents a Spot  (1890)

National Child Labor Committee (1905) Lewis Hines

Essay on Maggie due Monday 2/13 at 3:30 p.m

Photography and Ideology:

• Paul Vitellosept, Michael Katz, Who Challenged View of Poverty, Dies at 75 NY Times 9-4-14
• Michael Katz: Responses to Poverty Outline: (Notes from Improving Poor People: The Welfare State, The “Underclass,” and Urban Schools as History (1995) by Michael Katz)
• Changing Attitudes Towards the Poor (1890-1935): Jacob Riis, Lewis Hines and Dorothea Lange (ppt)
• Progressivism Projects

Lange, Breadline (1936)	Lange,  Migrant Mother Photos
from Farm Security Administration  Photos (1936-38) (LOC)

2         

13

1

Mon.

Essay on Maggie due Monday 2/13 at 3:30 p.m

The Underclass Debate:

• "The Underclass"- a group beyond the help of government
• Term emerges in 1977-82 era
• Time: drugs, crime, teen pregnancy, unemployed, socially alienated, school dropouts, welfare moms, urban decay, black hole of welfare spending.
• Ken Auletta in 1977 Time Magazine article entitled "The American Underclass" suggested that a whole class of people were emerging in the inner city who might be beyond the reach of any form of help: the passive poor, hostile street criminals, hustlers, drunks/addicts/homeless. 

• Ruby Daniels
• Uless Carter
• Lillian Henry

Homework:

• Nicholas Lemann, The Promised Land Clarksdale (pp.3-31) (Study Guide) 

2         

14

2

Tues.

McCormick-Deering Cotton Picker (1932)

Jacob Lawrence, "The Great Migration: A Story in Paintings (1940-41)


Routes of the Great Migration

• Baltimore’s Demographic Divide: The city, like many urban centers, is one of stark contrasts when it comes to race and poverty. (WSJ 5-15-15) (See also Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance (BNIA) for statistical analysis of 'liveability' in Baltimore)
• Chicago's Demographic Divide: see The Racial Dot Map from 2010 Census
• Mapping Poverty in America (NY Times 1-4-14)

General Questions:

• What influence has the environment of the segregated South had upon the people who moved from Clarksdale to Chicago?
• Does Lemann believe that ‘a culture of poverty’ existed in the South?
• What role does the family structure have on the transmission of poverty from generation to generation?
• What impact did the move from the agricultural South to the urban North have on the migrants?
• Would Lemann recommend government intervention to address the problems of poverty which emerged in the cities? If so, how?

• Ruby Daniels
• Uless Carter
• Lillian Henry

Homework:

• Nicholas Lemann, The Promised Land Clarksdale (pp.32-58) (Study Guide) (Googledoc Guide)

• Muddy Waters, "I'm A Man" 
• Howlin' Wolf, "Smokestack Lightning"

2         

16

4

Thurs.

Lemann, The Promised Land Clarksdale (pp, 32-58) (Study Guide) (Googledoc Guide) (Answers)

Discussion of Zora Neale Hurston, "Spunk"; "Sweat" (1926) (notes)

• Ruby Daniels
• Uless Carter
• Lillian Henry

Homework:

• Lemann, The Promised Land Chicago (59-107) (Study Guide) (GoogleDoc Guide)

2         

17

0

Fri.

Professional Day

Apartment Building in Chicago's
"Black Belt" (LOC)


The Chicago Black Belt 1920-1941
 

The Robert Taylor Homes

Lemann, The Promised Land  Chicago (59-107) (GoogleDoc Guide) (Study Guide) (Answers)

Key Questions:

Character Selections in The Promised Land:
Analyze why Lemann chose these people to represent the millions of African-Americans who moved north during the Great Migration:

• Ruby Daniels
• George Hicks
• Lillian Henry

An alternative vision: The characters chosen by Isabel Wilerson for her history of the Great Migration: The Warmth of Other Suns (2010). It includes the biographies of three persons: 

• a sharecropper's wife who left Mississippi in the 1930s for Chicago, named Ida Mae Brandon Gladney, who turns out to be the mother of the author.
• an agricultural worker and union organizer, George Swanson Starling, who left Florida for New York City in the 1940s
• Robert Joseph Pershing Foster, a doctor who left Louisiana in the early 1950s, moving to Los Angeles.

Homework:

• Backgrounds to Richard Wright
• The Great Depression

• A Photo Essay on the Great Depression
• Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists During the Great Depression by Robert D.G. Kelley
• Communist Party, USA
  
• Orson Welles directs "Native Son" at the Mercury Theatre in 1941 (same year as Citizen Kane)

2

23

7

Thurs.

2       

24

8

Fri.

Canada Lee as Bigger Thomas

• The Great Depression
• Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists During the Great Depression by Robert D.G. Kelley
• The Scottsboro Case (1931)
  
• Communist Party, USA
  
• Orson Welles directs "Native Son" at the Mercury Theatre in 1941 (same year as Citizen Kane)
  

• Wright, Native Son, Book One: "Fear" (Study Guide) (GoogleDocs Guide Book One)

2

27

9

Mon.

2      

28

10

Tues.

The Skywriter

Essay Assignment on Native Son

Wright, Native Son, Book One: "Fear" (Study Guide) (Discussion)

Saturday Morning in the Thomas’ Apartment (3-12)
On the Street  (12-22)
The Pool Hall (22- 29)
At The Movies (29-34)
Terrorizing Gus (34-41)
The Interview (42-51)

Mary, Peggy and the Blind Woman  (51-62)
The Night Ride with Mary and Jan  (62-80)
Bigger and Mary Stumble Towards Bed  (80-87)
The Furnace (87-93)

Homework:

• Wright, Native Son, Book 2, "Flight" (Study Guide Book 2)
• "Bessie's Blues" (See Bessie Smith and Pittsburgh State's Jazz and Blues Page)

3

1

1

Wed.

3

2

2

Thurs.

Ato Essandoh, as Bigger Thomas, and Felicia V. Loud, as Bessie, star in "Native Son" at Intiman Theatre.

Essay Assignment on Native Son

Wright, Native Son, Book 2, "Flight" (Study Guide Book Two) (Discussion)

New Consciousness (97-116)
Improvisation (116-129)
Bessie (129-149)
Interrogation (149-172)

The Ransom Plan (172-184)
Discovery (184-220)
Flight  (220-241)
The Manhunt (241-270)

Homework:

• Wright, Native Son, Book 2, "Flight" (study guide book 2)

3         

3

0

Fri.

Professional Day

3

6

3

Mon.

3

7

4

Tues.

New Masses (May, 1933)

Ato Essandoh, as Bigger Thomas, and Felicia V. Loud, as Bessie, star in "Native Son" at Intiman Theatre.

Wright, Native Son, Book 2, "Flight" (study guide book 2) (discussion)

• New Consciousness (97-116) 
• First Reaction vs. the New Bigger
• Seeing His Family, His Friends and
  His People with New Eyes
• New Political Consciousness
  
• Improvisation (116-129)
• Arrival at the Daltons
• Manipulating Mrs. Dalton 
  
• Bessie (129-149)
• Making Love to Bessie
• The Ransom Plan Conceived
• Bessie's Choice
  
• Interrogation (149-172)
• Manipulating Britton
• The Dream Sequence
• Confronting Jan
  
• The Ransom Plan (172-184)
• Southside Real Estate
• The Ransom Note
  
• Bessie's Blues (180) (239-40)
• The Drop Point
  
• Discovery (184-220)
• The Plan Unravels
• The White Cat and the Self Feeding Furnace
  
• Flight  (220-241)
• The Rape/Murder
• The Manhunt (241-270)

• Wright, Native Son, Book 3, "Fate" (Study Guide) (discussion)

• Wright, "How Bigger Was Born" (1940)
• Wright, "I Tried to be a Communist" (1944)
  
• James Baldwin, "Everybody's Protest Novel" from Notes of a Native Son (1948)
  

3

8

5

Wed.

Wright, Native Son, Book 3, "Fate" (Study Guide) (discussion)

• Bigger’s Cell (271- 310)
• Return to Consciousness
• The Mob: The Jungle Beast
• Rev. Hammonds: "A po' sinner boy'
• Jan: Excuses Bigger for the Crime
• Max: The World Made You This Way
• The Daltons: You Rejected Our Aid
• Mrs.Thomas: Promise You Will Pray
• Prosecutor Buckley: Implicate the Communists
• The Inquest (310-340)
• Inquest: Grand Jury Determines if that a Crime has been Committed
• Coroner's Purpose: Inflame the Mob
• Jan Interrogated: A Pimp for your Girlfriend?
• Mrs. Dalton's Earring
• Mr. Dalton's Inflated Rent
• Bessie's Corpse
• Return to the Scene of the Crime
• The Burning Cross
• The Madman in Bigger's Cell
• Interview with Max (341- 363)
• Articulating Feelings
• A Reason to Live
• The Trial (363- 418)
• Max’s Speech (382-415)       
• Bigger Achieves Consciousness (418)

Homework:

• Essay Assignment on Native Son due on Monday, March 27th at 3:30 p.m.

3         

10

7

Fri.

3         

11

0

Sat.

3         

20

0

Mon.

3

21

8

Tues.

Wright, Native Son, Book 3, "Fate" (Study Guide) (discussion)

Bigger’s Cell (271- 310)
The Inquest (310-340)
Interview with Max (341- 363)
The Trial (363- 418)
Max’s Speech (382-415)       
Bigger Achieves Consciousness (418)

Homework:

• Essay Assignment on Native Son due on Monday, March 27th at 3:30 p.m.

3

22

9

Wed.

3

23

10

Thurs.

3

24

1

Fri.

MLK

RFK

Essay Assignment on Native Son, due 3:30 p.m.

The War on Poverty at 50

• 50 Years Into the War on Poverty, Hardship Hits Back (NY Times 4-20-14)
• Rethinking the war on poverty | Paul Ryan | TEDx Pennsylvania Avenue

• War on Poverty Flow Chart
• The Post-War Liberal Consensus
  
• Helpful Chronological Framework

Review: Hilfiker on The War on Poverty

1960s Poverty Awareness (11)
Civil Rights Movement (11)
Vietnam (11)
Black Power Movement (11)
Riots (12)
Moynihan Report (12)
AFDC (12)
Great Society Funding Levels (12)
Failure of the Great Society (12)

Homework: 

• Lemann, The Promised Land Washington, (study guide) (Googledocs) (outline googledocs)

3

28

3

Tues.

LBJ

Malcolm X

War on Poverty Flow Chart due Tuesday, April 4th at 3:30 p.m

Helpful Chronological Framework

Class Discussion: What does it take to fight a “War on Poverty”? (just like a “War on Drugs” or a “War on Terrorism”)

Lemann, The Promised Land Washington,  (study guide) (study guide googledocs) (outline)  (outline googledocs) (answers)

Homework:

• Lemann, The Promised Land Washington,  (study guide) (study guide googledocs) (outline)  (outline googledocs) (answers)

3

30

5

Thurs.

3   

31

6

Fri.

Daniel Patrick Moynihan  (1927-2003)

Richard Nixon (1913-94)

Lemann, The Promised Land Washington,  (study guide) (study guide googledocs) (outline)  (outline googledocs) (answers)

Homework:

•  War on Poverty Flow Chart due Tuesday, April 4th at 3:30 p.m.

4         

3

7

Mon.

4         

4

8

Tues.

4         

5

9

Wed.

4         

6

10

Thurs.

4         

7

1

Fri.

Thanks To 'Fight For $15' Minimum Wage, McDonald's Unveils Job-Replacing Self-Service Kiosks Nationwide Forbes 11-29-16 

Can You Live on Minimum Wage? (NY Times 2/2014)  

Spent!
(Minimum Wage Budget Game)

Economic Policy Institute Family Budget Indicator (2013)

Living Wage Calculator (MIT)

War on Poverty Flow Chart due Friday April 7th at 3:30 p.m.

Introduction to Talley's Corner (1966) by Elliott Liebow

Context:

• The War on Poverty: Riots, Vietnam (1966)
• The Moynihan Report (1965): crisis of inner city family
• Refocus issue from delinquency (criminal teenagers) and dependency (welfare mothers) to the villain of the story, the absent adult male.

Method:

• Not Sociology: data gathered by social workers, census workers, parole officers, and teachers using questionnaires to generate statistical reports.
• Urban Anthropology: long term participant-observation of a culture by meeting individuals on their own turf and on their own terms (as if studying a native culture).
• Liebow invented the discipline, or rather he renamed it: its practitioners used to be called reporters and novelists.

Setting:

• Washington, DC (1962-63): How was the ghetto different in 1963?
• The New Deal Carry Out Shop

The Cast:

• Tally; Sea Cat; Richard; Leroy

Problems?

• Who funded the research? Who is Elliott Liebow? How did he select what would be included in this book? How did the men on the corner manipulate him? What is his ideological perspective?

Fun with Numbers:

The Inflation Calculator: $1.00 (1962) = $8.06  (2016)

• Federal Minimum Wage: $7.25 (2016) = $0.72 (1962) (The real minimum wage then was $1.00 (1962) = $8.06 (2016).)
• Working at minimum wage would pay you about $1260.00 a month.
  
• Laborer Wage: 
• $1.50 to $2.65 an hour (1962) = $12.09 to $21.37 an hour (2016) 
• Top Pay for Jobs Available to Corner Men: 
• $45.00 per week (1962) = $362.81 (2016) or  $1451.24 a month (2016).
• Rent = $12 to $20 per week (1962) =  $96.75 to $161.25 per week or $387.00 to $644 per month (2016) (44% of income) (I pay @ 18% of my income on rent per month.)

Homework:

• Talley's Corner (1966) by Elliott Liebow, Chapters 1 and 2; (Study Guide 1,2) (Googledocs Study Guide One and Two) Minimum Wage Excel Spreadsheet

4         

10

2

Mon.

Idea to overhaul social welfare assistance with guaranteed income spurs debate and diverse support (Making Sense) 

Charles Murray,  A Guaranteed Income for Every American Replacing the welfare state with an annual grant is the best way to cope with a radically changing U.S. jobs market—and to revitalize America’s civic culture (WSJ 6-3-16)

Thanks To 'Fight For $15' Minimum Wage, McDonald's Unveils Job-Replacing Self-Service Kiosks Nationwide Forbes 11-29-16 

Can You Live on Minimum Wage? (NY Times 2/2014)  

Spent!
(Minimum Wage Budget Game)

Economic Policy Institute Family Budget Indicator (2013)

Living Wage Calculator (MIT)

Talley's Corner (1966) by Elliott Liebow, 

Chapter One: Introduction: Chapters 1 and 2; (Study Guide 1,2) (Googledocs Study Guide) (Answers)

• Narrative point of view of the writer:
• Socio-political context in time: 1962 and 1967
• Study Method: Urban Anthropology vs. Sociology?
• Study Method: Anecdotes from Grown Men on Their Own Turf: Why?
• Intended Audience? Grant Origin?
• Ideological Perspective?
• Social/Cultural Perspective?

• Problems?
• Ideological Flags?
• Study Method?
• Social/ Cultural Barriers?
• Aesthetic Distortions?

Chapter Two: "Men and Jobs": (Chapters 1 and 2) (Study Guide 1,2) (Googledocs Study Guide 1 and 2) (Answers) 

• Main Idea: Why is getting and keeping a job a low priority on the corner scale of real values? What conclusion is Liebow leading us towards? Is his evidence convincing?

Fun with Numbers:

The Inflation Calculator: $1.00 (1962) = $8.06  (2016)

• Federal Minimum Wage: $7.25 (2016) = $0.72 (1962) (The real minimum wage then was $1.00 (1962) = $8.06 (2016).)
• Working at minimum wage would pay you about $1260.00 a month.
  
• Laborer Wage: 
• $1.50 to $2.65 an hour = $12.09 to $21.37 an hour (2016) 
• Top Pay for Jobs Available to Corner Men: 
• $45.00 per week = $362.81 (2016) or  $1451.24 a month (2016).
• Rent = $12 to $20 per week =  $96.75 to $161.25 per week or $387.00 to $644 a month (2016) (44% of income) (I pay @ 18% of my income on rent per month.)

Homework:

• Talley’s Corner, (Chapters 3 ) (Chapter 4) (Study Guide 3,4)  (Googledocs Study Guide Three and Four)
  

4         

12

4

Wed.

Talley's Corner Essay:

• Main Idea: How can we inform our judgment of "deadbeat dads" by considering the influence of environment and culture?

Chapter 4: "Husbands and Wives": (Chapters 3 ) (Chapter 4) (Study Guide 3,4)  (Googledocs Chapters 3,4) (Answers) (Sydney, Corliss and Cailin's Notes)

• Main Idea: What impact does economic insecurity have on the relationships between man and woman in the corner culture?

Homework:

• Talley’s Corner, (Chapter 5) (Chapter 6) (Study Guide 5,6) (GoogleDocs Study Guide Five and Six)

4         

14

0

Fri.

4         

17

0

Mon.

Professional Day

4         

18

6

Tues.

Chapter 2: "Men and Jobs": Claire and Haley's Notes

• Main Idea: Why is getting and keeping a job a low priority on the corner scale of real values? 
  

Chapter 3: "Fathers Without Children": Jack, Sam and Nick's Notes  

• Main Idea: How can we inform our judgment of "deadbeat dads" by considering the influence of environment and culture?

Chapter 4: "Husbands and Wives": Sydney, Corliss and Cailin's Notes

• Main Idea: What impact does economic insecurity have on the relationships between man and woman in the corner culture?

Chapter 5: "Lovers and Exploiters": (Chapter 5)  (Chapter 6)  (Study Guide 5,6) (Answers) (Emily and Julia)

• Main Idea: How does economic insecurity turn physical attraction into 'cynical, self-serving marauding'?

Chapter 6: "Friends and Networks": (Chapter 5) (Chapter 6) (Study Guide 5,6) (Answers) (James and Lawson)

• Why do attempts to organize and maintain solidarity fail?

Homework:

• Talley’s Corner, 7 and Appendix  (Chapter 7) (Appendix) (Study Guide 7, Appendix) (GoogleDocs Study Guide Seven and Appendix)

4         

19

7

Wed.

4         

20

8

Thurs.

Talley's Corner Essay due Monday, April 24th at 3:30 p.m.

Chapter 7: "Conclusion":   (Chapter 7) (Answers) (Jack and Vinay's Notes)

• What proposals does Liebow suggest to remedy the problems of streetcorner men in the Washington DC ghetto of the early 1960's?
• How has the ghetto changed in the fifty years since?
  

Appendix: "A Field Study in Retrospect" (Appendix) (Study Guide 7, Appendix) (Answers) (Alex's Notes)

• Should we trust Liebow's conclusions given the highly subjective way in which he gathered information from these men?

• Talley's Corner Essay
  

4

21

9

Fri.

4

25

1

Tues.

August Wilson (1945-2005)

• Slide Show of the Plays of August Wilson
• An African American Century (NY Times)
• August Wilson on Broadway: A History (1-10-17)
•  August Wilson, Theater's Poet Of Black America, Is Dead at 60 By Charles Isherwood (NYT) October 3, 2005
• Ben Brantley and Wesley Morris, What August Wilson Means Now NY Times (1-11-17)
• From Nosebleed Seats to the Stage, Actors Discuss August Wilson NY Times (1-11-17)

Jitney (1977; 1997)

• The Time: 1977 ; The Situation of African-Americans in 1977
• The Place: Pittsburgh 
• Jitneys in Pittsburgh (Center Stage)

• Read Act One of Jitney  (Study Guide)

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The Cast of Jitney

Act One of Jitney (Study Guide)

• Today's the day that Becker will announce to his drivers that the Urban Renewal is moving in, he's moving out, and he's not sure that he wants to keep the business going.
• Today's the day that Fielding finally gets himself fired.
• Today's the day that the feud between Youngblood and Turnbo breaks wide open.
• Today's the day that Rena confronts Youngblood with her suspicions about his running around with Peaches.
• Today's the day that Becker's boy, Booster, is getting out of the penitentiary and coming home to meet his father.

Thesis: How are the strands of the action inter-related? (ie, is it just an accident that each of these thunderheads breaks simultaneously?)

• Act One Scene One
• The Hill District comes alive.
• Act One Scene Two
  
• What has pushed Turnbo over the edge today? (Look at his rant about respect. (30-31)) What does he tell Rena?
• Why has Rena run out of patience with Youngblood? What was the straw which broke the camel's back for her? (32-35)
• Why is Becker thinking about giving up after the city let him know that they were gonna board up the place the first of the month? (36)
• Who did Booster kill? Why? (39)
• Act One Scene Three
  
• How does the fight between Youngblood and Turnbo break out? (43)
• Describe the way Becker functions in this neighborhood: what makes his presence essential?
• How does Fielding get himself fired? (51) Who does he dream about twenty years later? (53)
• Becker and Booster

• Read Act Two of Jitney (Study Guide)
• Think about the contrasting strategies of Booker Washington and Malcolm X. Which response to racism does Wilson support? (Malcolm vs. King)

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Bearden, Village of Yo, ca. 1964

Act One of Jitney (Study Guide)

• Today's the day that Becker will announce to his drivers that the Urban Renewal is moving in, he's moving out, and he's not sure that he wants to keep the business going.
• Today's the day that Fielding finally gets himself fired.
• Today's the day that the feud between Youngblood and Turnbo breaks wide open.
• Today's the day that Rena confronts Youngblood with her suspicions about his running around with Peaches.
• Today's the day that Becker's boy, Booster, is getting out of the penitentiary and coming home to meet his father.

Thesis: How are the strands of the action inter-related? (ie, is it just an accident that each of these thunderheads breaks simultaneously?

• Act One Scene Two
  
• What has pushed Turnbo over the edge today? (Look at his rant about respect. (30-31)) What does he tell Rena?
• Why has Rena run out of patience with Youngblood? What was the straw which broke the camel's back for Rena? (32-35)
• Why is Becker thinking about giving up after the city let him know that they were gonna board up the place the first of the month? (36)
• Act One Scene Three
  
• Who did Booster kill? Why? (39)
• How does the fight between Youngblood and Turnbo break out? (43)
• Describe the way Becker functions in this neighborhood: what makes his presence essential?
• How does Fielding get himself fired? (51) Who does he dream about twenty years later? (53)
• Becker and Booster: Booker vs. Malcom
• Act One Scene Four
• Becker and Booster: Booker vs. Malcolm
  
• Re-read Turnbo's story about how Becker's boy wound up in prison. (40-41) Then re-read the confrontation between Becker and Booster (53-60).
• Think about the contrasting strategies of Booker Washington and Malcolm X. Which response to racism does Wilson support? 
• Connections to African American History:
• Notes on Booker Washington
• Notes on W.E.B. DuBois
• Notes on Malcom X
• Malcolm vs. King

• Read Act Two of Jitney (Study Guide)
• Think about the contrasting strategies of Booker Washington and Malcolm X. 
• Which response to racism does Wilson support? 

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AP's

Paul Butler as Becker

Carl Lumbly as Booster

Act One Conclusion: Becker and Booster: Booker vs. Malcolm

Act Two of Jitney (Study Guide) (Quiz)

• Rena and Youngblood
• What advice does Becker give the young couple?
• Becker's plan :   his strategy
• Becker's death: Booster's response
• final moment

Connections to African American History:

• Notes on Booker Washington
• Notes on W.E.B. DuBois
• Notes on Malcom X

• Jitney Essay Due Thursday, May 4th by 3:30 p.m.

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AP's

Jitney Essay Due by 3:30 p.m.

Jill Leovy, Ghettoside (2015) 

Backgrounds:

• Justin Fenton, Baltimore homicide total is second-most through April in city history (Sun 5-2-17)
• Jill Leovy, The Underpolicing of Black America: Despite controversies like Ferguson, police are better at stopping African-Americans at random than at halting an epidemic of murder (WSJ 1-23-15)
• Ghettoside by Jill Leovy | Book Review (YouTube 1-28-16)

Homework:

Read Ghettoside, Part 1: The Plague, pp. 3-51 (Study Guide)

1. A Circle of Grief    3
2. A Killing                13
3. Ghettoside         22
4. School of Catastrophe   28
5. Clearance            44

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AP's

• from The Corner by David Simon and Edward Burns  (1997) The War on Drugs and Policing Strategies in the Ghetto  (pp. 158-169)

• Jill Leovy, Looking at South L.A.'s Homicide Epidemic  YouTube 5-10-16
• Jay Z, The War on Drugs is an Epic Fail YouTube 9-15-16
• Ta-Nehesi Coates, The Enduring Myth of Black Criminality The Atlantic 11-14-15
• Alice Goffman: How we're priming some kids for college — and others for prison TED Talk 5-1-15

6. The  Circumstantial  Case              52
7. Good People and Knuckleheads               61
8. Witnesses and the Shadow System   74
9. The Notification     86

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AP Exams

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AP Exams

• Bill Keller, “Ghettoside” Author Jill Leovy on What We Have Learned Since Rodney King: Not nearly enough, she says The Marshall Project 3-3-16
• Tavis Smiley Interviews Jill Leovy Tavis Smiley accuses Jill Leovy of indulging in exploitation and sensationalism in his criticism of a white person's fascination with black on black violence. PBS 2-4-15

Ghettoside,  pp. 52- 96 (Study Guide)

6. The  Circumstantial  Case              52
7. Good People and Knuckleheads               61
8. Witnesses and the Shadow System   74
9. The Notification     86

Homework:

• Read Ghettoside,  pp. 99-161 (Study Guide)

PART TWO:  THE CASE OF BRYANT TENNELLE

10. Son of  the City     99
11.  "It's My Son"     112
12. The Killing of Davon Harris   123
13. Nothing Worse     131
14. The Assignment    139

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AP Exams

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15. Everybody Know    162
16. The Witness   176
17. Baby Man      189
18. Mutual Combat    213

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19. Witness Welfare   222
20. Lost Souls   239
21. The Victims' Side  255

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22. The Opening        273
23. "We Have to Pray for Peace” 285
24. The Missing  303

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Senior Exams

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Memorial Day

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Exams

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Exams

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Exams

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