Bronx Masquerade By Nikki Grimes Answer the following
Bronx Masquerade By: Nikki Grimes
�Answer the following questions on a piece of paper with either “Agree” or “Disagree”: �People of different ethnic backgrounds have nothing in common. �First impressions are everything. �Only certain people can write poetry. �It’s okay to tease someone about his/her weight, looks, dress, skin color, or interests. �Everyone fits a certain stereotype. Prereading Questions:
� Read the following poem by Langston Hughes and explain how it relates to Wesley’s poem about Hughes. (2 sentences) A Dream Deferred What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore— And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over— like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode? Wesley Boone:
�Read the following two poems and create a chart that lists the things found in each poem: Detroit Hometown Poems: CSAS
Ode to Detroit The upper crust visit your Gleaming opera house and Marble museums and monuments But they pretend not to see The darkness which creeps Ever closer. The sounds of the cheering fans And alluring arias Are not quite loud enough To drown out the gun shots, screams, sirens, seductive beckonings, But, most of all, The deafening silence found Through desperation and Death. “No one cares, ” Is the masochistic motto proclaimed By every self-involved citizen Who ignores, exploits, or demoralizes The true nature of Detroit. Drugs, sex, and rock ‘n’ roll Sound so glamorous Until you see the stooped, wrinkled, toothless, Secret citizens, Or worse… The dead shark eyes Of a 12 year old Whose already been Bathed in blood, violence, sex, and the side-effects of drugs and alcohol. Who weeps/applauds for them? Hometown Poems:
CSAS Dirty, dingy, dilapidated building With graffiti scrawled in Pitch blacks, faded blues, and dried blood reds. Overgrown fields, cracked pavement, rusted fences, This is our legacy. Broken windows show Our broken dreams. Doors that don’t lock, ripped up textbooks, scarred desks, This is our reality. Filthy walls and floors littered with garbage; No heat in the winter and no AC in the summer. The scent of chaos and violence burns our nostrils. There are no metal detectors to protect us. We attend class with cockroaches. Still, things could be worse… We could be going to Detroit Public Schools. We could be getting killed for our shoes. We decide it’s better to be dead inside than… Not alive. Hometown Poems:
� Write a poem about your hometown. The poem must include the following: � 4 stanzas � 4 lines for each stanza � 1 st stanza: provide basic information about your hometown (size, location, name, state it’s in, etc. � 2 nd stanza: provide information on what you see in your hometown � 3 rd stanza: provide information on what you hear in your hometown � 4 th stanza: provide information on what you smell in your hometown Hometown Poem Assignment:
Closet Pretending everything’s okay While lying to myself and everybody else. Watching him hit my little brother For dropping one piece of pizza. His rage terrifies me, And I ignore the growing emptiness inside. I cannot save my brothers… No matter how hard I try. My mother’s not around; She has escaped into her fantasy world again… Leaving us alone with the monster. Every time a blow hits me, I hide the pain so deep inside. I curl up inside my closet As the hot tears run down my cold skin, And I rock myself, Hug myself, Comfort myself, Because no one else will. Chankara:
� On the first day of school a freshman has red marks on his neck and arms. You ask him what they are, and he says he had a skin rash. Over the course of the school year, you and he become friends and start eating lunch together. As time goes on, you notice all sorts of cuts, bruises, and red marks appear on his arms, legs, and neck from time to time. When you ask him about them, he never seems to want to say much about it, and he changes that subject. One day, your new friend comes to school with a green and yellow bump on his forehead. When you ask him about it at lunch, he finally admits that his stepdad often gets drunk and beats him and his younger brother. He tells you this mom works nights as a nurse, and she isn’t there when his stepdad gets angry drunk. He says he tried to tell her what was going on, but she wouldn’t listen to him. He thinks his mom will never choose him over his stepdad. He is afraid that if the truth comes out he will be separated from his brother, taken from his mom, and his mom will hate him. He asks you not to tell anyone, and you promise you won’t. A week later he comes to school with a broken arm. He tells everyone he fell out of a tree, but you know the truth. What should you do? Journal Log:
� You and your group are going to create a manual that will educate others about the various forms of abuse, people who have gone through it, and ways to stop it. Each manual must contain the following: � Two scenarios about two different forms of abuse. (5 sentences each) � Ten steps on how you can prevent different forms of abuse. � A paragraph about what happened to Chankara. � A definition for the four types of abuse. � A cover (with picture) for your manual. Abuse Manual:
- Slides: 10