The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr Genre

The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. Genre Study

Agenda, Thursday 2/18 Paper 2 Practice The Role of the Narrator The Art of Rhetoric and Rhetorical Analysis Letter from a Birmingham Jail - Analysis IOC scores next week on Friday - after the Fishbowl. Update - The secondary character fishbowl discussion will take place on Friday 2/26. I will also be giving you some time on 2/22 to do some research and prepare. You will also be completing your My Plan Essay that day.

Exam Prep (Paper 2) “Literature speaks powerfully to what the individual has the potential to become. ” ❧Comment on this in the context of your study. This is what a prompt might look like, so. . .

Exam Prep - 10 Minutes to discuss w/partner, group “ Literature speaks powerfully about what the individual has the power to become. ❧ Does this text speak powerfully about what the individual has the potential to become? ❧ If yes, how so? ❧ If no, why not? And then, what DOES it speak to? Other aspects to consider in your response: ❧ Consider the challenges faced ❧ Consider what King “becomes” ❧ Consider how the genre of autobiography attempts to speak to what an individual can become

Written Response - Include Text Evidence Literature speaks powerfully about what the individual has the power to become. To what extent is this statement relevant to the opening chapters? How to get into this: ❧ Introduce the text. ❧ State that it speaks powerfully (or not) to what an individual can become. ❧ Method statement – how does it do this (structurally, stylistically) ❧ Point, Evidence, Analysis

Why would King (yeah, yeah Carson) write this text? What’s the purpose?

Author’s purpose: Why Write Non-Fiction? To remove confusion, ambiguity To unite in solidarity To persuade the reader to believe as you do

Role of narrator: The Writer Hero? Fights with ideas and words Presents an argument Persuades

Argumentation (Rhetoric) What do you know about argumentation? Aristotle postulated three argumentative appeals: Logos: Logical (clear claims, strong evidence: facts, statistics, personal experience, authority, anecdotes) Pathos: Emotional (diction, imagery, connects to emotions: pity, humor, nostalgia, guilt) Ethos: Ethical (establish credibility, connects to audience perspective, trustworthy, humane) See handout Three Appeals of Argument

Chunking the Text “The Letter from Birmingham Jail” Group 1: Part 1 – paragraphs 1 -14 (Clancy, Madi, John) Group 2: Part 2 – paragraphs 15 – 27 (Christina, Alex, Meg) Group 3: Part 3 – paragraphs 28 – 37 (Kennedy, Hannah, Ophelia) Group 4: Part 4 – paragraphs 38 - 52 (Kyle, Harper, Sydney)

Chunking the Text “The Letter from Birmingham Jail” Group 1: Part 1 – paragraphs 1 -14 (Elise, Paige) Group 2: Part 2 – paragraphs 15 – 27 (Violet and co. ) Group 3: Part 3 – paragraphs 28 – 37 (Julia and co. ) Group 4: Part 4 – paragraphs 38 - 52 (Ben and co. )

First, on your own. . . Re-read the letter (your part and on your own) 1. What are “the moves” of the non-fiction writer? Keep a running list (or post-it when you see them) of ways that he asserts his vision.

Then, with your group. . . Make a list of the rhetorical moves you see in “The Letter from Birmingham Jail” Try to label them together. How does King appeal to ethos, pathos, and logos? Label the appeal Note how it works: credibility and effectiveness Be prepared to share out and teach the rest of us what you see King using and the effect.

Paper 2 Exam Practice Response What does this letter reveal about how we write effectively in the genre of non-fiction? What does the “The Letter of Birmingham Jail” reveal about the value of non-fiction texts?

Homework We will start with presentations and another Exam Paper prompt response next class (related to an overall analysis of LBHJ) Continue your Secondary Character Research for Friday, 2/26. As you read Chapter 20: March on Washington and “I have a Dream” - keep track of imagery and sensory details.

I have a dream

Agenda Wednesday, 2/24 Essential Question: How does the genre utilize imagery or sensory details? Review last class Langston Hughes poem “Dreams” What makes a great talk? I have a Dream Imagery Exam Prep ** Progress reports on Tuesday. Be sure that I have all your practice responses and

Review Talk with a partner about last class: What do you know about Rhetorical Strategies/Devices (Ethos, Pathos, Logos)? How are these used in non-fiction texts, such as an autobiography?

Paper 1 Practice - Discuss with a partner Dreams by Langston Hughes Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly. Hold fast to dreams For when dreams go Life is a barren field Frozen with snow. **Keep these ideas in mind. King not only uses rhetorical strategies but literary features (like imagery) to move and connect with his audience (these are examples of pathos)** What is Hughes saying about ‘dreams’? What literary devices is the poet using? To what effect? What is the impact of imagery on the audience/reader?

What makes a great talk? View Duarte’s “The Secret Structure of Great Talks” Take notes that allow you to answer the question: ● What does Duarte identify as the secret structure of Great Talks? Create a list After viewing - Be prepared to share your findings

What makes a great talk? Ideas has to be spread to be effective Story - most effective way to communicate Great talks create a contrast between “what is” and “what could be” The gap between the two should be vast! Must make the status quo seem unappealing Because others will resist - you must keep going between “what is” and “what could be” to reinforce the appeal of “What is” Conclude with “New Bliss” - how fantastic the world will be once your audience adopts your ideas as their own.

“I have a Dream” Working alone or in pairs. . . 1. Find an italicized portion of the autobiography (this is the speech). 2. Identify and note (at least) 2 -3 places where King moves between “What is” and “What could be” ● Identify how he establishes “What is” ● Identify how he presents “What could be” 3. Identify and note the use of imagery in those 2 -3 places where King highlights what is and what could be. What is the impact? 4. Written response: Analyze why and how this is effective (think back to our notes/conversations about Rhetorical Strategies, what you know about imagery, as well as what Duarte has to offer).

Group Discussion How does the genre utilize rhetorical strategies, imagery or sensory details? To what effect? Feel free to include anything previously discussed/read and certainly “I have a dream. ”

Paper 2 - Exam Practice #3 In your journal, respond to the following: How does the genre utilize imagery or sensory details? Reference this text as an example of how the genre does this. Remember though in the future, you will want to compare how two or more texts do this.

Agenda Friday, 2/26 Malcolm X (ch. 25) Fishbowls - Secondary Character Study Period 2 - Turn in “I have a dream” work

Malcolm X Silently re-read Chapter 25. Answer the following in your journal: How does King speak of Malcolm X? Look closely at word choice. How does King characterize the differences between himself and Malcolm X? What about similarities? What purpose does this chapter serve in the text?

In light of your re-read of Ch. 25… How do these quotes speak to both King and Malcolm X? How would each man have responded? “Daily the Negro is coming more and more to look upon law and justice, not as protecting safeguards, but as sources of humiliation and oppression. The laws are made by men who have little interest in him; they are executed by men who have absolutely no motive for treating the black people with courtesy or consideration; and, finally, the accused law-breaker is tried, not by his peers, but too often by men who would rather punish ten innocent Negroes than let one guilty one escape. ” --W. E. B. Dubois, The Souls of Black Folk *********************************************************** “A system cannot fail those it was never built to protect. ” --Twitter user post-Ferguson acquittal of the officer who shot Michael Brown (often attributed to W. E. B. Dubois)

Fishbowl Your group will come to the center. Your group will discuss the following: What is the role and purpose of Secondary Characters in the genre? On the outside, we will take notes and evaluate the contributions of the participants. Then, we will switch. Each group will have about 15 minutes.

Exam Paper Practice #4 Choose one of the following to address: Discuss the ways in which the writer of the genre you have studied has sought to undermine or interfere with the “voices” of their characters in order to persuade, manipulate or instruct their audience. OR Discuss the part played by apparently minor characters in the genre you have studied, indicating what you think are the effects of their presence. **Be sure to include references. You may consider Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, your researched character and information relayed via the fishbowl. **

Agenda Tuesday, 3/1 IOC Scores Art & Propaganda Paper 2 Practice Response

IOC Scores I wrote both your IB Score and the conversion score for me on your rubric. For IB Scores - This is a general approximation - it changes year to year depending on the scores of that years candidates. 1 = 0 -5 2 = 6 -10 3 = 11 -13 4 = 14 -17 5 = 18 -21 6 = 22 -25 7 = 26 -30 Class Conversion 30 -25 = 4 -3. 5 24 -21 = 3 -2. 5 (no 2 s) 20 -14 = 2. 5

Agree or Disagree? A writer cannot put literature and politics on equal footing without failing as a writer.

Respond to the quote in your journal A writer cannot put literature and politics on equal footing without failing as a writer. What does this mean? Do you agree or disagree? What about in relation to this text?

Art & Propaganda How do you define Art? How do you define Propaganda?

Art & Propaganda How do you define ART? • the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance. How do you define Propaganda? • information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc. • the particular doctrines or principles propagated by an organization or movement. How are these two similar and different?

Watch the short bio: W. E. B Du Bois • 1868 – 1963 • Scholar--activist • Harvard (1890 s) • Fought for the Social and political rights of African Americans • “The Souls of Black Folk”

From “The Crisis” • Address to the NAACP given 1926 • At the height of struggle, he emphasizes the importance of art.

“All art is propaganda and ever must be, despite the wailings of the purists. I stand in utter shamelessness and say that whatever art I have for writing has been used always for propaganda for gaining the right of black folk to love and enjoy. I do not care a damn for any art that is not used for propaganda. But I do care when propaganda is confined to one side while the other is stripped silent. ”

Toni Morrison on Art and Politics “All of that art-for-art’s-sake stuff is BS, ” she declares. “What are these people talking about? Are you really telling me that Shakespeare and Aeschylus weren’t writing about kings? All good art is political! There is none that isn’t. And the ones that try hard not to be political are political by saying, ‘We love the status quo. ’ We’ve just dirtied the word ‘politics, ’ made it sound like it’s unpatriotic or something. ” Morrison laughs derisively. “That all started in the period of state art, when you had the communists and fascists running around doing this poster stuff, and the reaction was ‘No, no; there’s only aesthetics. ’ My point is that is has to be both: beautiful and political at the same time. I’m not interested in art that is not in the world. And it’s not just the narrative, it’s not just the story; it’s the language and the structure and what’s going on behind it. Anybody can make up a story. ” Ai Wei on Art and Politics “If somebody questions reality, truth, facts; [it] always becomes a political act. ”

Go back to MLK - Create a list or chart • How is this text propaganda? (Think about rhetorical strategies and devices) • How is this text art? (Think of literary features and elements of literature) (Consider looking at Chapter 30)

With a partner, discuss: Is this text more art than propaganda?

Paper 2 Practice Response “Art is on the side of the oppressed. ” Evaluate the means by which The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. either confirms or raises questions about the validity of this assertion. You can either: Agree Disagree Bend (except when or in some cases or it’s actually more like. . . ) Augment (add to this: yes, and…) **Be sure you use the language of the prompt in crafting your

Agenda Thursday, 3/3 I’ve been to the Mountaintop Discussion - Is this the story of the leader of a movement or the story of a man? Check out Running in the Family Read The Acknowledgement (in the back) and Asian Rumors (1 -27) for NEXT Wednesday. Flag for items on the bookmark.

To what extent do you agree or disagree with the sentiment in this: “A man who hasn’t found something he is willing to die for is not fit to live. ”

I’ve been to the mountain top Full Speech

A Drum Major for Righteousness • Turn to page 365 “A Drum Major for Righteousness” • Read around—each reader takes one paragraph. • We’re going to read it twice. • After reading, comment on the impact of these concluding remarks. Jot down in your journal your ideas on the following: To what extent is this culminating portrayal of King’s character aligned (or not) with the character we’ve followed throughout?

Discussion To what extent is this culminating portrayal of King’s character aligned (or not) with the character we’ve followed throughout? Is this the story of a man or the story of a movement?

Written Response Consider how we have come to know Martin Luther King, Jr. Use evidence from the text to support your understanding of King. What do we know about him: Personally Morally Ethically Spiritually Religiously Intellectually

Next Class: MLK Final Essay Bring all of your notes, journal and text to class next week for the Final Paper on MLK.

Book Checkout

Agenda, Monday 3/7 MLK Paper 2 Response Essay. Choose one of your practice prompts. Take this through to a full and complete draft. Be sure to address the prompt in your thesis/claim. Use specific textual evidence to support your analysis Demonstrate your knowledge of both the text and literary techniques used by the author and explain how the techniques impact the meaning/understanding Go back to the ‘conventions of the genre’ to consider what you might want to include or address