Home, Grief, and Storytelling in Men We Reaped

Lesson 5
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ELA

Unit 9

10th Grade

Lesson 5 of 22

Objective


Formulate and share unique arguments on home and homecoming. 

Support arguments with strong and thorough textual evidence in a Socratic seminar.

Readings and Materials


  • Article: “Beyoncé’s Black-Intellectual Homecoming” by Hannah Giorgis 

  • Poem: “The Homecoming” by Barbara Howes 

  • Book: The Yellow House: A Memoir by Sarah M. Broom  pp. 52 – 69 — Chapter 5

  • Book: The Yellow House: A Memoir by Sarah M. Broom  — Chapter 6, "Betsy"

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Target Task


Discourse Questions

Consider Hannah Giorgis’ “Beyoncé’s Black-Intellectual Homecoming” and Barbara Howes’ “The Homecoming.” What are both texts suggesting about the significance of homecoming? Why do people go home? What are the benefits and drawbacks of going home?

In Chapters 5 through 7 of The Yellow House by Sarah Broom, she spends several chapters describing the backstory of her childhood home in New Orleans including necessary social and political context. Why does she provide this context? What does this context suggest about the literal and figurative meanings of home? How might the differences in meaning shift or change one’s overall desire to go home?

Key Thinking


Scaffolding Questions

Why is returning home important? Who does it benefit? Who does it hurt?

What context does Broom provide about her family? The physical location? Natural disasters? How does she characterize the residents of New Orleans? How does she characterize the government officials of New Orleans? What does it teach us about home?

Key Ideas

  • Returning home is a natural right of passage and a celebration. In Giorgis’ article, she asserts that Beyoncé’s "performance served a sly dual function: For Black audiences, it was a masterly celebration of familiar traditions, including social dance; for white viewers, it was an introduction and an assertion of her deeply rooted prowess." People return home to celebrate, to feel love, to reconnect, and to embrace culture. 
  • Homecoming is more about people, memories, and/or experiences rather than the physical place. When people have the desire to go home, the desire is to be around the people they love that have impacted their lives significantly.

Homework


Read and annotate Marc Lamont Hill’s Nobody, Chapter VI, "Emergency," pages 157–180. 

  • Annotation focus: Where does the tension between personal responsibility and public responsibility show up in this chapter? What are our initial thoughts about this tension?

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Standards


  • LO 1.4B — Synthesize ideas from multiple texts and explain how the texts may convey different perspectives on a common theme or idea.
  • LO 5.1A — Extend the conversation around an idea, topic, or text by formulating questions and recognizing the claims and perspectives of others.
  • LO 5.1B — Cite relevant evidence and evaluate the evidence presented by others.
  • SL.9-10.1 — Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9—10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

Supporting Standards

LO 2.2A
RI.9-10.1
RI.9-10.2
W.9-10.1

Next

Unpack the performance task prompt for Unit 4. 

Analyze Jesmyn Ward’s perspective in the prologue to her memoir and initiate your thinking about personal and public responsibility.

Lesson 6
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