Dialogue

Speech Flavor--

"Good afternoon, sweetheart. Are you ready for some supper? Just sit yourself down on the davenport. You're soaking wet. Didn't you bring a parasol? For heaven's sakes!"

Not Quite a Fight--

"I didn't like that Jew joke," Tim's father mumbled between bites of his barbecue sandwich. "That was overboard."
"You just didn't like it because you don't like Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, Dad." Tim dipped a fry in the ketchup on his father's plate. They got together once a month for dinner before a game.
"No, that's not it. Did you see Ethan Cohen's reaction? The camera panned to him, and he didn't like it. You could tell. He's Jewish you know."
"Why did it bother you? Everyone in the crowd was laughing."
"Not Ethan Cohen. He didn't think it was funny. I bet Jews didn't think it was funny. You don't use a joke about a Nazi hunter looking for Jews. That's sensitive. Especially in Hollywood."
"I don't know, Dad. I guess we can agree to disagree. I don't think it was meant in bad taste."
"Well if we can make jokes like that, why can't we make jokes about black people?"
Tim's father seemed to come back to this often.
"Whenever somebody tells a black joke, everyone is up in arms. Especially the black leaders. Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton would probably be ranting and raving on CNN the next day!"
"I think that's different. I guess it depends on the joke. But aren't a lot of black jokes based on negative stereotypes? The joke at the Oscars was stereotyping Jewish people, it was stereotyping Hollywood."
"Tim, you don't get it." Tim's father leaned forward and stopped chewing. He wiped his lips with a napkin, which he rarely did. "I have friends who are Jews. I sympathize with the Jews. You don't make jokes about the Holocaust. What if they said something about blacks being on welfare or being better slaves than actors? It's a double standard."
"Dad, those are two totally different things." He patted his father on the arm, knowing full well he'd heard his father tell Jew jokes in the past. He wasn't sure if his father wanted to ignore that, or if he had just forgotten. "Let's agree to disagree."
"I'm taking you home." Tim's father deadpanned. "You and your sister don't respect me. And it pisses me off. I'd never talk to my father the way you and Mindy talk to me."

Point of View

Childhood Memory--

Today is Easter! It's warm out.

After we eat breakfast, I have to go to church with my mom and dad and little sister. I don't like church. Most of it is just sitting and listening. My butt starts to get sore. Mainly the man up front just talks and talks and keeps talking about stuff I don't know about. I think he's called the priest. He's pretty old.

Also, we do a lot of standing, kneeling, sitting back down, kneeling and standing back up. I don't sing in church, but I mouth the words so everyone thinks I'm singing. But I'm really not singing.

My parents sit between me and my sister. They probably think we're gonna bother each other. I bug her a little bit when my parents get in line for the crackers.

When we get home it's time for the Easter egg hunt. The Easter Bunny put stuff in my basket.....mostly jelly beans (I don't really like jelly beans that much, but they look nice) and chocolate. My dad is gonna give us 10 cents for every egg we find, and I know most of the hiding spots from last year. So I'll probably beat my sister! Oh, and he sad we get an extra dollar if we find the last egg. I'm not sure what I'll spend a whole dollar on. Maybe some Nerds. Or maybe that gum that has juice in it.

After that, my grandma will come over for dinner. I don't like ham.


Unreliable Narrator--

I was at the Twins game with my husband, William. This young kid bumped into me, and he was trying to reach into my purse! He and a bunch of his other friends started laughing right after that. They were probably laughing at me, but inside I was laughing at them. They're the ones that are going to end up in jail someday. The joke's on them!

I'm not racist. I'm not saying they were trying to steal just because they're black. Or colored. Or African-American. Whichever it is nowdays. I swear I saw his hand reaching for my purse. He said "Excuse me," but it was all part of the plan. I've read about things like this. Plus, he was wearing a red cap, and that's a gang color.

I just feel bad for these kids. They probably live in North Minneapolis, and I'm sure they're taught how to steal just to get by. I even voted for Obama. It's good to have a black man in the White House. My friends and I were joking around on Book Club night.......Cynthia said it should be called "The Black House" now......or at least the "Beige House." She's so funny. I think she had her fill of Chardonnay that night!

But seriously, I remember driving through the ghetto once when William took a wrong turn (as usual!), and I just felt so guilty. There were people running around everywhere. There were babies crawling across the street. I even saw a couple prostitutes, and a some guys that had to be gangsters or pimps. They were walking into McDonald's. At least they can afford a Happy Meal with their welfare checks. And I mean that sincerely. That's one of the great things about America.

So when those little black boys were laughing at me, I was crying for them. If they just would've asked me for some money, I would have happily given them some. After all, those sandwiches at Target Field are pricey! Especially for poor kids from the ghetto!

journals and memory

a childhood memory:

I think I was in second grade (I remember my childhood by grade, not by age). Three girls had been teasing me every day on the playground for a week straight. These girls were bigger, older and meaner. I didn't know them. I didn't know why they picked on me.

I told my teacher, and she did nothing. She said, "Just avoid them." That didn't help.

I told the recess aide. She said, "Try to stay away from them." They didn't get it. The girls were seeking me out, like I was a rabbit and they had just bought a bow.

I told my mom. I'll never forget her advice: "If nobody is willing to help you, then take it into your own hands. Solve the problem yourself."

What do you mean, mom?

"You shouldn't start fights, and you shouldn't hit girls. But I'm giving you permission this one time. The next time they start something, give one of them a good, hard push. Then clench your fists and be ready to fight. I promise they'll leave you alone."

I did just that. I don't think I ever saw those girls again.

things that pleased me:

1. those chicken tenders at Dooley's

2. the smell of Lisa's shampoo

3. driving and listening to my new CD, with very little traffic

4. eggs and bacon on Sunday morning

5. sleeping in on Monday

6. planning my trip to Montana

7. jogging around the lake under the sun

8. drinking wine and reminiscing about Paris

9. kissing Lisa goodbye

things I didn't like:

1. being told I was in charge of interviews at work

2. planning for my new class

3. watching Duke beat Baylor with the refs' help

4. listening to Lisa get mad about my comment

5. Lisa rolling over

6. realizing I didn't know how to work my new DVD player

7. thinking about Easter without Lisa

8. hearing that my soccer player may not play this year

9. realizing that I'm out of milk

characterization

naming various characters:

petty thief- Richard Francois

bitter woman- Tabitha Greene

shy young man- Tim Simpkins

lecherous boss- Arnie Slade

lottery winner- Gladys Merriweather

characteristics of age:

music they listen to

car they drive

style of clothing

hairstyle

physical shape (belly, bags under eyes, stretchmarks, etc)

hair (hairy ears, gray hair, hair on upper lip of woman)

terms they use

how they drive

awareness of money (clipping coupons, etc)

bedtime

TV shows and movies they watch

how they feel about strangers

political views

things they are concerned about

number of children/grandchildren

color of teeth

smell of clothes

hobbies

beginnings

pairs of beginning sentences:

She was free to be concerned about the earthquake in Chile, the calorie count in yogurt and the date of the Dave Matthews concert; after all, she was born to the right pair of sandy-haired parents.

He sat on the bus trying to start a conversation, but it wasn't easy; he smelled of rotting dreams and whatever was in that paper cup.

beginning a story:

Everyone at the table talked to somebody else, except her. She sat staring straight ahead, looking neither interested nor bored. That's what attracted him. He had to know her.

"My Own Diversity" assignment

Dovetailing from the "Where I'm From" poetry assignment, I like to give a writing assignment called "My Own Diversity"......

My students typically feel proud and emboldened after their "Where I'm From" poems; they feel that their voice matters in the classroom, that they have something valuable to say (particularly about themselves), and they realize that writing is not as hard as it's sometimes cracked up to be.

This leads into the "My Own Diversity" assignment, which attempts to subtly teach a more formal writing style (following and outline format) without making it the crux of the lesson. The objective is to have the students reveal themselves in more detail than the poem did, while connecting their background to their future goals. I recently used this assignment in English class of our Community Health Workers program at Summit Academy. Here how it looked:

Knowing yourself and understanding what makes you different from others is an important aspect to community health work. It allows you to put yourself in other people's shoes, while also better enabling you to empower individuals to overcome barriers. For this assignment, you will do the following:

TOPIC 1- Tell me about your background. For example, where did you grow up? How many brothers and sisters do you have? What was your family like?

TOPIC 2- What are some of your favorite things to do or places to go, and why? What are some of your hobbies? What are you passionate about?

TOPIC 3- What makes you different from other people? What qualities make you special? What are your strengths? What things about yourself would you like to improve or work on, and why?

TOPIC 4- How will your diversity (the various things that make you who you are) help you to be a better community health worker? Explain why.

I let the students know that I'm grading spelling, grammar and punctuation. But it's not the focus of the grading. Rather, I'm primarily looking to see that each topic is fully fleshed out, and that the writing is organized by topic.

To me, this is a nice transition from the "Where I'm From" poem, as it helps to take students' ideas from their poem and develop them into a more formal structure. And of course, for many students, they are their own favorite subject.

Where I'm From: a lesson plan

In order to invite students' lives into the classroom (through poetry), I like to teach personalized poetry with a structure called "Where I'm From."

We begin by discussing how writers can reveal things about their lives through their writing. We talk about how writers can illustrate parts of their lives such as family, hobbies, neighborhood life, your house/apartment, sayings, foods, memories, etc.

I ask the students to see what they can deduce about the writers of various "Where I'm From" poems that we read aloud in class. Typically I read the first one, and students invariably volunteer to read those that follow (I generally use 4 examples that I already have).

I continually ask the students to see what they might guess about each author's family life, financial background, ethnicity, etc, using the text as evidence.

After we've read the poems I've provided, I give each student an "Identity Sheet". By now, most students have likely guessed that he/she will be writing his own poem. Most are eager. The Identity Sheet asks the student to list various things:

1. List items in your home, room and/or yard. What do they look like? How do they smell? What makes your house your home?

2. What do you see in your neighborhood? How do you feel when you walk out the front door? What do you call your neighborhood? How do you feel living there?

3. Name some important people in your life (family, friends, inspirational people, favorite musicians, etc.). These people help make you who your are.....explain why.

4. List names of food/family dishes. What do you eat when you all get together? What are your favorites?

5. Sayings: What do you say to your friends? Do family members have a special saying they like to say to you? REMINDER: Keep it appropriate.

6. Name places, people and times your remember from your childhood. Which memories stick out? Why?

When the students have been given a few minutes with this, I ask them to volunteer a couple things from each category.

I explain they will take their list home. They can add to it or subtract from it if they wish. I then tell them they will write a poem simply by mimicking those we went over, incorporating any items from their Identity Sheet as they see fit.

Nearly all the students seem genuinely excited by this time, knowing there are basically no boundaries.

Before I send them home with their assignment, I tell them that a rapper actually wrote his own "Where I'm From" poem, focusing on his hometown. I play them "Brooklyn" by Mos Def.

After the song is over, they are eager to get started. The next day, I ask them to volunteer to read their poem in front of the class. In four years of teaching this, I've only had one student choose NOT to read his/her poem.

The end result is that students feel that their lives are important. They feel included in the classroom. They feel that they have talent, and that they have a voice. And maybe best of all, they see similarities in each others' lives, which creates a better classroom chemistry.

It is a great lesson to begin a school year.