#2560. "Black Boy"

, level: Senior
Posted Wed Apr 24 11:30:30 PDT 2002 by dianna morton.
Cape Cod Tech, Harwich, MA 02645
Concepts Taught: Elements of Fiction, Figurative Language, racism

Dianna Morton Class: English 9/10

Lesson Plan for each 2 week cycle from to

Figurative Language
Richard describes himself using the metaphor "as still as stone"
simile
Imagery
Personification
metaphor
What literary technique is exemplified by the following sentence:"God blessed our home with the love that binds"?
simile
Irony
Personification
metaphor

  "I would feel hunger nudging my ribs, twisting my empty guts till they ached." is an example of:
    Alliteration
  Personification
Metaphor
Imagery
Aunt Jody, a medium-sized, neat, silent, mulatto girl, had hot supper waiting on the table." is an example of:
Alliteration
     Personification
    Metaphor
   Imagery

"I turned around and saw that her white face was frozen, that her black deep set eyes were blazing at me unblinkingly." Is an example of:
simile
Imagery
metaphor
"The fire was was licking at my face"is an example of: 
Simile
Metaphor
Imagery
personification
"bleeding grass" is an example of:
simile
Imagery
Personification
metaphor

"detect disdain" is an example of:
Consonance
Alliteration
Assonance
Imagery

"greasy, sweaty, face, thick lips, flat nose. . ." is an example of:
Consonance and Assonance
Assonance and Alliteration
Consonance and Alliteration

"A Chain of gold girdled his belly. . ." is an example of:
Consonance and Alliteration
Alliteration and Assonance
Consonance and Assonance

"The girl was keeping some vow which I could not describe and, not knowing how to develop the story, I resolved that the girl had to die."is an example of:
Consonance
Alliteration
Assonance
Imagery
Elements of Fiction:
In Black Boy
Each of the following is a theme of Black Boy except:
Racial oppression
Alienation
The importance of an education
Poverty

The setting is:
The Jim Crow South prior to the Civil War.
The Jim Crow South after the Civil War.
The Jim Crow South after the Great Depression.
Richard is alienated and angry is an example of:
Tone
Theme
Characterization
Plot
Black Boy is written in the:
First Person Point of View
Second Person Point of View
Third Person Point of View
Richard lives through a poverty stricken childhood and finally leaves the oppressive South is considered the novel's:
Plot
Theme
Setting
Tone
The feeling or ______ that runs through novel is anger and alienation.
Theme
Point of view
Plot
Tone
A hint in a story that suggest what will happen later is called:
Irony
Foreshadowing
Literary Clues

The structure of a novel is called the:
Setting
Theme
Plot
Setting In General
And Reading Comprehension
Wright was born in:
1908 -
1913-
1915-
His mother and brother join Richard in Memphis. Spurred by author H.L. Mencken, he begins to read American naturalist writers. In December, Richard, with Aunt Maggie, moves to the South Side of Chicago.
1925 -
1927 -
1928 --
1929

What does Wright mean when he writes "I did not want to be singled out for gratuitous punishment?"
He did not want to be blamed for something he did not do.
He did not want to be blamed when the guilty person did not confess.
He did not want to be blamed to make someone else feel better about his/her self.
In 1930:
Chicago's "South Side" sinks into the Depression. Richard's hours are cut at post office.
Richard joins the Chicago John Reed Club and writes revolutionary poetry for Left Front.
Uncle Tom's Children appears and receives good reviews.

What prevented Richard, at first, from fighting Aunt Addie?
She was a blood relative
He feared her because of her religious convictions.
He respected her as a teacher.

"American Hunger" refers to:
The poverty of African Americans
The original title of Black Boy
An essay by H.L. Mencken

"The Voodoo of Hell's Half-Acre" 
Is the title of a film that influenced Wright while living in the slums of Memphis.
Is how Wright saw the world.
Wright 's first published short story.

Black Boy is an:
Example of fiction
Example of biography
Example of autobiography
. During his stay with Aunt Maggie and Uncle Hoskins, Richard is always surprised to see 
     Whites and blacks get along
     How much his aunt and uncle loved each other
How much food was on the table
Richard sees a chain gang, mistaking the black men on a chain gang for:
Elephants
zebras
police
As a child, Richard does this because "had no power to make things happen outside of [himself] in the objective world."
Kills a kitten
Drinks in the saloon
Writes stories
Believes in magic possibilities
Though he is capable of reading and writing, when Richard goes to school he is:
Paralyzed by fright and cannot even write his own name
Sent home for poor attitude.
Far behind the other children. 
Richard's alienation from his own family hints to the reader that Richard will experience difficulty in all of his relationships. This is an example of:
Characterization
Metaphor
Foreshadowing

Vocabulary in Context
On page 195, paragraph 8, sustained most likely means:

continuous
Apprehensive
Emotional

On page 199, paragraph 2 , exasperatingly most likely means:
Intensely
•Impressively
Frustratingly

On page 200, paragraph 4, resigned most likely means:
Resistant
Submissive
quit
On page 202, paragraph 12, piddling most likely means:
Meager
Engaging in illegal activity
running

On page 229, paragraph 9, degradation most likely means:
Blemish
Blame
humiliation
On page 229, paragraph 9, latent most likely means:
Overt
Suppressed
Forceful

On page 239, paragraph 5,domination most likely means:
authority
inferiority
influence
On page 248, paragraph 5 , extolling most likely means:
Denouncing
Hopeful
Praising
On page 252, paragraph 2, tantamount most likely means:
Synonymous
Frightening
rewarding
On page 199, paragraph 5, filched most likely means:
Hid
Ate
stole

What will be required of me?
To take responsibility for your work as a team member
To use the rubric as a guide
For the content and quality of your work

Step IChoose your partners!
Choose partners that you believe that you will work well with.
Discuss skills each partner can bring to the team.
Develop a plan in which everyone has an on going active part.
Process: Step II
Take notes on the plot (the summaries which you have written are an excellent resource for this).
What is PLOT?
Plot is the structure of the novel as the events occur.
The PLOT will be illustrated as the board itself.
Example:
Start might be "one winter morning. . ."
In Natchez, Mississippi
Finish could be Wright's publication of "American Hunger" in 1943, or his move to Paris in 1959.

Setting
What is setting?
Time and place
Setting will also be included in the game board itself. Dates and places will mark specific moving spots, and will also serve as board illustrations.
Characterization
What is characterization?
The manner in which the author describes the characters.
Your game pieces will illustrate characterization.
Example: "Granny" may look pinched and mean.
Tone
The emotional setting of the literary work
Tone will be the various illustrations of your game board.
Example: pictures of people enduring hardships.
THEME
Theme is the overall idea of the literary work. It is UNIVERSAL.
Universal theme means that most people can relate to the overall idea.
What are some of the themes of Black Boy?
Poverty, racism, and alienation.

Theme will be the consequences of landing on various spots on the game board.
Example: While working in the optical factory for Mr. Clark, Richard is set up by Pease to force him to leave. Pick a "figurative language" card. Answer correctly, move ahead to Memphis. Answer incorrectly, lose a turn.

Step III
Locate two examples in the text of each of the following figures of speech:
Personification
Metaphor
Simile
Irony
Imagery

Figurative language
Figurative language will be a set of cards or a list of questions. Each game must include at least two examples of the following:
Personification
Giving human like qualities to something not human
Figurative language
Metaphor
Comparing two unlike things that share a similarity
Simile
Comparison using "like" or "as"

Figurative language
Imagery
Creating a picture with words, pertaining to the senses.
Irony
an expression in which the use of words is the opposite of the thought in the speaker's mind

 Step IV :Vocabulary in context
Find ten words in the text which you do not know the meaning of.
Vocabulary in context
Using clues within the paragraph to understand the meaning of a word

Vocabulary in context
Vocabulary in contextwill also be a set of cards or list of questions.
Write down the sentences around the word to have the player identify the meaning of the word from several choices.
Vocabulary in context
Example:"Each event spoke with a cryptic tongue. And the moments of living slowly revealed their coded meaning."
Cryptic most likely means:
a.Mysterious
b. Intelligent
c. impulsive

Step VReading Comprehension
Reading Comprehension will also be a set of cards or list of questions.
Create 10 questions about the understanding of the story.

Step VI
Create a set of directions for your project. Directions should be written using all of the standards of English.
They should be clear and comprehensible to all players.
Cards (questions) must include an answer key.
Quality of Your Project
Neat
Creative
Accurate (to the novel)
Comprehensible (understandable)
All group members know the correct responses to all questions on figures of speech, comprehension, and vocabulary in context.

Who will assess your board game?
Your fellow classmates.
What tools will be used for assessment?
Groups will exchange game boards and play.
Groups will use a rubric for scoring.
Groups will report their assessment to the class.

Time Frame
Week 1:
Wednesday and
Thursday: Introduction to project
Meet With Partners.
Plan Due by Friday
Week 2:
Gather all information for project.
Collect all materials and supplies.
In class and home work on project


Trimester: Cycle:

Open Response Question: Describe the social class to which Wright belonged at various periods in his life. What does the novel illustrate about social mobility? How was Wright's life affected?

1. Objective for 2 week cycle:
-Autobiography as a catalyst to think about how our lives are shaped by law and custom, by ethnic encounters and interracial negotiations, by desire and physiological defeat and intrepidity
-Interdisciplinary / History and Social Studies
-Folk History
-Answering ORQ
-Reading comprehension
-Figurative language in context: metaphor, symbolism, and personification
- Elements of fiction in context: Setting, Characterization, Tone
- Universal Theme

2. Activities:

Ø ORQ
Ø Read Wright's essay "The Ethics of Living Jim Crow" in Uncle Tom's Children. Discuss how the nature of Wright's education and social norms might illustrate the tension that still exists between the ideals of classroom education and what students actually learn in the world beyond the school.
What is a folk history? What are the implications for how we came to understand history if Wright's book is considered a valid example?
Ø Internet research
Ø Discussion/Shared inquiry
Ø Cooperative learning groups
Ø Note taking
Ø Reading
Ø Responding in writing to comprehension questions
Ø MCAS like assessment

Day 1

Ø Bell work: Read the introduction to Black Boy by Jerry Ward, Jr.
And respond to the introduction worksheet.

Ø Discuss Bell Work and give background information on Wright.

Ø Begin reading chapter one.

Ø HW: Worksheet I

Day 2:
Ø Bell work: On page 7, Wright states, "Each event spoke with a cryptic tongue. And moments of living slowly revealed their coded meaning." What does he mean by this? Choose one of the images listed on pages seven through nine and explain in terms of this statement.
Ø Discuss and share bell work.
Ø Continue reading chapter one
Ø HW: work sheet II.

Day 3

Ø Bell work:. List 5 character traits of Young Richard. Quote the text to support each trait listed.
Ø Discuss Richard's character traits: emphasis on ALIENATION.

Ø Begin reading Chapter II

Ø Highlight page 37 paragraph two. Discuss the inference to slavery and the destruction of a culture.

Day 4:

Ø Bell work: Locate 3 incidents in the novel in which Richard experiences alienation.
Ø Discuss Bell Work
Ø Continue reading chapter II
Ø HW: Worksheet # III

Day 5
Ø Bell work : Respond to questions on Worksheet #IV
Ø Discuss Bell Work
Ø Read the rest of chapter II
Ø HW: Summarize Chapter II

Day 5
Ø Bell work : Respond to questions on Worksheet #IV
Ø Discuss Bell Work
Ø Read the rest of chapter II
Ø HW: Summarize Chapter II
Day 5
Ø Bell Work: ORQ
Ø Begin Reading Chapter III
Ø

3. Teaching Methodologies:

Ø Lecture/ Direct Instruction
Ø Note taking/ Templates
Ø Group discussion/ Shared Inquiry
Ø Internet research
Ø Reading aloud
Ø Exemplars
Ø Rubrics

4. Resources:

Ø Black Boy by Richard Wright
Ø Power Point and/or overhead transparencies
Ø Internet -http://www.pbs.org/rwbb/

5. Vocational and Academic Integration

Ø Final Assessment Project will be a game board in which students will demonstrate their understanding of all aspects of the novel.
IT (game may be computer game) BT (marketing) GA (design) Carpentry (construction).

6. Homework

Homework will be assigned on a daily basis. Homework will be written exercises that reinforce the concepts of daily lessons.

7. Evaluation:

Ø Homework
Ø Class Participation
Ø ORQ essays
Ø Comprehension worksheets
Ø MCAS like assessment
Ø Game Project

1. Objective for 2 week cycle:
Mastery of
-Reading comprehension
-Figurative language
-Elements of fiction:
-Vocabulary in Context

2. Activities:
Ø Cooperative learning groups
Ø Creating a product (game) based on a novel
Ø Presentation
Ø Assessing Peer Work
Ø
3. Teaching Methodologies:
Ø Exemplars
Ø Rubrics

4. Resources:
Ø Black Boy by Richard Wright

5.Vocational and Academic Integration
Ø Final Assessment Project will be a game board in which students will demonstrate their understanding of all aspects of the novel.
IT (game may be computer game) BT (marketing) GA (design) Carpentry (construction).

6. Homework
Homework will be assigned on a daily basis. Homework will be written exercises that reinforce the concepts of daily lessons.

7. Evaluation:

Ø Game Project

Introduction Worksheet

1) Based on the introduction, what do you think the universal theme(s) of Black Boy is (are)?

2) What was Black Boy originally titled?

3) What was Wright's purpose in writing this autobiography?

4) What does Jerry Ward Jr. state about contribute to the success of this novel?

5) Based on the title and the subtitle, what do you suppose this novel is about?

6) Define autobiography.

Name___________________________ Work Sheet I

1.Black Boy is an:
a. Example of fiction
b. Example of biography
c. Example of autobiography
2. Richard Wright begins his childhood in:
a. Natchez, Mississippi
b. Chicago, Illinois
c. New York City
3. When Richard was four years old, he:
a. Ran away from home
b. Got the mumps
c. Burnt down half of his house
4. The family moves to:
a. Natchez, Mississippi
b. Memphis, Tennessee
c. Chicago, Illinois
5. Richard and his brother are not allowed to:
a. Play with white children
b. Make any noise during the day
c. Own a dog
6. Richard kills a kitten by strangling it because:
b. he wanted to anger his father
c. he wanted to obey his father
d. hated cats

Work Sheet II

1. Richard begins to associate his pangs of hunger with :
a. the gang of boys
b. his father's image
c. white people

2. While his mother was at work, Richard frequented:
a. church
b. the library
c. the local saloon

3. Richard was taught how to count to 100 by:
a. Other schoolchildren
b. The coal deliveryman
c. The drunks in the saloon

4. Richard's mother encouraged him to read:
a. the newspaper
b. the bible
c. about famous African-Americans

5. When a white man beat the black boy in the neighborhood, Richard:
a. becomes bewildered with confusion
b. seeks revenge

6. Richard shows off his newfound vocabulary by:
a. writing poetry
b. writing the words he learned in soap on neighborhood windows
c. writing a newspaper article about racism

7. Richard and his brother are put in:
a. reform school
b. Catholic school
c. An orphanage

8. On his mother's visit, Richard is given the choice of:
a. staying in the orphanage
b. going to public school
c. asking his father for money.

Work Sheet III
Name_____________________
1. What do you suppose this alienation among his own family foreshadows in the novel?

2. Richard feels alienated from his family. He is fearful of his mother's intense beatings, careful to avoid his father, and deathly afraid of his grandmother's white image. This theme of alienation is one that continues, both in relation to Richard's family, the black community, as well as the white community. This sense of isolation comes out in rebellion, Give two examples of this how Richard rebels.

1.

2.

3. The role of violence in Black Boy is also important in the novel. Give two examples of the theme of violence in the first two chapters.

4. In juxtaposition to the violent imagery, Wright is able to portray a kind of innocence in his childhood years. Cite an example of this innocence.

5. Throughout chapter one, as well as the rest of the novel, Wright places a special emphasis on the theme of hunger. Growing up in poverty, Richard is always hungry, yearning for food and left with a feeling of emptiness. This image of hunger is also used by Wright to display his metaphorical hunger for what?

Worksheet 4

Name_________________________
10 points each:
1. During his stay with Aunt Maggie and Uncle Hoskins, Richard is always surprised to see
a. Whites and blacks get along
b. How much his aunt and uncle loved each other
c. How much food was on the table
2. Richard often stole:
a. alcohol
b. books
c. dinner rolls
3. When Uncle Hoskins fails to return from work, the family learns that white men who coveted his successful business have shot Uncle Hoskins. The family:
a. goes to the police
b. leave for Granny's house
c. hides in the woods
4. Richard mistakes chain gang, mistaking the black men on a chain gang for:
a. elephants
b. zebras
c. police
5. The neighborhood children often sang racist songs about:
a. the white school children
b. the Jewish proprietor of the corner grocery store
c. their elders
6. One night, Aunt Maggie and "uncle" move out in the middle of the night because:
a. his "uncle" was white
b. his "uncle" was a theif
c. his "uncle" killed somebody

20 points each:
7. In school, Richard describes himself using the metaphor "as still as stone" because his feeling of isolation almost paralyzes him. Discuss why there is no sense of friendship or unity among the other black children .
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
8. It is this mistrust that characterizes a large portion of Richard's childhood. In chapter two, we see this evidenced in his unwillingness to trust Uncle Hoskins after he drives the buggy into the water. In chapter one, the same paralysis that occurs in school seems to occur with Miss Simon, who attempts to win over Richard's confidence. This distrust is also seen in Richard's aversion to religion. Unlike his extremely religious grandmother, Richard fails to place his faith in any kind of God. In the previous chapter, we see his annoyance with the preacher who eats all the chicken as well his reluctance to say a prayer for the dead cat. In chapter two, Richard describes his obsession with "magic possibilities:" his own made-up superstitions. These superstitions can be construed as a kind of backlash against conventional organized religion. What does Wright mean when he explains these superstitions as the result of believing he "had no power to make things happen outside of [himself] in the objective world."
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Worksheet 5

Chapter 4

Page 104

Vocabulary in context:
· Secular
· Antagonism
· Docile
· Objectivity

1. Describe the students of the Seventh Day Adventist religious school in Huntsville.

Page 105

· Gratuitous

2. What does Wright mean when he writes "I did not want to be singled out for gratuitous punishment?"

Page 107

3. How did Richard see Aunt Addie's beating as unacceptable?

4. What prevented Richard, at first, from fighting Aunt Addie?

Page 110

5. What literary technique is exemplified by the following sentence:
"God blessed our home with the love that binds"?

Page 111

· Imperative

Page 112

· Annihilation

What does the "Theme of cosmic annihilation" refer to?

Open Response Question: Richard Wright is literally hungry throughout his childhood. Yet hunger is also a metaphor throughout the novel. Explain this metaphor, citing examples from the text where Wright uses figurative language to describe these literal and metaphorical "hungers".

1. Objective for 2 week cycle:
-Autobiography as a catalyst to think about how our lives are shaped by law and custom, by ethnic encounters and interracial negotiations, by desire and physiological defeat and intrepidity
-Interdisciplinary / History and Social Studies
-Vocabulary in context:
-Answering ORQ
-Reading comprehension
-Figurative language in context: metaphor, symbolism, and personification
- Elements of fiction: Setting, Characterization, Tone
- Universal Theme, -Internal/External Conflict

2. Activities:

Ø ORQ
Ø Internet research
Ø Discussion/Shared inquiry
Ø Cooperative learning groups
Ø Note taking
Ø Reading
Ø Responding in writing to comprehension questions
Ø MCAS like assessment

Day 1

Ø Bell work: write down the definitions of internal and external conflict.
Ø Discuss Bell Work
Ø Read Chapter 4
Ø Answer worksheet questions including vocabulary in context.
Ø HW: locate an example of internal and external conflict in Chapter 4.

Day 2:
Ø Bell work: Write a summary of Chapter 4.
Ø Go over HW and Bell work.
Ø Read Chapter 5
Ø HW: Answer worksheet questions including vocabulary in context.
Day 3

Ø Bell Work: Quiz on vocabulary in context.
Ø Discuss chapters 4 and 5, review internal and external conflict.
Ø HW: write summaries of both chapters.

Day 4:
Ø Bell Work: Write down ORQ
Ø Read Chapter 6
Ø Discuss reading
Ø Model answer for ORQ
Ø HW :Respond to ORQ
Ø
Day 5
Ø Bell work: Review notes on the metaphor of "hunger"
Ø Discuss BW
Ø Read Chapter 7
Ø Respond to worksheet on Chapters 6 and 7
Ø HW: Write summaries of Chapter 6 and 7

Day 6
Ø Bell Work: List all of Richard's "Hungers"
Ø Find examples from the text (Chapters 1-7) to support the list.
Ø ORQ on the metaphor of hunger.
Ø Complete ORQ

Day 7:
Ø Bell Work: Read Chapter 8
Ø Write a summary of Chapter 8
Ø Review chapters 4-8, metaphor, and conflict.
Ø HW: ORQ

Day 8
MCAS like test on chapters 4-8

3. Teaching Methodologies:

Ø Lecture/ Direct Instruction
Ø Note taking/ Templates
Ø Group discussion/ Shared Inquiry
Ø Internet research
Ø Reading aloud
Ø Exemplars
Ø Rubrics

4. Resources:

Ø Black Boy by Richard Wright
Ø Power Point and/or overhead transparencies
Ø Internet -http://www.pbs.org/rwbb/
Ø Teacher produced CD

5. Vocational and Academic Integration

Ø Final Assessment Project will be a game board in which students will demonstrate their understanding of all aspects of the novel.
IT (game may be computer game) BT (marketing) GA (design) Carpentry (construction).

6. Homework

Homework will be assigned on a daily basis. Homework will be written exercises that reinforce the concepts of daily lessons.

7. Evaluation:

Ø Homework
Ø Class Participation
Ø ORQ essays
Ø Comprehension worksheets
Ø MCAS like assessment
Ø Game Project

Introduction Worksheet

1) Based on the introduction, what do you think the universal theme(s) of Black Boy is (are)?

2) What was Black Boy originally titled?

3) What was Wright's purpose in writing this autobiography?

4) What does Jerry Ward Jr. state about contribute to the success of this novel?

5) Based on the title and the subtitle, what do you suppose this novel is about?

6) Define autobiography.

Name___________________________ Work Sheet I

1.Black Boy is an:
a. Example of fiction
b. Example of biography
c. Example of autobiography
2. Richard Wright begins his childhood in:
a. Natchez, Mississippi
b. Chicago, Illinois
c. New York City
3. When Richard was four years old, he:
a. Ran away from home
b. Got the mumps
c. Burnt down half of his house
4. The family moves to:
a. Natchez, Mississippi
b. Memphis, Tennessee
c. Chicago, Illinois
5. Richard and his brother are not allowed to:
a. Play with white children
b. Make any noise during the day
c. Own a dog
6. Richard kills a kitten by strangling it because:
b. he wanted to anger his father
c. he wanted to obey his father
d. hated cats

Work Sheet II

1. Richard begins to associate his pangs of hunger with :
a. the gang of boys
b. his father's image
c. white people

2. While his mother was at work, Richard frequented:
a. church
b. the library
c. the local saloon

3. Richard was taught how to count to 100 by:
a. Other schoolchildren
b. The coal deliveryman
c. The drunks in the saloon

4. Richard's mother encouraged him to read:
a. the newspaper
b. the bible
c. about famous African-Americans

5. When a white man beat the black boy in the neighborhood, Richard:
a. becomes bewildered with confusion
b. seeks revenge

6. Richard shows off his newfound vocabulary by:
a. writing poetry
b. writing the words he learned in soap on neighborhood windows
c. writing a newspaper article about racism

7. Richard and his brother are put in:
a. reform school
b. Catholic school
c. An orphanage

8. On his mother's visit, Richard is given the choice of:
a. staying in the orphanage
b. going to public school
c. asking his father for money.

Work Sheet III
Name_____________________
1. What do you suppose this alienation among his own family foreshadows in the novel?

2. Richard feels alienated from his family. He is fearful of his mother's intense beatings, careful to avoid his father, and deathly afraid of his grandmother's white image. This theme of alienation is one that continues, both in relation to Richard's family, the black community, as well as the white community. This sense of isolation comes out in rebellion, Give two examples of this how Richard rebels.

1.

2.

3. The role of violence in Black Boy is also important in the novel. Give two examples of the theme of violence in the first two chapters.

4. In juxtaposition to the violent imagery, Wright is able to portray a kind of innocence in his childhood years. Cite an example of this innocence.

5. Throughout chapter one, as well as the rest of the novel, Wright places a special emphasis on the theme of hunger. Growing up in poverty, Richard is always hungry, yearning for food and left with a feeling of emptiness. This image of hunger is also used by Wright to display his metaphorical hunger for what?

Worksheet 4

Name_________________________
10 points each:
1. During his stay with Aunt Maggie and Uncle Hoskins, Richard is always surprised to see
a. Whites and blacks get along
b. How much his aunt and uncle loved each other
c. How much food was on the table
2. Richard often stole:
a. alcohol
b. books
c. dinner rolls
3. When Uncle Hoskins fails to return from work, the family learns that white men who coveted his successful business have shot Uncle Hoskins. The family:
a. goes to the police
b. leave for Granny's house
c. hides in the woods
4. Richard mistakes chain gang, mistaking the black men on a chain gang for:
a. elephants
b. zebras
c. police
5. The neighborhood children often sang racist songs about:
a. the white school children
b. the Jewish proprietor of the corner grocery store
c. their elders
6. One night, Aunt Maggie and "uncle" move out in the middle of the night because:
a. his "uncle" was white
b. his "uncle" was a theif
c. his "uncle" killed somebody

20 points each:
7. In school, Richard describes himself using the metaphor "as still as stone" because his feeling of isolation almost paralyzes him. Discuss why there is no sense of friendship or unity among the other black children .
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
8. It is this mistrust that characterizes a large portion of Richard's childhood. In chapter two, we see this evidenced in his unwillingness to trust Uncle Hoskins after he drives the buggy into the water. In chapter one, the same paralysis that occurs in school seems to occur with Miss Simon, who attempts to win over Richard's confidence. This distrust is also seen in Richard's aversion to religion. Unlike his extremely religious grandmother, Richard fails to place his faith in any kind of God. In the previous chapter, we see his annoyance with the preacher who eats all the chicken as well his reluctance to say a prayer for the dead cat. In chapter two, Richard describes his obsession with "magic possibilities:" his own made-up superstitions. These superstitions can be construed as a kind of backlash against conventional organized religion. What does Wright mean when he explains these superstitions as the result of believing he "had no power to make things happen outside of [himself] in the objective world."
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Worksheet 5

Chapter 4

Page 104

Vocabulary in context:
· Secular
· Antagonism
· Docile
· Objectivity

1. Describe the students of the Seventh Day Adventist religious school in Huntsville.

Page 105

· Gratuitous

2. What does Wright mean when he writes "I did not want to be singled out for gratuitous punishment?"

Page 107

3. How did Richard see Aunt Addie's beating as unacceptable?

4. What prevented Richard, at first, from fighting Aunt Addie?

Page 110

5. What literary technique is exemplified by the following sentence:
"God blessed our home with the love that binds"?

Page 111

· Imperative

Page 112

· Annihilation

What does the "Theme of cosmic annihilation" refer to?

Open Response Question: Richard Wright is literally hungry throughout his childhood. Yet hunger is also a metaphor throughout the novel. Explain this metaphor, citing examples from the text where Wright uses figurative language to describe these literal and metaphorical "hungers".

1. Objective for 2 week cycle:
-Autobiography as a catalyst to think about how our lives are shaped by law and custom, by ethnic encounters and interracial negotiations, by desire and physiological defeat and intrepidity
-Interdisciplinary / History and Social Studies
-Vocabulary in context:
-Answering ORQ
-Reading comprehension
-Figurative language in context: metaphor, symbolism, and personification
- Elements of fiction: Setting, Characterization, Tone
- Universal Theme, -Internal/External Conflict

2. Activities:

Ø ORQ
Ø Internet research
Ø Discussion/Shared inquiry
Ø Cooperative learning groups
Ø Note taking
Ø Reading
Ø Responding in writing to comprehension questions
Ø MCAS like assessment

Day 1

Ø Bell work: write down the definitions of internal and external conflict.
Ø Discuss Bell Work
Ø Read Chapter 4
Ø Answer worksheet questions including vocabulary in context.
Ø HW: locate an example of internal and external conflict in Chapter 4.

Day 2:
Ø Bell work: Write a summary of Chapter 4.
Ø Go over HW and Bell work.
Ø Read Chapter 5
Ø HW: Answer worksheet questions including vocabulary in context.
Day 3

Ø Bell Work: Quiz on vocabulary in context.
Ø Discuss chapters 4 and 5, review internal and external conflict.
Ø HW: write summaries of both chapters.

Day 4:
Ø Bell Work: Write down ORQ
Ø Read Chapter 6
Ø Discuss reading
Ø Model answer for ORQ
Ø HW :Respond to ORQ
Ø
Day 5
Ø Bell work: Review notes on the metaphor of "hunger"
Ø Discuss BW
Ø Read Chapter 7
Ø Respond to worksheet on Chapters 6 and 7
Ø HW: Write summaries of Chapter 6 and 7

Day 6
Ø Bell Work: List all of Richard's "Hungers"
Ø Find examples from the text (Chapters 1-7) to support the list.
Ø ORQ on the metaphor of hunger.
Ø Complete ORQ

Day 7:
Ø Bell Work: Read Chapter 8
Ø Write a summary of Chapter 8
Ø Review chapters 4-8, metaphor, and conflict.
Ø HW: ORQ

Day 8
MCAS like test on chapters 4-8

3. Teaching Methodologies:

Ø Lecture/ Direct Instruction
Ø Note taking/ Templates
Ø Group discussion/ Shared Inquiry
Ø Internet research
Ø Reading aloud
Ø Exemplars
Ø Rubrics

4. Resources:

Ø Black Boy by Richard Wright
Ø Power Point and/or overhead transparencies
Ø Internet -http://www.pbs.org/rwbb/
Ø Teacher produced CD

5. Vocational and Academic Integration

Ø Final Assessment Project will be a game board in which students will demonstrate their understanding of all aspects of the novel.
IT (game may be computer game) BT (marketing) GA (design) Carpentry (construction).

6. Homework

Homework will be assigned on a daily basis. Homework will be written exercises that reinforce the concepts of daily lessons.

7. Evaluation:

Ø Homework
Ø Class Participation
Ø ORQ essays
Ø Comprehension worksheets
Ø MCAS like assessment
Ø Game Project

Open Response Question: Richard Wright is literally hungry throughout his childhood. Yet hunger is also a metaphor throughout the novel. Explain this metaphor, citing examples from the text where Wright uses figurative language to describe these literal and metaphorical "hungers".

1. Objective for 2 week cycle:
-Autobiography as a catalyst to think about how our lives are shaped by law and custom, by ethnic encounters and interracial negotiations, by desire and physiological defeat and intrepidity
-Interdisciplinary / History and Social Studies
-Vocabulary in context:
-Answering ORQ
-Reading comprehension
-Figurative language in context: metaphor, symbolism, and personification
- Elements of fiction: Setting, Characterization, Tone
- Universal Theme, -Internal/External Conflict

2. Activities:

Ø ORQ
Ø Internet research
Ø Discussion/Shared inquiry
Ø Cooperative learning groups
Ø Note taking
Ø Reading
Ø Responding in writing to comprehension questions
Ø MCAS like assessment

Day 1

Ø Bell work: write down the definitions of internal and external conflict.
Ø Discuss Bell Work
Ø Read Chapter 4
Ø Answer worksheet questions including vocabulary in context.
Ø HW: locate an example of internal and external conflict in Chapter 4.

Day 2:
Ø Bell work: Write a summary of Chapter 4.
Ø Go over HW and Bell work.
Ø Read Chapter 5
Ø HW: Answer worksheet questions including vocabulary in context.
Day 3

Ø Bell Work: Quiz on vocabulary in context.
Ø Discuss chapters 4 and 5, review internal and external conflict.
Ø HW: write summaries of both chapters.

Day 4:
Ø Bell Work: Write down ORQ
Ø Read Chapter 6
Ø Discuss reading
Ø Model answer for ORQ
Ø HW :Respond to ORQ
Ø
Day 5
Ø Bell work: Review notes on the metaphor of "hunger"
Ø Discuss BW
Ø Read Chapter 7
Ø Respond to worksheet on Chapters 6 and 7
Ø HW: Write summaries of Chapter 6 and 7

Day 6
Ø Bell Work: List all of Richard's "Hungers"
Ø Find examples from the text (Chapters 1-7) to support the list.
Ø ORQ on the metaphor of hunger.
Ø Complete ORQ

Day 7:
Ø Bell Work: Read Chapter 8
Ø Write a summary of Chapter 8
Ø Review chapters 4-8, metaphor, and conflict.
Ø HW: ORQ

Day 8
MCAS like test on chapters 4-8

3. Teaching Methodologies:

Ø Lecture/ Direct Instruction
Ø Note taking/ Templates
Ø Group discussion/ Shared Inquiry
Ø Internet research
Ø Reading aloud
Ø Exemplars
Ø Rubrics

4. Resources:

Ø Black Boy by Richard Wright
Ø Power Point and/or overhead transparencies
Ø Internet -http://www.pbs.org/rwbb/
Ø Teacher produced CD

5. Vocational and Academic Integration

Ø Final Assessment Project will be a game board in which students will demonstrate their understanding of all aspects of the novel.
IT (game may be computer game) BT (marketing) GA (design) Carpentry (construction).

6. Homework

Homework will be assigned on a daily basis. Homework will be written exercises that reinforce the concepts of daily lessons.

7. Evaluation:

Ø Homework
Ø Class Participation
Ø ORQ essays
Ø Comprehension worksheets
Ø MCAS like assessment
Ø Game Project

Open Response Question: The last paragraph of the second part of Black Boy : The Horror and the Glory states, " I would hurl words into the darkness and wait for an e echo, and if an echo sounded, no matter how faintly, I would send other words to tell, march, to fight, to create a sense of hunger for life that gnaws in us all, to keep alive in our hearts the inexpressibly human.
Analyze this statement and discuss how Richard Wright's life exemplifies this. Cite examples from the text to support your answer.

1. Objective for 2 week cycle:
-Autobiography as a catalyst to think about how our lives are shaped by law and custom, by ethnic encounters and interracial negotiations, by desire and physiological defeat and intrepidity
-Interdisciplinary / History and Social Studies
-Vocabulary in context:
-Answering ORQ
-Reading comprehension
-Figurative language in context: metaphor, symbolism, and personification
- Elements of fiction: Setting, Characterization, Tone, Plot
- Universal Theme, -Internal/External Conflict

2. Activities:

Ø ORQ
Ø Internet research
Ø Discussion/Shared inquiry
Ø Cooperative learning groups
Ø Note taking
Ø Reading
Ø Responding in writing to comprehension questions
Ø MCAS like assessment

Day 1

Ø Bell work: write down the vocabulary words.
Ø Read Chapter 9
Ø Answer worksheet questions including vocabulary in context.
Ø HW: Identify the tone of chapter 9 with support from the text.

Day 2:
Ø Bell work: write down the vocabulary words.
Ø Go over HW and worksheet
Ø Read Chapter 10
Ø HW: Answer worksheet questions including vocabulary in context.
Day 3
Ø Bell work: write down the vocabulary words.
Ø Go over HW and worksheet
Ø Read Chapters 11 and 12
Ø HW: Answer worksheet questions including vocabulary in context.

Day 4
Ø Day 4: Bell work: write down the vocabulary words.
Ø Go over HW and worksheet
Ø Read Chapters 13 and 14
Ø HW: Respond to ORQ
Week 2

Day 5
Ø Bell work: Begin TEST

Day 6
Ø Bell Work :Review Rubric for Project
Ø Power Point: Discuss/Explain Project and Process
Ø Model of Project: Teacher Generated

Ø Day 7-9
Ø Begin working on project.
Ø HW: Project due upon returning from shop weeks.

3. Teaching Methodologies:

Ø Lecture/ Direct Instruction
Ø Note taking/ Templates
Ø Group discussion/ Shared Inquiry
Ø Internet research
Ø Reading aloud
Ø Exemplars
Ø Rubrics

4. Resources:

Ø Black Boy by Richard Wright
Ø Power Point and/or overhead transparencies
Ø Internet -http://www.pbs.org/rwbb/
Ø Teacher produced CD

5. Vocational and Academic Integration

Ø Final Assessment Project will be a game board in which students will demonstrate their understanding of all aspects of the novel.
IT (game may be computer game) BT (marketing) GA (design) Carpentry (construction).

6. Homework

Homework will be assigned on a daily basis. Homework will be written exercises that reinforce the concepts of daily lessons.

7. Evaluation:

Ø Homework
Ø Class Participation
Ø ORQ essays
Ø Comprehension worksheets
Ø MCAS like assessment
Ø Game Project

Black Boy Chapter 5

1. What does Wright mean when he states: "my knowledge of feeling was far greater than my knowledge of fact."?
2. Vocabulary in context:
Emphatically (page 125)
3. "To starve in order to learn about my environment was irrational, but so were my hungers." (Page 127) Explain.
4. Give two reasons for Richard's desire to sell the newspapers.
5. What lesson did the soft-spoken black man teacher Richard? What greater lesson may have been learned?
6. Vocabulary in context:
Blasphemous (Page 133)
7. What did Aunt Addie have a habit of doing? What kind of person do you think Aunt Addie is? What was Addie's perception of Richard?
8. What tormented Grandpa throughout his later years?
9. Explain: "Her humanity had triumphed her fear. (Page 144)
10. Please write a summary of Chapter Five.
Chapters 7 and 8
Black Boy

1. Why did "a distance suspicion" come between Richard and his classmates after he wrote and published his story? (167)

2. Explain paragraph 3 on page 169.

3. What is "the white death"? (172)

4. Why do you suppose Uncle Tom does not want his children talking with Richard? (It IS NOT because Richard threatened to cut Uncle Tom)

5. Explain the principal's concerns over Richard writing his own speech.

Chapters 7 and 8
Black Boy

1. Why did "a distance suspicion" come between Richard and his classmates after he wrote and published his story? (167)

2. Explain paragraph 3 on page 169.

3. What is "the white death"? (172)

4. Why do you suppose Uncle Tom does not want his children talking with Richard? (It IS NOT because Richard threatened to cut Uncle Tom)

5. Explain the principal's concerns over Richard writing his own speech.

Black Boy Chapter Nine

Vocabulary in context:

1. Contempt (page 179)
2. Chamois (page 179)
3. Overtone (page 186)
4. Breech (page 191)

5. On page 184, explain, " What Griggs was saying was true, but it was simply utterly impossible for me to calculate, scheme, to act, to plot all the time."?

6. Explain Richard's dilemma with Pease and Reynolds.

7. How did Mr. Crane deal with the problems between Richard and Pease and Reynolds?
8. Griggs and Richard talk about "breaking" (pages 185 and 190). What do they mean by this? Where does this expression come from?

English 9/10
Ms. Morton
Black Boy by Richard Wright Chapter 10

Vocabulary in context:
1. Implacable (p. 194)
2. Justification (p. 194)
3. Placating (p. 195)
4. Baffling (p. 196)
5. Transgression (p. 195)
6. Larcenous (p. 201)

7. What is the wound Richard is referring to on page 194, paragraph 2?

8. What type of figure of speech is being used in the reference to the wound on page 194, paragraph 2?

9. Please reread the last paragraph on page 196 (continues on page 197). Explain what Richard means when he states, ". . .they knew unerringly what to aspire to and what not to aspire to."

10. What is meant by "And the was the possibility that if I were caught I would never reach jail." (p. 199 paragraph 2)

11. Paraphrase paragraph 2 on page 200.

12. Explain paragraph 3 on page 203.
Black Boy by Richard Wright Chapter 11 Ms. Morton English Jan 31, 2001

1. Explain what Mrs. Moss means in the last paragraph of page 209.
2. Why would Richard have expected Bess to act the way she did on a Mississippi plantation and not in Memphis, Tenn.? (page 219)
3. Define naïve as it is used in context. (page 219)
4. What took place between the street boy and Richard? What did Richard learn through this encounter?

Introduction Worksheet

1) Based on the introduction, what do you think the universal theme(s) of Black Boy is (are)?

2) What was Black Boy originally titled?

3) What was Wright's purpose in writing this autobiography?

4) What does Jerry Ward Jr. state about contribute to the success of this novel?

5) Based on the title and the subtitle, what do you suppose this novel is about?

6) Define autobiography.

Name___________________________ Work Sheet I

1.Black Boy is an:
a. Example of fiction
b. Example of biography
c. Example of autobiography
2. Richard Wright begins his childhood in:
a. Natchez, Mississippi
b. Chicago, Illinois
c. New York City
3. When Richard was four years old, he:
a. Ran away from home
b. Got the mumps
c. Burnt down half of his house
4. The family moves to:
a. Natchez, Mississippi
b. Memphis, Tennessee
c. Chicago, Illinois
5. Richard and his brother are not allowed to:
a. Play with white children
b. Make any noise during the day
c. Own a dog
6. Richard kills a kitten by strangling it because:
b. he wanted to anger his father
c. he wanted to obey his father
d. hated cats

Work Sheet II

1. Richard begins to associate his pangs of hunger with :
a. the gang of boys
b. his father's image
c. white people

2. While his mother was at work, Richard frequented:
a. church
b. the library
c. the local saloon

3. Richard was taught how to count to 100 by:
a. Other schoolchildren
b. The coal deliveryman
c. The drunks in the saloon

4. Richard's mother encouraged him to read:
a. the newspaper
b. the bible
c. about famous African-Americans

5. When a white man beat the black boy in the neighborhood, Richard:
a. becomes bewildered with confusion
b. seeks revenge

6. Richard shows off his newfound vocabulary by:
a. writing poetry
b. writing the words he learned in soap on neighborhood windows
c. writing a newspaper article about racism

7. Richard and his brother are put in:
a. reform school
b. Catholic school
c. An orphanage

8. On his mother's visit, Richard is given the choice of:
a. staying in the orphanage
b. going to public school
c. asking his father for money.

Work Sheet III
Name_____________________
1. What do you suppose this alienation among his own family foreshadows in the novel?

2. Richard feels alienated from his family. He is fearful of his mother's intense beatings, careful to avoid his father, and deathly afraid of his grandmother's white image. This theme of alienation is one that continues, both in relation to Richard's family, the black community, as well as the white community. This sense of isolation comes out in rebellion, Give two examples of this how Richard rebels.

1.

2.

3. The role of violence in Black Boy is also important in the novel. Give two examples of the theme of violence in the first two chapters.

4. In juxtaposition to the violent imagery, Wright is able to portray a kind of innocence in his childhood years. Cite an example of this innocence.

5. Throughout chapter one, as well as the rest of the novel, Wright places a special emphasis on the theme of hunger. Growing up in poverty, Richard is always hungry, yearning for food and left with a feeling of emptiness. This image of hunger is also used by Wright to display his metaphorical hunger for what?

Worksheet 4

Name_________________________
10 points each:
1. During his stay with Aunt Maggie and Uncle Hoskins, Richard is always surprised to see
a. Whites and blacks get along
b. How much his aunt and uncle loved each other
c. How much food was on the table
2. Richard often stole:
a. alcohol
b. books
c. dinner rolls
3. When Uncle Hoskins fails to return from work, the family learns that white men who coveted his successful business have shot Uncle Hoskins. The family:
a. goes to the police
b. leave for Granny's house
c. hides in the woods
4. Richard mistakes chain gang, mistaking the black men on a chain gang for:
a. elephants
b. zebras
c. police
5. The neighborhood children often sang racist songs about:
a. the white school children
b. the Jewish proprietor of the corner grocery store
c. their elders
6. One night, Aunt Maggie and "uncle" move out in the middle of the night because:
a. his "uncle" was white
b. his "uncle" was a theif
c. his "uncle" killed somebody

20 points each:
7. In school, Richard describes himself using the metaphor "as still as stone" because his feeling of isolation almost paralyzes him. Discuss why there is no sense of friendship or unity among the other black children .
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8. It is this mistrust that characterizes a large portion of Richard's childhood. In chapter two, we see this evidenced in his unwillingness to trust Uncle Hoskins after he drives the buggy into the water. In chapter one, the same paralysis that occurs in school seems to occur with Miss Simon, who attempts to win over Richard's confidence. This distrust is also seen in Richard's aversion to religion. Unlike his extremely religious grandmother, Richard fails to place his faith in any kind of God. In the previous chapter, we see his annoyance with the preacher who eats all the chicken as well his reluctance to say a prayer for the dead cat. In chapter two, Richard describes his obsession with "magic possibilities:" his own made-up superstitions. These superstitions can be construed as a kind of backlash against conventional organized religion. What does Wright mean when he explains these superstitions as the result of believing he "had no power to make things happen outside of [himself] in the objective world."
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Worksheet 5

Chapter 4

Page 104

Vocabulary in context:
· Secular
· Antagonism
· Docile
· Objectivity

1. Describe the students of the Seventh Day Adventist religious school in Huntsville.

Page 105

· Gratuitous

2. What does Wright mean when he writes "I did not want to be singled out for gratuitous punishment?"

Page 107

3. How did Richard see Aunt Addie's beating as unacceptable?

4. What prevented Richard, at first, from fighting Aunt Addie?

Page 110

5. What literary technique is exemplified by the following sentence:
"God blessed our home with the love that binds"?

Page 111

· Imperative

Page 112

· Annihilation

What does the "Theme of cosmic annihilation" refer to?