Unit 4: The Art of Preserving Culture: A Brief Look into the Culture and Colonialism in Africa
Fall 2013, 15 Days
Rationale:
Africa is the culture that is often viewed as the most detached culture from our own. When we do hear about Africa, it is often dealing with stories of poverty and civil war, particularly in the countries of Nigeria, Kenya, and Sundan. Often times, it is difficult to see a connection between our current day culture and that of Africa. However, much of what has propelled Africa into the state it is in now is because of our culture and Europe’s actions. In this unit, we will primarily be examining the period of colonialism in Africa and how we can still see the repercussions of those events today. We will be reading texts that address this issue of the repercussions of colonialism, however, colonialism will not be the only focus in this unit. While colonialism has certainly influenced many aspects of these countries's culture, they have also been able to maintain, sometimes difficultly, an individual culture outside of their colonizers.We will be looking at fundamental aspects of African culture (particularly that of Nigeria, Sudan, and Kenya) through the study of oral story telling in the Epic of Sundiata as well as examining existing cultural morals with African proverbs. We will also briefly look at an aspect of current day African culture through the stories of Kenyan Olympic runners.
The colonialism aspect of this unit is not meant to be guilt-inducing, instead the purpose is to show a deeper connection between current day Africa and the United States. Like in the European unit, we examine this connection in order to allow students to explore how our actions in America effect other cultures. Education writer David Gall writes that students should not, “treat culture as so exclusively the ‘personal’ property of an individual or group” (22). Essentially, he argues that students should be able to see themselves as somehow connected to thus world culture. In this unit, the connection will be made specifically with Africa. We focus on colonialism in this particular unit because that is by far the strongest cause and effect relationship that we can study, and the after effects can so clearly be seen in this area of the world.
Textual Materials:
Grammar Focus: Prepositional Phrases
This lesson will be about the use of prepositional phrases, including the misuse of prepositions at the end of a sentence. Students will examine passages from the reading as well as writing grammar poetry.
Calendar: 15 Days
Africa is the culture that is often viewed as the most detached culture from our own. When we do hear about Africa, it is often dealing with stories of poverty and civil war, particularly in the countries of Nigeria, Kenya, and Sundan. Often times, it is difficult to see a connection between our current day culture and that of Africa. However, much of what has propelled Africa into the state it is in now is because of our culture and Europe’s actions. In this unit, we will primarily be examining the period of colonialism in Africa and how we can still see the repercussions of those events today. We will be reading texts that address this issue of the repercussions of colonialism, however, colonialism will not be the only focus in this unit. While colonialism has certainly influenced many aspects of these countries's culture, they have also been able to maintain, sometimes difficultly, an individual culture outside of their colonizers.We will be looking at fundamental aspects of African culture (particularly that of Nigeria, Sudan, and Kenya) through the study of oral story telling in the Epic of Sundiata as well as examining existing cultural morals with African proverbs. We will also briefly look at an aspect of current day African culture through the stories of Kenyan Olympic runners.
The colonialism aspect of this unit is not meant to be guilt-inducing, instead the purpose is to show a deeper connection between current day Africa and the United States. Like in the European unit, we examine this connection in order to allow students to explore how our actions in America effect other cultures. Education writer David Gall writes that students should not, “treat culture as so exclusively the ‘personal’ property of an individual or group” (22). Essentially, he argues that students should be able to see themselves as somehow connected to thus world culture. In this unit, the connection will be made specifically with Africa. We focus on colonialism in this particular unit because that is by far the strongest cause and effect relationship that we can study, and the after effects can so clearly be seen in this area of the world.
Textual Materials:
- Epic of Sundiata (excerpt from World Literature Textbook)
- Passage from Alice Walker's The Color Purple
- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's The Thing Around your Neck
- African Proverbs (excerpt from World Literature Textbook)
- Short biography of Lopez Lomong
- NPR Story: How One Kenyan Tribe Produces The World's Best Runners: http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2013/11/01/241895965/how-one-kenyan-tribe-produces-the-worlds-best-runners
- Excerpt from Tsitsi Dangarembga's Nervous Conditions
Grammar Focus: Prepositional Phrases
This lesson will be about the use of prepositional phrases, including the misuse of prepositions at the end of a sentence. Students will examine passages from the reading as well as writing grammar poetry.
Calendar: 15 Days
Goals:
Students will learn...
Students will learn...
- the definition and repercussions of colonialism
- the use and misuse of prepositional phrases
- how to argue effectively
Reading-Literature
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.1: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.5: Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.6: Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world literature. |
Reading-Informational
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.1: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.3: Analyze how the author unfolds an analysis or series of ideas or events, including the order in which the points are made, how they are introduced and developed, and the connections that are drawn between them. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language of a court opinion differs from that of a newspaper). CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.8: Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify false statements and fallacious reasoning. |
Writing
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3 above.) CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.5: Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1–3 up to and including grades 9–10 here.) CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.6: Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.10: Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences. |
Speaking and Listening
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.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. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.2: Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.3: Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, identifying any fallacious reasoning or exaggerated or distorted evidence. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.4: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and task. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.5: Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.6: Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate. (See grades 9–10 Language standards 1 and 3 here for specific expectations.) |
Language
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.9-10.1: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.9-10.2: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.9-10.3: Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening. |
Activities:
Opinionaire
Class Debate
Round Robin Peer Editing
Assessments:
Persuasive Essay (Culminating Text)
Homework:
Opinionaire
- Students will complete an opinionaire at the beginning and end of the unit. This will be based on common stereotypes surrounding the people of Africa.
- Students will be given a semi blank note sheet (more blank than from the previous activity and will be expected to find various information about the history and current day situation in Africa. The topics will include but not be limited to…
- · Colonialism- what is it and how has this been seen in Africa
- · History of Native People- Sudan, Nigeria, and Kenya in particular
- · Current political situations in Nigeria, Sudan, and Kenya.
- They will pair up and search the internet for this information. They will have most of class to do this.
- After finding the information, students must present findings to class (Test questions will be created from student presentations).
- This epic was originally passed down through each generation by means of oral story telling. This activity will involve interviewing a family member or friend who has been involved in war or some sort of natural disaster. Students will interview this family member, somehow record the interview, and share it with the class.
- Students will also have to write a brief ½ page reflection on how their interview experience relates to the Epic of Sundiata.
Class Debate
- Students will read the short story “Cell One” from The Thing Around Your Neck. This story has many instances of right versus wrong actions. Students will be divided into groups of 4 and will have majority of the class period to come with an argument either justifying or condemning an action taken in the story. They will then argue against their opposing team.
- This will provide as scaffolding for the Persuasive Essay.
- On Halloween, students will be asked to research an African ghost story. On Halloween Day we will come together as a class and tell these ghost stories for the last 20-30 minutes of class. Students will not be expected to memorize these stories, however, the purpose of this activity is to help students work on their public speaking skills.
- Working with a partner or small group, students will choose an African proverb from their textbook. They will then have to write a short fable that illustrates the “moral” from their chosen proverb.
- They will present this to the class if they wish.
Round Robin Peer Editing
- Students will split into groups of 3
- Once students pass their paper to the left, they must first read over the paper and correct grammatical errors involving commas, indirect/direct objects, and prepositional phrases.
- Then, students will pass once more to the left and made suggestions according to content.
- Students will read about the life of Olympic runner Lopez Lomong and listen to an NPR story regarding Kenyan runners.
- They will then get with a partner and fill out a sheet in which they will be required to make inferences about Kenyan culture from these two stories.
- Students will then use this worksheet to create a short 5 minute presentation regarding these inferences. These will be presented to the class.
- Can colonialism be connected to this?
- Students will hold a Socratic Seminar regarding many of the topics we’ve discussed throughout this unit, including colonialism, African culture, The Thing Around Your Neck, and Lopez Lomong.
- Students will fill out a Socratic Seminar sheet before coming to class.
Assessments:
Persuasive Essay (Culminating Text)
- Students will choose one piece of literature that we have read during this unit. It could be a short story from The Thing Around Your Neck, the Lopez Lomong biography, or the NPR story. Students will choose an issue or moral dilemma that is presented in that piece. They will then write a persuasive essay arguing either for or against the issue or moral dilemma.
- Students will also have to argue whether or not colonialism has played a role in this dilemma, whether it has directly or indirect effected the situation. This will be entirely a student based decision with no right or wrong answer.
- While students may choose whichever topic they want, they will each have to clear these topics with me.
- Paper will be 2-3 pages, Times New Roman 12 point font, etc.
- Students will be graded on all grammar focuses (including this unit) up until this point
- Students will be required to write a ½ page reflection on their writing process for this paper.
- Why is this a culminating text? Students will be learning about the cause and effect relationship between colonialism and Africa's current culture. This may be an instance where students may not agree. This paper allows them to examine everything we've talked about regarding African culture as well as testing their ability to argue effectively.
Homework:
- Each night, students will be asked to complete reading from The Thing Around your Neck. For each short story, a student will have to complete two entries in a Double Entry Journal. In this assignment, they will have to identify a quote or event that they connected to or made them think.
- We will post these quotes at the beginning of every class on a giant quote wall.