BLOG 21

or the past two days, your class has viewed the I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings film and responded to teacher-constructed questions during your viewing; all participating students received credit for these worksheets.

Now it is your turn to develop questions and make connections between the film and book! With a partner or individually, post five questions you realized you had about Marguerite's story from viewing the film--a question can be formed from something you were wondering about. After you have developed your questions, find the answers in the book! Challenge: Cite quotations to support your answers. Include page number.

Ex. 1. Q: Why does Uncle Willie walk with a limp and what's with his stutter?

A: He was born a cripple and people have always made fun of him.

2. Q: Why does Bailey Sr. have feelings for another woman.

A: He is divorced so he is allowed to.

3. Q: Does Maya want to leave grandma and Stamps behind?

A: No Bailey wants to go but she wants to stay.

4. Q: Why does Bailey say his dad was killed?

A: Because he saw a dead black city man being pulled out of the river.

5. Q: Why does Maya and Bailey crush the presents their dad sends them?

A: They think he just sent them to make them angry and they don't want to see him.

Blog 20~ Maya Angelou

There was such a huge dividing line between the African-American community of Stamps, AK, and the Caucasian community that even the Depression affected them differently. The Caucasian people were richer, and spent their money very freely. The African-American people were already desperately poor, and barely had the resources to keep themselves alive, let alone buy luxury items. So, when the Depression hit, the Caucasian community was affected first, then slowly, it drizzled down to the African-American community.

Answer the five questions from the handout distributed in class.

Then, share in this post whether you would have preferred to be an African-American or Caucasian during the Depression in Stamp, AK, as described in the book.

1. The blacks in the community were hit by the depression two years after all the white people. It really hurt the white people "like a cyclone" but it just seemed to seep into the Black community.

2. The depression did hurt them but not as much as the white people.

3. It did change their view a little when they realized that the depression was not racist and did not only affect the blacks for once.

4. The were still worse off but the depression made more changes to the white community.

5. The white community would probably recover faster only because for the black population the white population would of had to recover because the black community rely on the white community for jobs like cotton picking.

In this time period I would still rather be white only because they are not desperate for food and even though there is a depression they still have money.

Blog 14 Maya Angelou

During our class today, many facts were shared about Maya Angelou: her life, time period, and overall message of her works. Additionally, a definition of racism was shared as well as past and present instances of racism in United States society.

For each category, share one fact you learned from the informative groups' presentations today:

1: Time Period: African-American Experience in U.S., 1930s & 1940s

2: Maya Angelou: Biography

3: Racism: What is it? How has it occurred in the U.S.?

4: Maya Angelou: Works & Publications

5: Racism: Where does it still exist in the U.S.?

One fact should be shared for each category. Five facts should be in complete sentences. Feel free to share more than one fact that caught your attention. If you were absent today, Tues., 2.03.10, research this information on your own to complete this blog posting.

1. The depression had just ended. Also in 1939 Nazi Germany invaded Poland and started WWII. Jackie Robinson was the first African American baseball player in the MLB.

2. She was raped and she acquired her name Maya Angelou while singing.

3. Racism: Prejudice, discrimination, or being against someone because of their race. People were convicted of crimes just because of their skin color.

4. She won a few Grammies for some of her pieces. She published more than 30 books, I Know Wh the Caged Bird Sings being the most famous