TUESDAY is the Winner for AP Morning Sessions!

We will be meeting every Tuesday morning started the second week of school during period zero. I know it will be an early morning for most of us, but I know that if you have decided to stay in AP and not just honors, then you are up for the challenge. We will discuss this more at length next week.

Don't forget to complete the last Blog Question of the Week for the Summer.

LAST BLOG QUESTION OF THE WEEK :)

Question #8—The Last One for the Summer

Over the course of the past several weeks I have posed several questions that have started to force you to think beyond summarizing a story. You have had to define terms, deal with sociological/cultural influences, and dissect language. You have had to use direct quotes (should have been done in parenthetical) with works cited/bibliographies. You have also been asked to look at what the Internet has out there in the great abyss about the three literary works The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Grapes of Wrath, and Black Elk Speaks and then come up with your own conclusions beyond those already stated. Some of you have chosen not to complete each assignment or any at all for that matter. However, those of you who have completed the “Blog Questions of the Week” you are well on your way to having three “A” quality summer assignments on top of starting down the road to success in AP Language. For your final summer response, I want you to write an up to 300 word response of what you have learned this summer that you believe will be useful in the AP Language class and what you wished you had learned. Please note that I am not asking you what you expect to learn during the school year; that is a separate discussion all together that will take place at the first zero period discussion we have during the second week of school. I really look forward to your answers and as long as you put forth effort you will earn an “A” on this blog response.

August 8th-15th, 2010 Question #7

Question #7

Spirituality plays a huge role in the lives of many people. The spirituality of Black Elk and the Sioux people are a central theme in Black Elk Speaks. Throughout the book Black Elk tells Niehardt about several visions he has had in his life, but the first—at the age of nine—is the most significant. He believes that this vision contains the key to helping save his people from the white people. In that sense, his vision represents his desire to provide a better life and future for his fellow Sioux. Ultimately, Black Elk considers himself a failure for not being able to use his vision to help his people when they are later slaughtered at Wounded Knee and forced to live on a reservation. It was there that Black Elk was exposed to Catholicism for the first time.

According to Raymond DeMallie in his book The Sixth Grandfather, Black Elk had a strong desire to study other religions, and around 1888, Black Elk began studying Christianity (14). Around 1904, Black Elk was baptized and became a Catholic. DeMallie mentions that there were a couple reasons for Black Elk’s conversion. One was in 1903; Black Elk wasn’t sure what to do with a certain part of his vision. This part of the vision gave him the power to use Soldier Weed to wipe out his enemies, "men, women and children" (14). Another event was the death of Black Elk’s wife in 1903, but the "final straw" came in 1904. Black Elk was healing a sick person when a priest entered, grabbed Black Elk’s sacred things, threw them out, and then grabbed Black Elk by the neck and screamed "Satan, get out!" (14). The priest prayed over the boy, then invited Black Elk to the Holy Rosary Mission. Black Elk began to believe the priest’s powers were stronger than his, and a couple weeks later, he became a Catholic (DeMallie 14).

As a convert, Black Elk took an active role in converting and preaching to Indians on the reservations. He memorized scripture and the teachings of the Church, and in time, he was appointed the position of a Catechist (DeMallie 16). Black Elk was still a holy man, only now it was for the Catholic Church. One missionary reported that Black Elk was responsible for about 400 conversions (DeMallie 26).

It is easy for readers of Black Elk’s history to get angry that he "sold out," but we begin to see that he found a new way to stick close to his people, heal and pray for them and most importantly, keep the community together. Many of the Sioux dances had been outlawed, and they could no longer join together in groups to practice activities such as the Ghost Dance. However, Catholicism gave them the opportunity to sing, dance, pray, and come together as a community. Black Elk saw in Catholicism a way for his people to practice religion within the confines of the United States laws, and "at the same time, he was able to fulfill the traditional role of a Lakota leader, poor himself, but ever generous to his people"(DeMallie 23).

However, for all the success that Black Elk experienced as a catechist, he must have been reminded of his vision and duty to the Six Grandfathers every time a thunder- storm moved in. It must have been a heavy burden to bear knowing he turned his back on his Gods. Black Elk was intelligent, and as he grew older, he realized the need to preserve his vision if not for his people now, then for the Sioux of tomorrow (DeMallie 28).

So, the question is how did the simple three-word phrase: “Satan, get out!” change an entire culture of people? Was it the words themselves? Was it how they were said? Was it who said them? Was it to who they were said? What role do other context clues play?

Remember next week (question 8) will be our last “Blog Question of the Week”.

Classroom Supplies

Banked Extra Credit*

If you are looking for a way to get a little extra cushion** from the very first day of school and want to do your shopping while there are great "back to school" specials abound, then check out the following list...

• Notebook Paper (College Ruled 8 1/2" x 11")
• 3-Ring Binders of Various Sizes
• Tab Dividers
• Clear Sheet Protectors
• Paper Clips (Jumbo Sized)
• Binder Clips (Various Sizes)
• Lined Index Cards (White or Colored)
• White Out Correction Tape
• Three hole punch
• Stapler
• Staples
• Kleenex
• Ricola Cough Drops
• Non-Latex Band Aids
• Water
• Dixie Cups (bathroom size)
• Clorox Wipes
• Hand Sanitizer
• Paper Towels
• Plastic Utensils
• Paper Plates
• Candy (Individually Wrapped/Snack Sized Like Halloween Candy) for games
• Granola Bars/Cereal Bars/100 Calorie Packs etc. for the starving students who find their way to my classroom
• Teen novels for the classroom library

These are all things that you may have used in my classroom in the past, and will probably continue to do so this up coming year. Banked Extra Credit Points will be awarded according to the estimated value of items donated.

*Remember that "Banked Extra Credit" is extra credit that is earned for non-academic things/help/activities (i.e., bringing in and donating some of the above supplies, help setting up or cleaning up the classroom, organizing a fund raiser for CSF/NHS etc.). A student can withdraw from their banked extra credit at the end of the term to have the balance added into their course grade if and only if they do not have any missing assignments for the semester. Banked extra credit from the first semester may be rolled over to the second semester.

**Banked Extra Credit can not exceed 5% of total grade for the semester.

Staying in Touch

Contacting Me While Abroad

I told you that I would still be blogging while away :) If you need to contact me while I’m away from access to SBHS, please e-mail me via tgorourke@verizon.net or submit a comment on the blog. However, continue to send your assignments to torourke@stbernardhs.com.

August 2nd-August 8th, 2010 Question 6

Question #6

Black Elk Speaks is the narrative of the life and times of a Sioux medicine man named Black Elk. This book was created as a dissertation study of the Sioux people by John Neihardt in the early 1930's. In order for Neihardt to conduct his research he either had to learn how to speak Lakota (a dialect of the Sioux language) or find someone who could translate Lakota into English. Neihardt found Ben Black Elk who was the son of Black Elk. Ben helped Neihardt to translate Black Elk's life's story into English. Neihardt then told his own daughter Black Elk's stories and she wrote down what he said. However, because the book shows John Neihardt as the author of Black Elk Speaks and not just the editor, there has been a controversy in academic circles and native circles as to the accuracy of the story from Black Elk's point of view. The primary argument made is that Neihardt, being the author and editor, was able to exaggerate or change some parts of the story and did so to make the story more interesting to a white "American" audience of the 1930's and thus more profitable. Thinking about the number of translations (John Neihardt asking Ben to ask his father Black Elk a question and Black Elk responding to Ben who translated to John the answer and then John telling his daughter to record Black Elk's response and then publishers' prerogatives added to the mix), do you believe the final product is effective in telling the world the story of the Battle of Little Big Horn and the Wounded Knee Massacre from the perspective of a Native American? Do you believe that if Black Elk read and spoke English that the book would have been much different? What is the role of an individual's voice in such a story?