Questions that arose for me out of How to Kill a Mockingbird obviously had to do with the issue of prejudice. But, these issues where not part of the disscussion questions that my eighth grade teacher formulated for us. These questions always boiled down to "good vs. evil." The book portrays African Americans as good and the white population as bad. The issue of Tom Robinson raping a white women is a big part of the book. Atticus tells his children to stay on the side of Robinson's because he is an innocent man. Atticus also tell his children that there is good in everyone and eventually good will prevailed over evil. Also, at the end of the book when Boo Ewell tries to kill the children, but goodness prevails and he does not.
House on Mango Street was also focused around good vs. evil. Evil may have seemed to prevail through out most of the book considering alot of people die. The reasons for these people's death had do with the fact that they were Latino. The Latinos in Chicago did not have the same opportunities as whites did. They had poor housing situations, neglected hospital care, ect....
When using these two books in my future classroom, I want my students to not have the same impression I did when reading How to Kill a Mockingbird for the first time. Through out the novels (including House on Mango Street) I want the students to really observe the many themes surrounding these books.
"House on Mango Street was a great multicultural read and I would recommend any teacher to use this book in the classroom."
ReplyDeleteHow would you use this in your room? Would you use it alone, with other texts (such as American Born Chinese or How to Kill a Mockingbird, or would you use this as an opening in presenting multiculturalism as a unit? What types of activities would you implement with this text?
I don't mean to bombard you with questions, but I am curious and searching for these answers as well. I could see my self using this as an opening to propel a unit and perhaps doing this through performance based practices *such as drama). What ideas were you thinking of
I like that you were able to come back to "To Kill a Mockingbird" with fresh eyes and experience it for the great literature that it is. I have never read it before this semester and I was enamored. Now, the task is finding a way to teach it in order for the students to have an experience near to the one that I had.
ReplyDeleteIt's great that you appreciated "To Kill a Mockingbird" more the second time around because it really is a great read, and I agree that it does stir up a lot of questions. I appreciate that you were able to draw the misconception of good verses evil in both texts, and the fact that these misconceptions are racially drawn. Great connections, I would love to hear your ideas for incorporating such texts in your classroom!
ReplyDeleteOne thing to note...I think it's a typo but you've called it How to Kill a Mockingbird.... should just be To Kill a Mockingbird. Also "Bob" Ewell not Boo attempts to kill the kids. Sure these are just typos...it is after all blogging!!!
ReplyDeleteAt any rate, I am also glad that you revisited the text. See the movie too. Great film. I'm sure you'd really love it. Would be interested in finding out more about the approach your 8th grade teacher took (or didn't take) as a lesson...
I think that many of our students will have the same attitude that you did toward reading "To Kill A Mockingbird," and many other novels as well. This is why we need to be energetic, fun teachers and do exciting and interesting activities that include multicultural aspects!
ReplyDeleteYou write, "Questions that arose for me out of How to Kill a Mockingbird obviously had to do with the issue of prejudice. But, these issues where not part of the disscussion questions that my eighth grade teacher formulated for us. These questions always boiled down to "good vs. evil." The book portrays African Americans as good and the white population as bad. The issue of Tom Robinson raping a white women is a big part of the book. Atticus tells his children to stay on the side of Robinson's because he is an innocent man. Atticus also tell his children that there is good in everyone and eventually good will prevailed over evil."
ReplyDeleteThis novel is one of my personal favorites. But I tend to disagree with you on the theme, or at least on the portrait of black as good and white as bad. Atticus Finch is a "man for all seasons" for me. He is, to me, as moral a character as any of all time; he is the epitome of "good." Scout is a role model for so many young girls, and maybe young boys as well. But their characters, and that of Boo Radley, are so complex - and so good. I do not think it portrays black as good and white as not good; I think, rather, it accurately captures people - individuals - for what they are. Some white people were racist; others were not. And this was accurate. It is still accurate. And it is precisely this that makes the novel so enduring in the classroom; it takes the generalizations of racial hatred away and shows the complexity of individuals. This is such an important topic for students of all ages, and TKAM really stands the test of time in its presentation of these issues - issues of humanity.