English 12 A/B TEST #3
What is "The Voodoo of Hell's Half-Acre" about?
"The Voodoo of Hell's Half-Acre" is a story about a villain who wanted a widow's home.
Quick Facts about "Black Boy " by Richard Wright
- 1945 - Jackson, Mississippi - An autobiography
Describe the couple's house Aunt Tee worked in as a live-in housekeeper. Describe what they have.
- A fourteen-room ranch house in Bel Air, California. - A maid who cleaned - A gardener who daily tended the lush gardens. - A swimming pool - Three Cars - Numberless palm trees
Who is Aunt Tee? (Give a description)
- A member of Maya Angelou's extended family - A 79-year-old woman. - Sinewy, strong, and the color of old lemons. - She wore her coarse, straight hair, which was slightly streaked with gray, in a long braided rope across the top of her head. - High cheekbones - Old Gold Skin - Almond Eyes - Looks more like an Indian chief than an old black woman. - She had retired. - She tells stories. A specific story was about her being a housekeeper for a couple in Bel Air, California. - She worked as a maid for 30 years. - Afterward, she spent the next 30 years as a live-in housekeeper, carrying the keys to rich houses and keep
List of chores that Uncle Clark and Aunt Jody gives Richard.
- After school, he had to bring in wood and coal for the fireplaces. - Split kindling and lay a fire in the kitchen stove. - Bring in a bucket of water from the yard so that Jody can cook in the mornings. - After Richard's chores are done, he may spend the afternoon studying.
How are Richard's mother and Uncle Clark and Aunt Jody different?
- Because they assigned specific chores, Uncle Clark and Aunt Jody are very strict and never joke around. (they are decent) - Unlike Uncle Clark and Aunt Jody, he feels a certain warmth from his mother. - Uncle Clark and Aunt Jody talked to him as if he was a grownup.
Rosa Parks
- Civil rights leader - At age 42, she refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man in Montgomery (Alabama). - An active member in the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) - Rosa Parks was not the first person that boycott - Triggered the civil rights movement
Who is Claudette Colvin? Why didn't people support Claudette Colvin as much as they did for Rosa Parks?
- Claudette Colvin was an African American teenager who had refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery city bus (before 1955) - Claudette was 15 and pregnant. - Rosa Parks got more support because she was an older average woman, who follows the law.
What does "tranquilizing drug of gradualism" means?
- Do not expect to gain your rights/everything all at once = slow progress/small changes at a time.
Differences between "Black Boy" and "The Rights to the Streets of Memphis"
- For the story, 'The Black Boy", he fights at school to fit in and for acceptance. His mother is ill. - For the story, "The Rights to the Streets of Memphis", he fights for self-defense. His mother is working.
How did the Montgomery bus worked?
- Front = Whites - Middle = Neutral (Mainly for blacks, however, if a white person wanted to sit there, the row of a black people would have to get up) - Back = Blacks - Illegal for a black man to sit parallel to a white man.
What did Richard have to do, since his mother was ill?
- He became the man of the house. - He had to get a job. - He had to gather coal to heat the house.
Similarites between "Black Boy (2) " and "The Rights to the Streets of Memphis"
- He fights and defends himself. - He had to prove himself - Physical Violence (Fighting) - His family is not really close. - Poverty is a major thing that he faces in life.
What does he fights for in "Black Boy" (2)?
- He fights for school acceptance. "Each new school meant a new area of life to be conquered."
Describe/Explain Richard's experience at Southern Register.
- He was frustrated at first since the editors pushed Richard's compostion book back on his desk and did not read his story "now" or at the moment. - Afterwards, the editor read 10 pages or more of it. - He was disappointed at first because feels like the editor was distant and uninterested. - He wants to be paid and is not getting paid. - He makes a point by saying, "But you're asking me to give you my story, but you don't give your papers away." - He doesn't get paid because he is just starting. - They said "This story will put your name before our readers. - They offered him something more valuable than money. They said, "I'll give you a chance to learn to write." - His story was published and divided into 3 installments/parts.
Due to his mom being ill, what jobs did Richard have?
- His first job was carrying lunches to the men who worked in the roundhouse, for which he received 25 cents a week. When the men did not finish their lunches, he would salvage what few crumbs remained. - He then obtained a job in a small cafe carting wood (He was too young and too small to perform the duties)...One morning, he fell and dashed the tray of food to the ground, since the tray was heavily loaded. - Later on, he found a job in a pressing shop, delivering clothes to hotels, and sweeping floors.
In "The Rights to the Streets of Memphis", how did his mother reacted? What did his mother do when he told her what the street gang did to him?
- His mom said, "Take this money, this note, and this stick. - His mother gave him a stick to defend himself. His mom said, "Don't you come into this house until you've gotten those groceries!"
What is Richard's story called? Why did he create it? Who published it?
- In 8th grade at the age of 15, he wrote a story that got published. - It was called, "The Voodoo of Hell's Half-Acre". - He created the story because he was bored. - It was published by the Southern Register.
In "Rosa Parks" by Douglas Brinkley, who inspired Rosa Parks?
- John Brown, (abolitionist) a white militant, performed radical acts to force the abolition of slavery, including a failed attempt to steal guns from the U.S. arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (Robert E. LEE). - Her grandfather kept watching for the KKK every night with a loaded shotgun in his lap, echoing John Brown's exhortation: "Talk! Talk! Talk! That didn't free the slaves...What is needed is action! Action!"
Montgomery Bus Boycott
- Lasted 13 months (381 days). - 1955 protest action to end segregation on buses in Montgomery, Alabama
What did MLK predict would happen if African Americans were denied justice?
- MLK says, "There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges."
Maya Angelou
- Marguerite Johnson (St. Louis, Missouri) - At age 9, she was raped by a family friend. - The man that raped her was in jail for only a day. - She went mute for approximately 5 years due to her uncle killing the man who raped her. - She lived with her grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas.
Money and Power
- Money and power can liberate only if they are used to do so. They can imprison and inhibit more than barred windows and iron chains. - Money makes you idolize materials. - Money doesn't make you happy.
Why did Richard decided live with Uncle Clark and Aunt Jody?
- Out of his aunts and uncles, Uncle Clark and Aunt Jody lived the closest to the home (located in Jackson where his mother was at), since they lived in Greenwood. This was a few miles from Jackson.
From Black Boy (3)
- Richard Wright lives in Jackson, Mississippi. - He is 15 years old in the 8th grade. He got left-back. - The education system in Mississippi is very low ranked in the United States. - Education is inferior to the rest of the country.
How did Richard lose control when he was intensely beating the boys from the street gang?
- Richard says, "The parents of the street gang (boys) rushed into the streets and threatened me, and for the first time in my life, I shouted at grownups, telling them that I would give them the same if they bothered me." - This shows how he lost control when talking to the parents of the street gang.
What happened after Richard's father left the family?
- Richard was hungry. - Richard's mother had to get a job. - The family life was different. - His mom said to them that they have to learn how to take care of themselves and prepare their own food. This most likely made Richard and his little brother scared.
In "The Rights to the Streets of Memphis", what was Richard's main responsibility?
- Richard would have to do the shopping for the food. This made him feel like a grown-up.
How did the mother feel after Richard's father left the family?
- She was in despair. - She would call Richard and the little brother to talk to them about how they had no father and that their lives would be different from those of other children.
Why was Richard and his brother separated?
- The family decided that Richard and his brother would be separated because: - It was too much of a burden for his grandmother since she was not strong enough to take care of Richard, his mother, and brother. - They had to live with either a specific aunt or uncle for support.
Why did the couple watched Aunt Tee and her friends have fun?
- They have joy when they watch (other people) Aunt Tee (Theresa) and her friends having fun. - The elderly get older and weaker. - The elderly usually are miserable. - Their friends probably died.
What are things that demonstrates how the couple lost their joy or zest of life?
- They lost the zest for life. - They had no joy. - Laughter and relaxation had left the house. - They stopped entertaining and ate dinner hardly seeing each other at the table. - They sat in dry silence as they eat evening meals of soft scrambled eggs, melba toast, and weak tea.
How was life before (when the couple/employer had joy)?
- They use to have entertainment and guests or people together. - When Aunt Tee began the job, she had cooked and served a light breakfast, a good lunch, and a full three or four-course dinner to her employers and their guests.
"I Have a Dream" by Martin Luther King Jr.
- This speech takes place in Washington, D.C. - Over 200, 000 people or 250,000 people. - On August 28, 1963, at the March on Washington.
What did Richard's mother wanted to teach him?
- To stand and fight for himself. - In addition, he won the rights to the streets of Memphis.
Martin Luther King Jr.
- U.S. Baptist minister - Civil rights leader. - Nonviolent resistance and peaceful mass demonstrations. - Leader of the Montgomery bus boycott because he was unknown and new in town for the Montrogmery boycott. - He was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. - A Major Influence on the Civil Rights Act of 1964. - Nobel Peace Prize (1964) - Died on April 4, 1968.
How did Aunt Tee differ from the employers/couple?
- Unlike the couple, Aunt Tee saw them growing old and lean but didn't see herself aging at all. - Aunt Tee became a social maven. She had a boyfriend. - She lives her life. - Her life is an adventure.
What are the FOUR demands/guidelines that the Montgomery Improvement Association wanted?
1) A strict divided line between African Americans and whites. 2) Courtesy (Non-racist) from the Montgomery bus driver 3) Hire Black bus drivers (all bus drivers were white) 4) Everyone seated on the bus should be seated on a first-come, first-serve basis.
What are the 5 basic talents to live well?
1) Have a love of life! 2) The ability to take great pleasure from small offerings. 3) Have an assurance that the world owes you nothing. 4) Every gift is exactly that, a gift. This means that we are not entitled to a gift and we should appreciate it. 5) People that are different from you can be your friends and have fun.
What are the elements of the art of living?
1) Living life as art requires a readiness to forgive. 2) Life is an ongoing adventure. The truth is we know nothing because we don't know what is going to happen in life. 3) Bring all of our energies to each encounter. 4) Remain flexible enough to notice and admit when what we expected to happen did not happen.
James F. Blake
A bully, racist bus driver
What is a paradox? Example of paradox in "Rosa" by Rita Dove.
A paradox is a statement that seems contradictory but is still true. EX: "Doing nothing was the doing"
Literary Devices/Elements in "I Have a Dream"
Allusion (a reference to another work of art): *5 Score Years Ago - Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address *Bible - "The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together." *Song - "My Country 'Tis of Thee" Metaphor (comparison between two things without using "like" or "as"): *Joyous daybreak to end the long night of the captivity. *Quicksands of racial injustice *Valley of Segregation Analogy (used to compare a familiar object to something abstract): Promissory Note *Promissory Note = The Promise of Equal Rights *Life, Liberty, and pursuit of happiness. *Blacks get bad check = insufficient funds *March on Washington = The day to cash the check, a check that will demand freedom and justice. Repetition (used to emphasize and demands for a change): *Go back to _____ *Now is the time ____ *We can never be satisfied/cannot be satisfied ______ *With this faith _____ *Let freedom ring _____ *I have a dream _____ *One hundred years later ____
Who did Richard's brother decided to live with?
Aunt Maggie, who lived and was from Detroit.
Where does Aunt Tee live?
Aunt Tee lived and worked at a couple's house in Bel Air, Calfornia.
Who provides for Richard and his family?
Because Richard's mother did not have a job, his father was usually the one that provides, especially food.
When the James F. Blake, a white racist bus driver, told her to stand up and give up her seat to a white man, what did Rosa Parks do?
Because she was inspired by John Brown and her grandfather, she refused to give up her seat to a white man on a segregated bus, which resulted in an arrest and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
List of racial injustices Martin Luther King Jr. describes.
Discrimination/Oppression African Americans have faced are: - Police Brutality - Segregation signs, "For Whites Only" - Can't stay in hotels and motels - Restrictions of Voting/Nothing to Vote For - Moving from small ghettos to large ghettos
George Wallace
Governor of Alabama (Big Supporter of Segregation)
List of People's Views On His Story, "The Voodoo of Hell's Half-Acre"
Granny - Calls it the "Devil's work" - Because the story is made up, it's a lie. Additional Facts - Granny is extremely religious. If he wants to use the Lord's name in vain, he must leave her house. Mom - Says "You're growing up now and you won't be able to get jobs if you let people think that you're weak-minded." Aunt Addie - Says, "It was a sin for anyone to use the word "hell" and what was wrong with me was that I had nobody to guide me. She blamed the whole thing upon my upbringing." Uncle Tom - Was highly critical and contemptuous. - He said, "The story had no point." - He said whoever heard of a story by the title of "The Voodoo of Hell's Half-Acre". Classmates/Friends from School - Thinks he made up the story - Copied it out of a book - They were convinced that I had not told them the truth because of Richard and his classmates had never had any instruction in literary matters at school; - Also, the literature of the nation or the Negro had never been mentioned. - They would ask, "Why was it published?" Richard would respond: It was published so people can read it. - My schoolmates could not understand why anyone would want to write a story. - They could not understand the title and mood of The Voodoo of Hell's Half-Acre.
What is Richard's aspirations?
He dreamed of going north and writing books, novels. To him, the North symbolized a place of hope and where everything is possible.
How does Richard feel after hearing the reactions from his family and friends?
He feels like he committed a crime/did a bad thing since he wrote a story. At first, he thought that writing would make him more acceptable.
What does he fights for in "The Rights To The Streets of Memphis"?
He fights for self defense.
How did Richard Wright use personification to describe hunger?
He uses personification to describe how hunger is torturing him.
Why did Richard and his family move a lot?
His family kept moving because they couldn't afford rent, since it was high
Why did the Montgomery Bus Boycott ended?
It ended because the Supreme Court ruled that segregation on the buses that were interstate was unconstitutional and illegal.
Living Well. Living Good.
Maya Angelou (1930s)
Who helped formed and organized the Montgomery bus boycott?
Montgomery Improvement Association
What is the motif from the "Black Boy" (2) and "The Rights To The Streets of Memphis"?
Motif (a recurring theme) - Physical Violence (Fighting), Hunger, and Poverty.
Results of NOT taking buses/During the boycott, how did African Americans get around?
Results of not taking the bus: - Horses - The bus costs 10 cents. - Carpool (Taxis) = 10 cents; Because African Americans started to carpool, the Montgomery government raised it to the 45 cents. - In 1921, it was illegal to interfere with the running of a business. Example: Montgomery bus business. Under the law, the Montgomery bus leaders were arrested. - MLK was arrested for two weeks.
Black Boy (2)
Richard Wright
The Rights to the Streets of Memphis (1)
Richard Wright
What was Aunt Tee's occupation?
She worked as a live-in housekeeper.
How does the South differs from the North?
The entire educational system of the South had began rigged to stifle. The state of Mississippi spent millions of dollars to make sure that he and African Americans would never feel hope and believe that anything is possible. (Example: Jim Crow Laws)
In "Black Boy (2)", what happened to Richard's mother?
The mother got ill, had a stroke, and then became paralyzed.
In "The Rights to the Streets of Memphis", what happened to Richard when he was getting the grocery/what did the street gang do to Richard Wright?
The street gang: - grabbed him, - knocked him down, - snatched the basket, - took the money, and - sent him running home in a panic.
How was Rosa Parks dignity shown?
When the white bus driver told her that he was going to arrest her for not giving up her seat to a white man, she replied, "You MAY do that." - May = Giving permission - Her use of "may" rather than "can" put her on high ground, establishing her as a protestor and not a victim.
