Course Recap for March 29

Tim Tingle's How I Became a Ghost: A Choctaw Trail of Tears Story
Today at the beginning of class you took a short reading quiz over the novel. I then asked you to spend a bit of time writing in response to a passage, a discussion question, or a topic. I asked each person to write a page number of a significant passage on the board next to the topics of interest I listed: grief, loss, and death in children's literature; historical violence and trauma; place; and spirituality, religion, and cultural myth. We then spent some time as a large group discussing Tingle's How I Became a Ghost. After our discussion, I gave a short presentation on historical fiction for young readers. You can access that presentation HERE.

Critical Approaches to How I Became a Ghost: Reese
After our break, I asked you to break into small groups to work on some literary interpretation exercises related to your reading. One group worked on narration in Tingle's novel; one group synthesized Debbie Reese's blog and her reviews of Tingle's work; and another group worked on a comparative chart to break down the uses of historical fiction and trauma in Woodson's Brown Girl Dreaming and Tingle's How I Became a Ghost, spirituality and religion in Blume's Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret and Tingle's HIBAG, and/or cultural myth in Yang's American Born Chinese and Tingle's HIBAG. You can access that exercise HERE.

Important Due Dates Coming Up...
At the very end of class, I gave you some time to ask questions, vet sources, and/or seek assistance from myself or a peer in relation to your poster proposal. Your final poster proposal is due at the beginning of class next week. IF YOU DO NOT TURN IN A POSTER PROPOSAL, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PRESENT YOUR POSTER. Remember, this project is worth 20% of your final grade (the proposal alone is worth 5% of your final grade). I strongly suggest you see me if you have any questions. You can access the grading rubric for your poster proposal HERE and on the left hand side of the course blog under course documents. On April 12, we will NOT have class. Instead, you will meet with me individually for 30 minutes to discuss your poster proposal and your final writing project. I handed around an individual conference sign up sheet during class today. You can find the filled in schedule HERE and on the left hand side of the course blog. You should also keep in mind that your project planning outline for your final writing assignment is due in your individual conference on April 12. We will talk more about this in class next week.

Key Questions From Class
How is narration figured in How I Became a Ghost? What narrative mode, style, and medium are utilized by the author and to what effect? What is the function of the historical narrative for young readers? What are the defining features of historical fiction for children? What is the role of trauma in literature for young readers?

Homework

• POSTER PROPOSAL FINAL DRAFT DUE at the beginning of class next week
• Read Cece Bell's El Deafo
• Read Elizabeth A. Wheeler's "No Monsters in This Fairy Tale: Wonder and the New Children's Literature" (this is a secondary text that is about a different primary text than the one you are reading for next week, but pay close attention to the discussion of the models of disability and think about how they could apply to a discussion of Bell's comic)