Category: james baldwin

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Collaborative Project for Literature Classroom

Last semester, I had students construct presentations of terms and historical events in my Early American Literature survey course. I have a posts on the assignment itself and on some of the projects that students created. This semester, I am tweaking that assignment in a couple of ways. Rather than having students present on specific terms and presenting during the last week of class, … Read More Collaborative Project for Literature Classroom

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Jackie Ormes’ “Patty-Jo ‘n’ Ginger” Part 3

In the past two posts, I have written about a few of installments of Jackie Ormes’ Patty-Jo ‘n’ Ginger. (You can find these posts here and here.) Today, I want to wrap up my discussion of Ormes’ strip by examining one final panel. As I did in the previous post, I want to think about these panels in a broader pedagogical conversation, thinking about … Read More Jackie Ormes’ “Patty-Jo ‘n’ Ginger” Part 3

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Jackie Ormes’ “Patty-Jo ‘n’ Ginger” Part 2

Last post, I wrote about a couple of Jackie Ormes’ Patty-Jo ‘n’ Ginger one panel gags that appeared in the Pittsburgh Courier from the late 1940s through the mid-1950s. Over the next couple of posts, I want to take the time and explore a few more and how teachers can incorporate these images in the classroom along with texts by authors such as Gwendolyn … Read More Jackie Ormes’ “Patty-Jo ‘n’ Ginger” Part 2

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Why We Teach: Literature and the Presidential Election

In the Republic, Plato famously claims that there is a longstanding quarrel between philosophy and poetry, even stating that poets are nothing more than imitators and cannot relate truth to their audience, thus perverting them: “the tragic poet is an imitator, and therefore, like all other imitators, he is thrice removed from the king and from the truth.” Ralph Waldo Emerson, in Nature (1836), … Read More Why We Teach: Literature and the Presidential Election

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Colin Kaepernick, the National Anthem, and Progress?

Over the past few weeks, I have seen numerous responses to Colin Kaepernick’s demonstrations during the National Anthem. Last week, an article even appeared on ESPN pointing out which players chose to demonstrate during the anthem in week three of the NFL season by kneeling, raising their fists in protest, or through some other means. Editorials and opinion pieces have appeared in various media … Read More Colin Kaepernick, the National Anthem, and Progress?