Tuesday, September 17 "Ode to the Only Black Kid in the Class" by Clint Smith

The link to the blog is

Parkerenglish3-19-20.blogspot.com

coming up: new vocabulary Hamlet 1 class handout/ copy below; quiz on Tuesday, September 24

In class: My Last Duchess vocabulary quiz (handed out last Tuesday. Take a moment to review. I put another copy below.
AND: with the exception of those who received extended time, any essays not received are late and will receive a  50. Today is the last opportunity for anyone to turn in your written graphic organizer or cultural iceberg drawing. If you left the drawing in the room, I collected and graded it.  Turn those in NOW, so as to receive full credit...Thank you!

When you have finished, take out your designated ELA notebook. Make sure your name is on the cover.

1. On the first page, write an MLA heading, as you did on your essay. 

2. Take out your chromebook.

3. Take out your earbuds

4. Listen / Watch to "Ode to the Only Black Kid in the Class" by clicking on the link below AND / OR

5. Read the poem (class handout / copy below)Read through Clint Smith's "Ode to the Only Black Kid in the Class". 

6. Repeat step 5
7. In your notebook, beneath the MLA heading, answer the following questions: 

1).How does the speaker within the poem feel he is perceived? Write two complete sentences that weave in text to support your response.

Make sure your response can stand independently. That means that anyone reading your response may infer the question.

2)  Graded class participation grade. Check for language conventions.

"Ode to the Only Black Kid in the Class" by Clint Smith

The poem touches on historical, cultural, and social factors that demonstrate how it feels to be the only black student inside of a classroom or other educational setting. He was the 2014 National Slam Poetry champion,

Smith, Clint. “Ode to the Only Black Kid in the Class.” Watershed Review, www.csuchico.edu/watershed/2015-fall/poetry/smith-clint.shtml

the only black kid in the class  video
you must have earbuds to watch this!

Clint Smith

Ode to the Only Black Kid in the Class

You, it seems,
are the manifestation
of several lifetimes
of toil. Brown v. Board
in flesh. Most days
the classroom feels
like an antechamber.
You are deemed expert
on all things Morrison,
King, Malcolm, Rosa.
Hell, weren’t you sitting
on that bus, too?
You are every-
body’s best friend
until you are not.
Hip-hop lyricologist.
Presumed athlete.
Free & Reduced sideshow.
Exception and caricature.
Too black and too white
all at once. If you are
successful it is because
of affirmative action.
If you fail it is because
you were destined to.
You are invisible until
they turn on the Friday
night lights. Here you are
star before they render
you asteroid. Before they
watch you turn to dust.

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Hamlet vocabulary 1  Quiz on Tuesday, September 24

1.   auspicious (adjective)- giving a sign of future success

2.   resolute (adjective)-determined, unwavering

3.   mettle (noun)-courage; mettle (verb)- to interfere

4.   dirge (noun)- funeral song

5.   to usurp (verb)- take the place of (someone in a position of power) illegally

6.   to entreat (verb)- ask someone earnestly or anxiously to do something.

7.   to assail (verb)to attack or to criticize

8.   discretion (noun)- the quality of behaving or speaking in such a way as to avoid causing offense or revealing private information.

9.   portentous (adjective)-ominous, fateful

10.                     to ratify (verb)- sign or give formal consent to (a treaty, contract, or agreement), making it officially valid.

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My Last Duchess by Robert Browning  vocabulary                Quiz on Tuesday, September 17

1.   countenance-(noun)  - face, visage

2.   mantle (noun)- a cloak, coat with no sleeves

3.   bough (noun)- a main branch of a tree

4.   trifling (adjective)-trivial, unimportant, insignificant, inconsequential, petty, minor

5.   officious (adjective) -assertive of authority in an annoyingly domineering way, especially with regard to petty or trivial matters.

6.   munificence (noun)- generosity  altruism,  beneficence,  bounteous, charitableness, largesse, unselfishness, great-heartedness

7.   dowry (noun)- marriage settlement

8.   to avow (verb)-to acknowledge, proclaim, admit, declare

9.   earnest (adjective) -showing sincere and intense conviction

10.                     dramatic monologue (noun) -poetry written in the form of a speech of an individual character