It is that time of year -- to make and eat mega mode leftover sandwhiches and to ceremoniously dump our decorative gourds. It is time to sound the Jingle Bells and to Deck the Halls. 

It is also time for school to start up and wind down one more time before another break. 

We do have a bit of business to take care of before you're dashing through the snow on a one horse open sleigh. 


​First off, please submit your TEWWG dialog journals. If you are not planning on submitting a hard copy in class, please do so HERE or on Engrade.

We will spend Monday writing a TEWWG graphic essay reflection (oh yeah, projects are due Monday, too, and I can't wait to see your thinking!), doing the gallery walk thing, and checking out the calendar for the next few weeks. It ought to be an easy enough way to pick up where we left off. 

So: I hope your break has been chock full of love and laughter. Looking forward to seeing you Monday! 

Before you do anything else, pretend that a literary analysis and a high-quality arty collage got married and had a baby. OK, that's a graphic essay. 

CLICK HERE to download the TEWWG graphic essay task sheet, and 
CLICK HERE to download the rubric

Here it is embedded: 

Now, A HUGE THANK YOU TO MS. JORDAN, AP LIT TEACHER IN COLORADO, for her emails and insights about TEWWG and graphic essays. 

And finally, here are a few images and models to help you along. These are for inspiration only. Obviously your project has a set of requirements, but aren't these lovely? 

I'm incredibly excited to be embarking on Their Eyes Were Watching God with you. Language and stories amaze me on almost a daily basis, but this story is...well, it's remarkable. 

We do need to build a bit of context and get a primer on the historical backdrop and literary landscape of this novel. 

So, you guys know about "flipped learning" right? Instead of teacher lecturing and so forth IN class, you watch the lectures and so forth OUTSIDE of class? That's how we'll handle information on the Harlem Renaissance and Zora Neale Hurston. 

There are HOURS worth of documentaries and research you could explore. I've looked for the "least you need to know" for now. 

Your task: Watch both embedded videos plus one of your own choosing and take notes. 

Guidelines: 
- Watch the videos I've provided in their entirety. 

- Find one more Harlem Renaissance or Zora Neale Hurston video on your own and watch it. (You may not watch TEWWG analysis or summary videos.)

- Take meaningful and helpful notes. There's no need to write down every.single.thing, BUT you should aim to record relevant, interesting, or meaningful information to build your knowledge and create context for your reading. Notes are due on Monday. (*6th period -- You do not have class Monday due to guest speakers. Please drop them off some time Monday when you're down my way.)

Enjoy! This is interesting stuff. And the beauty of history and literature is learning about the different ways of being a person.