Black Boy Activities

Richard's Favorite Movies --

1. Lord of the Rings
Richard relishes the fantastic world of Frodo and company, a sanctuary away from his pressing daily life, strife with hunger, poverty, and isolation.  He feels free in the Shire to explore his dreams.  Frodo's world is tremendously different from the brutal reality of racism, oppression, and poverty for many black boys like Richard in the South.  Furthermore, Frodo ventures on a noble quest to discover himself, a struggle of Richard's everyday.

2. The Amazing Spiderman 2
Richard appreciates Spiderman's personable nature, and understands the gray area that Spiderman exploits as a hero -- breaking the law to save.  Spiderman has the same conflict in making relationships with others in the mainstream as Richard.  Spiderman tries to find a balance so as to not endanger his peers in his treacherous work, and Richard knows that he cannot thrust himself in the social world because he is restricted by guardian strictness and his poverty, despite his desires to do so.

3. The Blind Side
Richard appreciates the silent power of Michael Oher, and empathizes with Oher's struggle in poverty and in finding himself through his passion.  Oher is highly mobile as a youth, and finds success.  Richard understands the way Michael uses silence to convey his beliefs -- Richard does much of the same to resist white prejudice in his numerous jobs.

4. The Thief Lord
Richard revels in the fantasy presented by the Thief Lord, and the mix of pariah and mysticism.  Prosper and Bo in the movie find power on their own, with little nurturing care, like Richard.  The movie represents Richard's rebellious nature, wonder, and curiosity.

5. Slumdog Millionaire
The story of rags to riches through knowledge is inspirational to Richard.  It fuels his questions and dreams.  This movie is miraculous, yet true, and shows how knowledge can elevate one's status in the world.  Richard knows that knowledge is power.

Write That I Poem

Storyteller ~

Write that I am a storyteller

        Playing with fire, igniting a spark

Write that I am a boy

        Under the iron boot of my elders

Write that I discover

        The world is a wonder, and I am breaking out to explore

Write that I read

        To be forever free

Write that I don't believe in God

        Because God is what they have over me, and God is ignorance and conformity

Write that I will not let white people control me

        They cannot oppress me

Write that I am bold

        The scared people cannot bring me back

Write that I will rise

        With words bearing the Southern truth

Instagram Account --

@richardwright2017

Online Dating Profile (Grandma) --
connect.christianmingle.com

username: knittingandjesus1@gmail.com
password: Jesuslovesu2

Abstract Art --

Symbols include zebras gradually losing their identity as the chain gang progresses, and Richard's early distinctly black and white thought processes.  The art also shows the irony and hypocrisy of chain gangs and oppression among black regiments of soldiers serving their country: America.  The book shows the importance of stories in Richard's life, and the fire demonstrates the potential for freedom knowledge brings.  Other ideas are control and restriction, and the harshness of racism and general.  The water shows suffocation.

Link to Passion Project Video and Spoken Word Poetry

My Video

Michael Lee -- Shelters

Reflect-Write-Share: Power

        Sofia and Harpo are coming into such conflict because of Harpo's expectations, and Sofia's determination to be herself.  She is strong-willed and stubborn, which does not go along with the image that Harpo has of the submissive, obedient wife.  While they both love each other, Sofia tries to resist Harpo's expectations.  She is disappointed that Harpo is so weak that he feels he needs to have power over somebody.  The fight is about Harpo's struggle for the power Sofia has over him, which he feels is not the way a husband-wife relationship should operate.  Throughout his life, Harpo has lived under the whim of Mr. _______.  He wants to finally be higher than somebody.  Sofia is far more powerful in this situation.  She is physically strong, and willful: her determination is in pursuit of a just cause.  Harpo, on the other hand, believes he has power in his position as husband, but Sofia renders this power null.

        Our table believes that the most powerful reaction Sofia could have to the mayor slapping her would be to stare at him in the face, and walk away.  This nonviolent courage elevates individuals over their oppressors in the respect that it fosters for themselves.  However, Sofia was too proud to do that, and her reaction to punch the mayor made a great deal of sense in the situation.  It was quite similar to her dismay in Harpo's attempted enforcement of his gender's role -- the mayor scornfully slapping Sofia showed his prejudice and haughtiness as a white man.  Sofia stood up to these traditions in both situations; however, she lost the battle in this scenario, because of white political power and the public nature of the resistance.  She won the battle with Harpo because of its domestic nature.  Institutional power is greater than individual power, and it's not a choice.

Language and Dialect: Everyday Life

        From recording everyday conversation at my soccer tournament in Rockford, language was largely used with little thought or meaning.  It was casual, indirect, sarcastic, superficial, facetious, and unfortunately, often insensitive.  Yet fortunately, these words only describe the banter of immature teenage boys, rather than that of mature adults.  Observing chatter among adults this weekend, there were substantially fewer diversions from Standard American English, and also in chatter between boys and adults.  The conversation I transcribed took place at Olive Garden, and had many micro-conversations, with little polite listening.  Some of the insensitivity included "Bro, your school's a jail cell," "You girls need to brush your stinky teeth," and "You are hobos without shoes on."  These comments were atypical for everyday conversation, but many of the other conversations that I observed had similar derogatory remarks.  Interestingly, in the conversation that I observed, there was also an omission of the verb "to be," like in The Color Purple.  There is also a good deal of hyperbole present, as well as idioms; for example, "Dude.  The pasta fagioli is to die for.  I get it every time."  Sentences, too, were often incomplete.  One person said, "The breadsticks.  Yes."  Overall, the conversation would have received an "F" on proper use of SAE.

Restrepo Movie Responses

2.  I think the director's choice of intermingling individual interviews with long periods of unedited footage was important for the theme or message of the documentary to be carried across.  First, this technique of excluding an outside narrative voice, and instead using interviews and experiences of soldiers as narration helps the viewer be thrust into war in the way the soldiers were.  As viewers, we come in knowing scarcely anything about the Korengal Valley, just as the soldiers are dropped in like gamepieces to a violent situation, and are forced to adapt.  Also, the choice helps tell the story of the platoon's experiences in the Korengal be complete.  The unedited footage shows the true, uncensored experience of war and its impact on the people involved in the immediate.  However, the interviews are critical for reflection upon deeper meaning into these blurred experiences, that is necessary to completely tell theme and story in Restrepo.  The interviews look into how the experience affected each individual in unique ways, illustrating the inevitable impact it has on lives after the war.  The looking back on it, as Vonnegut argues, is part of what makes us human, and part of the story of war that needs to be told.
3.  Restrepo's platoon faced myriad ongoing challenges in the Korengal Valley in achieving the American agenda.  Perhaps the greatest one was fear.  Fear discouraged troops from fighting and intruding into their enemy's territory; they knew the entire valley was characterized by violence.  Yet fear also made it difficult to overcome biases that might have led to more death -- causing brash actions in revenge that would lead to more death.  Another challenge was pain.  The movie's namesake, after all, Restrepo, is the name of a soldier who died fighting.  A couple of other soldiers were injured or killed, and the soldiers had to be mentally tough to persevere in carrying out the American agenda.  Captain Kearney persuades these soldiers to overcome death and sadness by transforming it into fire against the enemy.  A last challenge could be differences.  Throughout the film, soldiers needed to adopt a unified mindset and follow orders so they would not be killed.  This did cause some backlash.  The platoon needed to become a family.  Yet an even greater challenge was that of working with local elders, who shared different mindsets on the issue than the American soldiers.  The Americans had to realize that the fear of the Taliban was great for the village people, and that cooperation with them was going to be difficult because of threats they had received.  Tension also rose when innocent civilians were injured by Americans.
7.  The showing of the soldiers' individual faces at the end of the film was sobering.  The silence conveyed the idea that sometimes, in the midst of great tragedy and slaughter -- an idea present in Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five -- there is nothing sensible that can be said.  The silence is imposed by fate.  The pictures showed so much more than words, here.  The faces showed, anguish, grief, stoicism, and regret, all conditions of war.  It also pointed again to the importance of the individual, in the face of the mob mentality nature of war.  The viewer could see the pain of every individual, and it had the effect of breeding empathy.  The scene showed the humanness of people involved in war, which is important for the viewer to recognize.

Slaughterhouse-Five Microlabs

Round 1:  "Actually, Billy's outward listlessness was a screen.  The listlessness concealed a mind which was fizzing and flashing thrillingly.  It was preparing letters and lectures about the flying saucers, the negligibility of death, and the true nature of time." (p. 190)

            Context: Billy is recovering from his head wound in the plane crash, and appears listless to the real world...

            Juxtaposition of Billy's Tralfamadorian mind and his appearance in the moment; death and life are meaningless; word choice of "flashing" and "thrillingly"

Round 2:  The recurrence of the motif "So it goes" in the novel makes death seem meaningless, thus making the life of the person who died, or as Billy Pilgrim would likely argue, experienced death, void of meaning as well.  This idea paints every human being as an "it," a machine.  This is in contrast with the argument that Vonnegut is making.  The passivity highlights the inhuman nature of war.  The motif paints war as simply a slaughterhouse.

Round 3: Kilgore Trout's stories aid in carrying out the argument or theme of the text, in providing somewhat cynical stories around the idea of the human condition -- thus encouraging people to act differently; ppl don't like reading books where ppl die and fail, but this is the true world -- the money tree is an example of the portrayal of human greed

Round 4:  The Edgar Derby tragedy, instead of being the climax of the book, is simply another "So it goes."  Despite being the killing of one of Billy's companions in the dramatic death by firing squad, Edgar Derby is just another death.  Slaughterhouse-Five does not attempt to really have a climax in trying to convey a Tralfamadorian-style plot line.  The book jumps around in plot, but goes together like the Rocky Mountains.  Also, Edgar Derby helps shape the idea of fate versus free will, in that Billy likes to point out the superficiality of his death.

Round 5: Showing humanity in times of war is seen as a weakness (pillar of salt) -- people have to move on from negative experiences -- introduces Tralfamadorian concept of time from the get-go.  Billy doesn't have to look back, because there is no back.  Poo-tee-weet at the book's end shows the curiosity of a species as to the destructive force that humans possess.

Round 6:  Vonnegut does offer some hope, and ultimately by portraying war as inhuman, he shows that humans, through utilizing free will, have the capability to end the mindless slaughter that is war.  In particular, I think of the movie rewind: bringing the bombs back through the bomb bay doors, and preventing destruction: it can happen, but with belief and free will.  People must realize how dehumanizing war is.

Round 7:  I disagree that Vonnegut supports a Tralfamadorian view of time.  The consequences for a universe governed by a Tralfamadorian view of time are the deprivation of human dignity and free will, really the things that distinguish human beings from other species.  Vonnegut instead seeks for people to act humanely, respect the lives of beings, and not engage in the massive slaughter that is war.  He wants people to be themselves, and not the Tralfamadorian aliens that have a massive disregard for life.  War embraces a mob mentality.  If people recognize the way that war leads the human condition, they will not go to war.

Quote-Comment-Question

Quote: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom always to tell the difference." (Vonnegut, p. 60)
Comment: This quote brings to light Billy's perspective on life given to him by the Tralfamadorians, where time is the fourth dimension and is cyclical and non-linear.  He believes that when the universe has time, and is made up of predefined, structured moments, it's very difficult to know what one can change and what one cannot.  In many ways, this is also an idea that Vonnegut is attempting to convey in Slaughterhouse-Five.  That people should cherish the good times, and forget the bad -- because there is nothing they can do about it.  Vonnegut is struggling with the idea of fate versus free will.
Question: Can this quote be extended to fit a commentary on life of Vonnegut?

Person 1 and Person 2
Mike: "So it goes."  Both this and the above quote attest to the idea of fate versus free will; Jesse brought up the fact that when Tralfamadorians die, they say this simple phrase because they think not about the poor condition of the person today, but the great life they lived.  This and the above quote, and the idea of the alternate perspective on time of Tralfamadorians in general contribute to the fate versus free will debate.  Vonnegut may share the Tralfamadorian perspective of fate, or that of free will on Earth, which might be more predestined.  This was all fashioned through war, and an ideology of what war brings to us.  The Tralfamadorians may all be seasoned war veterans.  He is using the Tralfamadorian view of time to argue something else.

Person 3
Jacob talked about Jesse's quote about Billy Pilgrim setting the scene, and Mike mentioned the significance of Vonnegut's voice.

War takes from you your humanity; going back in time fixes you.  Chronology matters.  It makes you cynical, and takes from you the free will and innocence of youth.