Assignment for Tuesday, Sept.26, Monday, Oct. 2, and Tuesday, Oct. 3

For Tuesday (Day 3): Turn in the STP Action Plan. Email it to mrmontasmph@gmail.com before the start of class. Also, write two prompts for a writing piece about Coates's Between the World and Me. These prompts should fit at least one of the following categories: analytical (wherein you analyze some aspect of Coates's writing style or argument), creative (which involves writing personally or creatively in response to the book; this should be nonfictional, but it does not have to address race—you could, for example, write about another issue that is important to you, but employ some of Coates's writing strategies), or authentic (which means you come up with another way to write about Coates's book that is authentic and genuine for you, especially with regard to your audience and purpose—among many possibilities, a letter could fit this response, but you would still need to specify a topic for the letter, and maybe even an audience). You can expect this piece to be at least three pages long.

While we're in New York City for the senior class trip, the academic calendar continues at MPH, so it will be a Day 1 when we return to school on Monday, October 2.

So, for Monday (Day 1) and Tuesday (Day 2): From the documents listed below, read three of the reviews of Between the World and Me; then read the last text, which is an excerpt from Vivian Gornick's book The Situation and the Story (it's a book about writing memoirs), which will be helpful for understanding some aspects of Coates's writing, and for your own personal writing.

"Loaded Dice" (London Review of Books)
"Ta-Nehisi Coates's Between the World and Me" (New York Times Book Review)
"Ta-Nehisis Coates and a Generation Waking Up" (The New Yorker)
"Letter of Despair" (The Economist)
"Why Ta-Nehisi Coates's Between the World and Me is Not the Masterpiece We Hoped For (The New York Observer)"
"A Caricature of Black Reality (The American Prospect)"

The following articles are not required, but essential in their own ways.

First, if you're ambitious, you'll want to read this review essay of several memoirs by black writers, including Between the World and Me.

And finally, here's a profile of Coates that gives more information about his background and also explores the book's argument.

Assignments for Wednesday, Sept. 20, Friday, Sept. 21, and Monday, Sept. 25

For Wednesday (Day 6): Finish reading Between the World and Me (pp.108-152). If you get through it quickly (say, forty-five minutes or so), also work on the action plan at home.

Here is the question you'll write about in class. Feel free to respond to it at home, but you will have time to write it in class. If you do this at home, you shouldn't spend more than twenty minutes working on it: 

In several respects, Between the World and Me charts Coates individual development in relation to the ways race (or "racecraft") works in the United States. How does Coates's perspective change over the course of the book? What remains the same? What does he most want his son (or the reader) to take away from his reflections on race? (Keep in mind, given the length of the response and the time limits imposed on it, you should only devote a few sentences--including quotes--to each question.)

For Friday (Day 1) and Monday (Day 2), read the essays by W. E. B. Du Bois and James Baldwin posted below. As you read them, consider how their ideas and rhetorical strategies might have influenced Coates's writing of Between the World and Me.

Du Bois, "Of Our Spiritual Strivings" (1903)

Baldwin, "Letter to My Nephew" (1962; sometimes published as "My Dungeon Shook")

Letter Writing

Read two or three of the letters posted below. Some letters show the original document; if it's hard to read, you can scroll down for a typed transcript. Pay attention to standard rhetorical features, especially the influence of audience and purpose on the writer's stylistic choices.

To My Old Master
I Am Very Real
We All Wish for Peace (to Anne Frank)
Apology Letter from Madonna
I Embrace You with All My Heart (Camus)

Assignments for Monday, Sept. 18, Tuesday, Sept. 19, and Wednesday, Sept. 20

For Monday (Day 4): Read Between the World and Me, pp. 73-108. Pay attention to Coates's understanding of the state's role in making black Americans vulnerable to physical harm and, separately, his understanding of American history.

Here is the question you will write about in class. Feel free to respond to it at home, if you prefer; you will still have time to write it in class. If you write this at home, you shouldn't spend more than twenty minutes working on it:

Consider Coates discussion of the "below" (pp. 104-105), the following passage in particular: "You and I, my son, are that 'below.' That was true in 1776. It is true today. There is no them without you, and without the right to break you they must necessarily fall from the mountain, lose their divinity, and tumble out of the Dream. And they would have to determine how to build their suburbs on something other than human bones, how to angle their jails toward something other than a human stockyard, how to erect a democracy independent of cannibalism" (p. 105). Is Coates right about the "below"? Explain the ways Coates succeeds or fails to persuade the reader with his discussion of this metaphor.

For Tuesday (Day 5) and Wednesday (Day 6): Finish reading Between the World and Me (pp.108-152). If you get through it quickly (say, forty-five minutes or so), also work on the action plan at home.

Here is the question you'll write about in class. Feel free to respond to it at home, but you will have time to write it in class. If you do this at home, you shouldn't spend more than twenty minutes working on it: 

In several respects, Between the World and Me charts Coates individual development in relation to the ways race (or "racecraft") works in the United States. How does Coates's perspective change over the course of the book? What remains the same? What does he most want his son (or the reader) to take away from his reflections on race? (Keep in mind, given the length of the response and the time limits imposed on it, you should only devote a few sentences--including quotes--to each question.)

Assignments for Thursday, Sept. 14, Friday, Sept. 15, and Monday, Sept. 18

For Thursday: Read Between the World and Me, pp. 39-71. Pay attention to any motifs that emerge in Coates's writing, and pay attention to how he shifts his attention to another subject in this section of the reading.

For Friday and Monday: Read Between the World and Me, pp. 73-108. Pay attention to Coates's understanding of the state's role in making black Americans vulnerable to physical harm and, separately, his understanding of American history.

Here is the question you will write about in class. Feel free to respond to it at home, if you prefer; you will still have time to write it in class. If you write this at home, you shouldn't spend more than twenty minutes working on it:

Consider Coates discussion of the "below" (pp. 104-105), the following passage in particular: "You and I, my son, are that 'below.' That was true in 1776. It is true today. There is no them without you, and without the right to break you they must necessarily fall from the mountain, lose their divinity, and tumble out of the Dream. And they would have to determine how to build their suburbs on something other than human bones, how to angle their jails toward something other than a human stockyard, how to erect a democracy independent of cannibalism" (p. 105). Is Coates right about the "below"? Explain the ways Coates succeeds or fails to persuade the reader with his discussion of this metaphor.

Assignment for Wednesday, Sept. 13, and Thursday, Sept. 14

Read Between the World and Me, pp. 39-71. Pay attention to any motifs that emerge in Coates's writing, and pay attention to how he shifts his attention to another subject in this section of the reading.

In-Class Readings on Charlottesville

You don't have to read these for homework; you'll read these in class on Monday and Tuesday.

First, read one of the following articles:
The New York Times: "White Nationalists March on the University of Virginia"
The Guardian: "Charlottesville: Far-Right Crowd with Torches Encircles Counter-Protest Group"

Then, read one (or two, if there's time) of these articles:
BBC: "A Reckoning in Charlottesville"
Fox News: "Charlottesville White Nationalist Rally Blamed for Three Deaths, Dozens of Injuries"
The Washington Post: One Dead as Car Strikes Crowds Amid Protests of White Nationalist Gathering in Charlottesville; Two Police Die in Helicopter Crash"

Assignment for Monday, Sept. 11, and Tuesday, Sept. 12

For Monday and Tuesday, read the poem "Between the World and Me" (handed out in class, but also available here), and then read pp. 3-39 in Ta-Nehisi Coates's book Between the World and Me. Pay particular attention to Coates's word choice and identify any words that you think are especially helpful in advancing his point. In class, you will respond to this reading in writing at the start of class. (It won't be graded; you'll write it in your notebook.)

Welcome! (And Thursday's and Friday's Assignment)

Welcome to a new school year, and welcome to AP Lang! I'm very excited to guide you through the nuances of studying and practicing rhetoric.

For Thursday and Friday, as we discussed in class, prepare for the in-class essay, which will be handwritten in blue or black ink, on the book you chose to read this summer.