English 11 Unit 8-3

English 11 Unit 8-3

Fractured Identities

Culture Clash

.8-1 Due Date ​ 5/6

8-2 Due Date 5/8

8-3 Due Date 5/13

8.4.3 Due Date 5/15

​Objectives

​

• Identify elements of American Indian literature.

• Analyze the structure of a narrative.

• Deleted Discussion objective

• Work in groups to create a digital presentation about a work of literature.

​Forced removal from tribal lands became part of the American Indian identity.

This was the experience of millions of American Indians during the 1800s.

The effects of being displaced from their land and relocated to less desirable places (called reservations) were long-ranging and dramatic. In this study, you will learn about the ways that identity and history intersect in American Indian literature.

​8.3.1 page 1

​8.3.1 page 2

​Be sure to check out the short video (less than 3 minutes) on page 2 to enjoy some Historical Context.

This unit deals with identity among all people. This video helps us understand the Native American identity.

​8.3.1 pages 3 - 4 "On Indian Removal"

​President Andrew Jackson recognized the impediment to settling new lands and thus began a long period of treaty negotiations, in which the U.S. government and its army attempted to persuade American Indians to agree to leave their lands.

Jackson delivered a heavily biased speech to Congress describing how this removal was a win for everyone. Yeah, right!

​By 1838, 16,000 Cherokees remained on their original lands. Martin Van Buren was now president, and he authorized Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Alabama to send a total of 7,000 troops to forcibly remove the American Indians from their land.

The Cherokees marched approximately 1,000 miles from eastern Tennessee to eastern Oklahoma — during the winter, without proper clothing or shoes. This episode became known as the Trail of Tears. More than 4,000 Cherokee people died of starvation, exposure to harsh weather conditions, and illness. Many were children. In Cherokee, the event is known as Nu na da ul tsun yi, which means "the place where they cried."

​After relocation, the U.S. government embarked on a series of assimilationist policies aimed at American Indians. (To assimilate means "to adopt the conventions, practices, and beliefs of others.")

One example of this assimilationist policy was the Dawes Act, which promised land and U.S. citizenship to American Indians who accepted parcels of land and agreed to live separately from their tribes. The result of the Dawes Act, in many cases, was an erosion of tribal solidarity

.

Similarly, after the Civil War, education reformers developed hundreds of boarding schools for American Indian children, where they were taught how to speak English and forced to shed their cultural identity. This boarding school movement was an effort to reduce cultural differences between American Indians and whites.

​8.3.1 page 5

​8.3.1 page 6 The Kiowa people

​The Kiowa people's migration — first by choice and later under duress — provided inspiration for N. Scott Momaday's text The Way to Rainy Mountain.

By the 1800s, however, skirmishes among several tribes forced the Kiowas to an area spanning southeastern Colorado, Kansas, the Texas panhandle, and western Oklahoma. The Kiowas thrived in this region rich with bison and horses. Yet by 1867, the Kiowa people had been forced to move to a 2.8-million-acre reservation in Oklahoma.

​8.3.1 page 7 Myth

​Each tribe had myths that explained some phenomena

and shared similar characteristics. Myths:

• Explain the way the world came to be

• Feature animals, gods, or goddesses

• Portray events from a supernatural angle

• Bring physical elements such as trees and rivers to life

• Teach lessons

Because a myth is passed down from generation to generation, it naturally becomes part of a tribe's identity. Often, American Indian authors incorporate mythical elements in their novels, short stories, essays, and poems.

​8.3.1 page 8

​We are reading an excerpt from N. Scott Momaday's book On the Way to Rainy Mountain.

Because myths are so integral to American Indian culture and identity, Momaday structures his book to give prominence to them. Instead of writing in a chronological style about his journey, he presents three distinct voices:

​8.3.1 page 9

​Together, the voices in the book serve the purpose of a "narrative wheel" as Momaday calls it, but each individual narrative type has its own purpose. Because of the way Momaday used descriptive details and elements of myth, the text can be categorized as literary nonfiction.

Take a look at an overview of the characteristics of each different type of narrative in the book.

Match

Can you match the text excerpts from the book with their narrative type?

• "The twins took up their rings and returned to the grandmother spider."

• "In the autumn of 1874, the Kiowas were driven southward towards the Staked Plains."

• "I made an offering of bright red cloth, and my grandmother prayed aloud."

Myth

Historical record

Personal narrative

• Myth

• Historical record

• Personal narrative

​8.3.3 Read

​Watch the short video as an introduction to your reading.

You won't be able to read the entire book because I can't find it for you. There are 20+ short chapters..... I have found a few of them for you. This is the portion you will use to do the 8.3.8 Write and 8.3.9 Project.

The reading guide doesn't work for this assignment. It addresses the 88 page book and we do not have the entire book.

I will share the document with the portions I have found for you in Chat.

​8.3.6 Study Helps you analyze the book

​Each of the 24 chapters starts with a Myth section..... then goes to a historical information section ... ending with personal narrative... and the three sections are related by topic to explain the lesson Momaday offers in each chapter. He calls this method of story telling a "narrative wheel."

By anchoring his "narrative wheel" in myth, Momaday conveys the importance of myths in his culture and his own personal identity. page 2

​8.3.8 Write and 8.3.9 Project

​We will view the sample project and notice that it is written in three parts..... it details the myth, gives some historical information and then finishes defining Momaday's purpose of that chapter with personal narrative....all three sections are explained and connected.

We can do the same with the portion we have available. There is myth, historical info and a lot of memoir... so we can do the assignment as given.

8.3.8 Write 8.3.9 Project

In this activity, you'll work in a group to create a digital presentation about one of the 24 chapters in The Way to Rainy Mountain.

Your group's presentation will need to use different forms of media to illustrate the overall meaning of one chapter. You'll work with your group to research ideas in the chapter and to analyze the text to support your presentation.

This writing assignment will focus on the following skills:

• Working as part of a team to create a digital presentation about one chapter from The Way to Rainy Mountain

• Using research, analysis, and a variety of media elements to illustrate the meaning of your group's chapter

​8.3.8 Page 2

​8.3.8 pages of assistance

​There is assistance in selecting a chapter...... not helpful for us.

There is instruction on Group-Member roles.... not helpful for us.

Analysis.... page 5

Developing Connections ..... page 6

Media elements.... page 7

• At least one media element should expand on the historical background that Momaday provides in the chapter.

• At least one media element should show how all three sections of the chapter are connected by a central theme, image, idea, or figure of speech.

​8.3.8 page 11

​The assignment asks for your project to be published online.... page 11 gives options of how to do this....... EMAIL is an option....

That's what we'll do.... submit it to me!

​8.3.8 Checklist

​Please respond to ME in the CHAT:




What was the Trail of Tears?