Homework: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack

Note: If you were absent from class and need to catch up, click here to go to the Frontline video. We watched all of Chapter One and the first six minutes of Chapter Two (16 minutes in total).

Jane Elliott created privileges for her third-graders: things like extra recess time, getting to go back for seconds at lunch, and being first in line were fitting rewards for her eight year olds.

To explore what kinds of privileges exist in the adult world, read Peggy McIntosh's classic article "Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack." (You will need Adobe Reader to view this file; you can download it for free, or click here for a web version.)

Pay special attention to McIntosh's checklist. Use the checklist as a basis for self-reflection, asking "Can you count on this?" A "yes" answer scores 1 point. For a "no," subtract 1 point. Score nothing for "does not apply to me." The higher the score, the greater the degree of privilege one has in the context of living in the United States today.

After you have (1) read the article and (2) scored yourself on the checklist, then (3) write a journal entry about your reactions.

Were you surprised by your score, or did it confirm what you already knew? Why is privilege normally invisible and what does it feel like to make it visible? Do you agree with McIntosh's argument that the word "privilege" is misleading? If you have read the article before, have your opinions changed since the first time you encountered it?

This assignment is due on Thursday. The updated calendar is below.

A Word A Day

Do you know this website? It's often too obscure to be good for SAT skills, but why learn useful vocabulary when you can learn awesome vocabulary? This week's theme covers my all time favorite vocabulary topic: words that mean one thing ... and its opposite.

When you sanction a project, do you approve of it or disapprove? Should one be commended for oversight (watchful care) or reprimanded for oversight (error or omission)? When you resign from a job, do you leave it or re-join (re-sign) it?

When a proposal gets tabled, is it being brought forward for discussion or being laid aside? Depends on which side of the pond you're at. If the former, you're in the UK; if the latter, you're in the US.

I call them fence-sitters. They sit on fences, ready to say one thing or its opposite depending on which side they appear at. I'm not talking about politicians. These are words, known by many names: autoantonym, contranym, self-antonym, enantiodromic, amphibolous, janus word, and so on.

Sometimes it's a result of two distinct words evolving into the same form (cleave from Old English cleofian and cleofan) but often a single word develops a split personality and takes on two contradictory senses. All of us have a bit of yin and yang and these words are no exception.

This week's first word is cleave. Check out Anu Garg's site here.

Class Calendar: October 20th to October 27th

Note: Please note update to next week's assignments!

Monday, October 20th (H)
• Due: Read “When the Emperor Was Divine” (p. 49-105) in When the Emperor Was Divine, taking notes using the study questions as a guide.
• Class: Character identity charts; discussion of the novel; background packets.

Tuesday, October 21st (F)
• Due: Continue reading When the Emperor Was Divine.
• Class: Virtual “field trip” to the Smithsonian Museum.

Wednesday, October 22nd (S)
• Due: Finish reading When the Emperor Was Divine, taking notes on study questions.
• Class: Debrief on Tuesday’s “field trip”; contemporary connections; discussion of When the Emperor Was Divine. Add to character charts as necessary.

Note: Shortened period for Health & Safety Awareness Day.

Thursday, October 23rd (U)
• Due: Prepare a “micro-theme.” Review historical background packet.
• Class: Newspaper editorials; discussion and development of paper topics.

Friday, October 24th (M)
• Due: Rough draft of paper for peer review. Please bring three copies (hard copy, in your hand when you enter class) so we can work in small groups rather than pairs.
• Class: Peer revision of papers, with a mini-lesson on quotation integration.

Monday, October 27th (T)
• Class does not meet today.

Tuesday, October 28th (W)
• Due: Email me a passage from your paper that incorporates a quotation from the novel. If you have any particular questions about a section, that would be a good one to use. You can paste it right into the body of the email. Send to skitsis@arlington.k12.ma.us. Then bring a clean copy of your draft to class (work on it over the weekend, please!).
• Class: Workshop on integrating quotations.

Wednesday, October 29th (H)
• Due: Revised paper on When the Emperor Was Divine.
• Class: Poetry lesson; using the “scope and sequence” to frame the internment.

A Trip to the Museum

Today we'll be visiting the Smithsonian online exhibit, A More Perfect Union. Select the "media rich" version from the introductory screen. Be sure to "walk through" the full exhibit and click on items to see more details.

Click here to download a template you can use to take notes. Print it out or type in it directly; I'll collect it at the end of the period.

Finally, the Japanese American National Museum has extensive online collections. If you finish your visit to the Smithsonian and have extra time in the period, check out a collection that interests you at the JANM to add to your observations (choose from photos, letters, etc).

If you finish finish all that and still want more ... please read the Densho Project's article on the Loyalty Oath. It's excellent.

Bonus: Author Interview

Click here for a fascinating interview with the author of When the Emperor Was Divine.

And while we're on the subject of bonus material, this New York Times article makes some interesting parallels between the novel and contemporary American society. It's called "One Family's Story of Persecution Resonates in the Post-9/11 World" and is actually from the education section of the paper.

Reading for Friday

I'm not sure why it was broken before but here is the historical reading for Friday with hyperlinks to video and other primary source documents. If you prefer to print a .pdf of the document, click here.

You may want to take some notes on the questions that follow the reading; I'll expect you to be able to comment on them at the beginning of class.

See you on Friday!

Class Calendar: October 13th to October 20th

Monday, October 13th
• No school today. Enjoy the long weekend!

Tuesday, October 14th (U)
• Due: Revised college essay (review assessment criteria to make sure you have everything); read packet from class on pre-internment Japanese American experience.
• Class: Ms. Kitsis reveals the secrets of life, the universe, and everything.

Wednesday, October 15th (M)
• Due: Read “Train” (p. 23-48) in When the Emperor Was Divine, taking notes using the study questions as a guide.
• Class: Discuss the reading; analyze a government propaganda film.

Thursday, October 16th (T)
• Class does not meet.

Friday, October 17th (W)
• Due: Online historical background reading (see blog for link). Keep reading the novel.
• Class: Reader’s theater exercise and discussion.

Monday, October 20th (H)
• Due: Read “When the Emperor Was Divine” (p. 49-105) in When the Emperor Was Divine, taking notes using the study questions as a guide.
• Class: Discussion and historical context.