photo by Marilyn Julius

Cliffdwellers (1913) 
by George Bellows

Blue and Green Music, 1919. 
Georgia O'Keeffe

The Great Gatsby (1925) by F. Scott Fitzgerald

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Baltimore Presentations

Baltimore Links

Homework:

Baltimore Presentations

Homework:

More Baltimore Presentations

photos by Marilyn Julius

Baltimore's Growth from 1712 to 1918

Baltimore Presentations

Homework:

Prepare Presentations:

The Intellectual Backgrounds to Modern Consciousness:

• Marx 
• Darwin 
• Freud
• Nietzsche
• Study Guide
• The Zeitgeist of Modernism
• Monty Python Philosophy Football Match (YouTube)

Presentation Expectations:

• Brief Biography of your Modern Thinker
• Answer the Study Guide Questions
• Quote your Thinker at least Once.
  
• Provide Interesting Graphics (pictures, sketches, tables) to Illustrate your Presentation.
• Provide Excerpts from Videos to explain Difficult Concepts
• End Your Presentation with a Properly Formatted Works Cited Page.

• A Brief Introduction to Marxism 
• POLITICAL THEORY - Karl Marx
• Charles Darwin: The Man Who Changed the World
• What is Evolution?
• What is Natural Selection?
• Freiedrich Nietzsche
• Schopenhauer
• Sigmund Freud
• The Oedipus Complex

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Karl Marx 1818-1883

Charles Darwin 1809-1882

Freiderich Nietzsche
(1844-1900)

Sigmund Freud 1856-1939

Baltimore Presentations

Psychology: The Mashmellow Test (Video) 

Homework:

More Presentations:
Intellectual Backgrounds to Modern Consciousness

The Intellectual Backgrounds to Modern Consciousness:

• Marx 
• Darwin 
• Freud
• Nietzsche
• Study Guide
• Monty Python Philosophy Football Match (YouTube)

• A Brief Introduction to Marxism 
• POLITICAL THEORY - Karl Marx

• Charles Darwin: The Man Who Changed the World
• What is Evolution?
• What is Natural Selection?

• Freiedrich Nietzsche
• Schopenhauer

• Sigmund Freud
• The Oedipus Complex
• Jonathan Haidt on The Divided Self

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Freiderich Nietzsche
(1844-1900)

Sigmund Freud 1856-1939

Presentations on Nietzsche and Freud

• Marx 
• Darwin 
• Freud 
• Nietzsche 
• Study Guide

• Why did intellectuals in the late nineteenth century begin to doubt that history was naturally progressing towards a harmonious state?

• Prepare for Quiz on Modern Consciousness

• Zora Neale Hurston by Sarah
• Frederick Douglass by Charlotte and Camilla
• Sudbrook Park Baltimore by Kendall
• The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore by Anabelle and Mayalen
• Baltimore’s West Side and Blockbusting by Serik and Bryan
• The History of the Inner Harbor by Isaac and Max
• David Simon by Jonathon and Jairus
• The History of White Marsh by Malia

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Quiz on Modern Consciousness

• Marx 
• Darwin 
• Freud 
• Nietzsche 
• Study Guide

The Transcendent City vs. The Modern City:

• The Transcendental Vision of the City: Wlat Whitman's Crossing Brooklyn Ferry (1856) (on-line annotated version); (Video); Voices and Visions video (14:20- 16:30) 
• Ric Burns, New York: A Documentary History, episode three, Sunshine and Shadow: Jacob Riis, then Bethesda Fountain, then Central Park, then the Five Points)(2:03-10:43) (then go to Jacob Riis 1:20:44 to 1:32:48)

Homework:

• What happened to Whitman's hopeful vision of the American city during the second half of the nineteenth century?

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Cliffdwellers  (1913) George Bellows

Jacob Riis, Bandit's Roost

Backgrounds to Modernism: Nietzsche, Darwin, Freud and Marx: Study Guide; Quiz:

The Transcendent City vs. The Modern City:

• The Transcendental Vision of the City: Walt Whitman's Crossing Brooklyn Ferry (1856) (on-line annotated version); (Video); Voices and Visions video (14:20) 

New York City 1888:

• Watch New York episode four Power and People: Emma Lazarus (1:14)
• Watch video on Jacob Riis, How the Other Half Lives (1888) from Ric Burns, New York episode three Sunshine and Shadow 1865-1898 (Clip) OR full episode's opening: The Bethesda Fountain in Central Park, then the Five Points) (2:03-10:43) (then go to Jacob Riis 1:20:44 to 1:32:48)
• If time permits, watch New York episode four Power and People: Triangle Shirtwaist Fire 1:19:45
• Literary Perspective: Dickens, Riis, Howells and Crane
• Naturalism: Literary Definition
• Silent Film Melodrama: The Little Matchgirl (1902) 

• Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (1892):  Chapter 1: The Street Fight (3-6) (GoogleDocs Page)
• Essay on Maggie due Thursday, February 23rd at 3:30 pm

Homework:

• Read Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (part one) (GoogleDocs Page) Chapters 1-10  Study Guide

• Introduction to Stephen Crane
•  Caleb Crain, The Red and the Scarlet: The hectic career of Stephen Crane.  The New Yorker 6-30-14 
• Jimmy Stamp, Pioneering Social Reformer Jacob Riis Revealed "How The Other Half Lives" in America Smithsonian.com  May 27, 2014
• Background to Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (Bloom)
• Crane's Journalism: "An Experiment in Misery"; "A Dark, Brown Dog" (1901)
• Realism and Naturalism: The Ashcan School in Painting (ppt)
• Crane Biography (Youtube)
• Crane's Naturalism (Youtube)
• Naturalism (The Stone)

Typical Toughs (1890) Jacob Riis
How the Other Half Lives (1890)

Little Mother (1890) Jacob Riis

Daumier, Melodrama Show (1860)

• Essay on Maggie due Thursday, February 23rd at 3:30 pm

• Marx 
• Darwin
• Freud 
• Nietzsche 
• Study Guide
• Quiz:

• Setting: Describe the situation of children who grow up in the Rum Alley ghetto.
• Plot: What can you predict will happen to the heroine in a melodrama? 
• Style: What is Crane's perspective on his characters? 
• Naturalism: Literary Definition Is Maggie's character determined by biology or economics or psychology? 

Homework:

• Read Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (part two) Study Guide

Key Questions:

• What prevents Maggie from achieving the insight necessary to understand her situation? What makes her unable to accomplish this goal? Do you hold her responsible?
• What could Maggie have learned from Nellie? Would that have saved her?
• What has Maggie realized when Pete throws her out of his bar? What options does Maggie have at this point?
• Could Maggie have done anything to interrupt this slide down the slippery slope?

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• Quiz
• The Zeitgeist of Modernism

Discuss Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (part two) (Quiz 2) Study Guide; (Lecture Two)

• What is the primary obstacle to Maggie achieving the insight necessary to understand her situation? What makes her unable to accomplish this goal? Do you hold her responsible?
• What could Maggie have learned from Nellie? Would that have saved her?
• What has Maggie realized at the moment that she is dumped by Pete? What options does Maggie have at this point? 
• Could Maggie have done anything to interrupt this slide down the slippery slope?

Homework:

• Essay on Maggie due Thursday, February 23rd at 3:30 pm

Criticism on Maggie:

• Bloom's Literary Reference Online
  

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Shinn, Eviction (1904)

Daumier, Melodrama Show (1860)

• Dead End Kids, "They Made Me A Criminal" (1939)
• Humphrey Bogart in "Dead End" (1937)
• The Perilous Misadventures of Miss Destroyer (Student Made Movie)
• The Little Matchgirl (1902) a silent melodrama
• D.W. Griffith, Way Down East (1920) starring Lillian Gish
• D.W. Griffith, Birth of a Nation Clip 1 (1915)
• Alfred Hitchcock, Blackmail and Easy Virtue (1927)

1. Marx: Maggie belongs to a class which Marx called the lumpen proletariat: that layer of the working class which is unable to gain class consciousness; on her own, she is doomed. What would Maggie need to understand to achieve this consciousness? How does the Marxist believe that culture helps keep the working class in its place?
2. Darwin: Social Darwinist thinkers loosely combined Darwin's conception of  natural selection with classical liberal economic theory to argue that some races and ethnicities were losing out in the struggle for survival and therefore deserved to be allowed to die off. Other more radical Social Darwinists argued that poverty bred contagious social threats which needed to be medically removed. Is Crane a Social Darwinist?
3. Freud: Freudian theory held that children traumatized in their development would struggle to establish independence when they reached adulthood. How does the childhood trauma Maggie experienced as a child manifest itself when she becomes a young adult? Can Maggie be treated? 
4. Nietzsche: Nietzsche argued that people should overcome their rational and religious qualms about taking the necessary action to establish one's own power over others. Who would Maggie need to become to achieve such power?
5. Liberal: How would liberals respond to Maggie's dilemma? To what degree is she responsible for the terrible situation she finds herself in?

• Bloom's Literary Reference Online

Homework:

• Essay on Maggie due Thursday, February 23rd at 3:30 pm.

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Modernism Independent Projects:

• Poems by Emily Dickinson (1860's)
• William Carlos Williams, The Great Figure; The Red Wheelbarrow (1923); This Is Just to Say (1934)
• Imagism: poetry built through the combination of precise sense imagery
• From Realism Naturalism to Modernism (Powerpoint)
• The Zeitgeist of Modernism 
• Introduce Independent Projects on American Modernism

• Choose Independent Projects on American Modernism  and carefully read the stories or poems.
• Final Draft due Thursday, March 9th at 3:30 pm

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The Voice of the City of New York Interpreted: The Bridge, 1920-22. Joseph Stella

Modernism Independent Projects:

Williams Writing Prompt (Koch)

Independent Projects on American Modernism

The Zeitgeist of Modernism  

Check out the Thomson Gale Literature Resources Center,  JSTOR , or Bloom's Literary Reference Online on the Gilman On-line Database Page.  

Homework:

• Research Independent Projects on American Modernism
• Final Draft due Thursday, March 9th at 3:30 pm

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Independent Projects on American Modernism

The Zeitgeist of Modernism

• Final Draft due Thursday, March 9th at 3:30 pm

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Independent Projects on American Modernism

Writing Prompt #2

The Zeitgeist of Modernism

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Langston Hughes (1925)

Independent Projects on American Modernism

The Zeitgeist of Modernism

Remember that you MUST turn in a Works Cited Page with your essay. You MUST cite sources for ideas which are not your own using correct MLA form.

Internet Citation Machines:

Homework:

• Final Draft due Friday, March 10th at 3:30 pm

Independent Projects on American Modernism

The Zeitgeist of Modernism

Remember that you MUST turn in a Works Cited Page with your essay. You MUST cite sources for ideas which are not your own using correct MLA form.

Internet Citation Machines:

Homework:

• Final Draft due Friday, March 10th at 3:30 pm

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The Great Gatsby (1925) Dust Jacket Illustration by Francis Cugat

Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, newlyweds,  3 April 1920

Final Draft of Modernism Project due at 3:30 pm

• Remember that you MUST turn in a Works Cited Page with your essay. You MUST cite sources for ideas which are not your own using correct MLA form.

Introduction to The Great Gatsby (1925)

• The Jazz Age (Notes)
• F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Brief Life (U. of S. Carolina);
• Video: 'Cosmopolis' (from New York: A Documentary Life by Ric Burns (1998)) (Notes)
• Listen to "West End Blues" (Louis Armstrong) (1928); "The Charleston" (Paul Whiteman Orchestra) (1925) 

Homework:

Read The Great Gatsby, Chapter One (1-26) (Googledocs Version) Study Guide

For Further Reading (and listening): 

• Jazz Age Literature/Culture, Part I and Jazz Age, Part II and Jazz Age Writers.
  
• Jazz Poetry: 1920s-30s and Jazz/Blues: 1920s-30s and Jazz Film: 1920s-present.

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The map (1917) shows the locations of Fitzgerald's imaginary West Egg and East Egg, as well as of the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan.

Estates on West Egg and East Egg

Homework:

• The Great Gatsby, Chapter Two (27-42) (Googledocs Version) Study Guide

For further reading:

• Original Title: "Trimalchio" from  The Satyricon by Petronius (excerpt); parvenu (OED)
• Bruce Bliven, "Flapper Jane" New Republic, September 9, 1925.
  
• "A Flappers Appeal to Her Parents" by Ellen Welles Page in Outlook Magazine (1922)
• Jazz Age Culture (Nichols)
  

(Video clip from 1974 film)

Zelda at age 18

The Flapper illustration by John Held from Life Magazine 1922

VIDEO: The Roaring Twenties: Dance Craze

Essay on The Great Gatsby due Thursday, April 13th at 3:30 pm.

Review: Chapter One

• Describe the narrative frame which Fitzgerald creates for Gatsby's story. Why tell this story from the point of view of Nick Carroway? 
• What is it about Gatsby which so fascinates Nick? Why is he telling us Gatsby's story?
• Party #1: How does Fitzgerald characterize East Egg society as represented by the Daisy, Tom and Jordan?
• Fitzgerald's Imagery vs The Real Character of These People
• East Egg and West Egg: "a pair of enormous eggs" 
• Tom Buchanon's Entrance 
• Daisy Buchanon's Entrance  
• Jay Gatsby's Entrance 

• Gatsby Quiz Chapter 2
• Fitzgerald's Imagery: The Billboard in the Valley of Ashes
• What makes Myrtle an appropriate match for Tom?
• How does the sad, drunken binge at Myrtle's apartment on Manhattan finally end? 

• The Great Gatsby, Chapters Three and Four (43-85) Study Guide Three and Four
• Googledocs Three and Googledocs Four
  
• MUSIC: Five Jazz Sides For the Age Of Prohibition

For further reading:

• The Great Gatsby and the American Dream (Guardian)
• The Lost Generation (Atlantic Monthly Dec. 1992)
• Jay McInerney: why Gatsby is so great  (Guardian)
• Rehabilitating Zelda Fitzgerald, the Original It Girl (Telegraph)

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Scott and Zelda

The Party Machine at Gatsby's Mansion

To Live in the 1920's

"A Flapper's Appeal to Her Parents" (1922)

Essay on The Great Gatsby due Thursday, April 13th at 3:30 pm.

Paragraph: Chapter Three: Party #3: Describe the Gatsby party machine in action.

• Why has Gatsby invited Nick to the party? What does he talk about with Jordan? (She won't tell Nick.) Why has Gatsby been throwing all these parties?!

Paragraph: Chapter Four: Lunch In NYC: What picture of Gatsby's character is beginning to emerge for Nick and for you as we learn more and more about him?

• Gatsby and Nick Drive to New York 
• Lunch With Meyer Wolfsheim.  
• Jordan's Story of Daisy Fay and Jay Gatsby 

Paragraph: How about Nick? What is happening in his life? Where is his relationship with Jordan, Daisy, Tom, and Gatsby leading him?

Homework:

• The Great Gatsby, Chapters Five and Six  (Googledocs 5) (Googledocs 6)  (86-118) Study Guide Five and Six

Essay on The Great Gatsby due Thursday, April 13th at 3:30 pm.

The Great Gatsby, Chapter Four (43-85) (Googledocs Four) Study Guide Four

Paragraph: Lunch In NYC: After hearing Gatsby's tale about his upbringing and then Jordan's story about how Gatsby met Daisy, what picture of Gatsby's character is beginning to emerge for Nick and for you? (Chapter 4)

• Gatsby and Nick Drive to New York 
• Lunch With Meyer Wolfsheim.  
• Jordan's Story of Daisy Fay and Jay Gatsby 

Homework:

• The Great Gatsby, Chapters Five and Six  (Googledocs 5) (Googledocs 6)  (86-118) Study Guide Five and Six

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Gatsby and Daisy

Essay on The Great Gatsby due Thursday, April 13th at 3:30 pm.

Paragraph: Jordan's Story of Daisy Fay and Jay Gatsby  (Chapter 4)

Paragraph: Party #4: Tea at Nick's What happens to Gatsby moments after he has achieved his dream? Why is he so bewildered? Shower of Custom-Made Silk Shirts (Chapter 5)

Paragraph: James Gatz: What version of American History is Fitzgerald teaching us when we finally learn the true biography of Jay Gatsby? (Chapter 6)

Paragraph: Tom Buchanan's Horseback Visit (Chapter 6)

Paragraph: Party #5 Daisy and Tom at Gatsby's Mansion  What does Daisy find so offensive about Gatsby's party? Nick realizes that Daisy and Gatsby's relationship is finished, but Gatsby will never accept that fact. Where has Gatsby's dream gone awry? How, by the 1920's, had the American Dream gone awry? (Chapter 6)

Gatsby Quiz Five and Six

Music mentioned in the text:

• Fats Waller, "The Sheik of Araby"
• Van and Shenk, "Ain't We Got Fun?" 
• Paul Whiteman, "Three O'Clock in the Morning"

Homework:

• The Great Gatsby, Chapter Seven (119-153) Study Guide Seven  (Googledocs Chapter Seven)

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Karen Black as Myrtle

Essay on The Great Gatsby due Thursday, April 13th at 3:30 pm.

• Paragraph: James Gatz: What version of American History is Fitzgerald teaching us when we finally learn the true biography of Jay Gatsby? (Chapter 6) 
• Paragraph: Party #5 Daisy and Tom at Gatsby's Mansion  What does Daisy find so offensive about Gatsby's party? Nick realizes that Daisy and Gatsby's relationship is finished, but Gatsby will never accept that fact. Where has Gatsby's dream gone awry? How, by the 1920's, had the American Dream gone awry? (Chapter 6)

• Lunch at Daisy and Tom's (120-127)
• The Drive to Town (127- 132)
• The Confrontation in the Suite at the Plaza Hotel  (133-142)
• The Death of Myrtle (143-153)

Paragraph: Unpack the meaning of the action's catastrophe. Consider the details: the heat, the reprise of details from earlier in the novel, Gatsby and Tom's confrontation, and the mistaken identities which lead to Myrtle's death. All the strands of the novel come together. How does the scene relate to Fitzgerald's overall intention?

Homework:

• The Great Gatsby, Chapter Eight and Nine (154-189) Study Guide Eight and Nine

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The Great Gatsby (1925) Dust Jacket Illustration by Francis Cugat

Homework:

Essay on The Great Gatsby due Thursday, April 13th at 3:30 pm.

Essay on The Great Gatsby due Thursday, April 13th at 3:30 pm.

• b. 1943 grew up in rural Idaho, B.A. Brown University; Phd. U.of Washington. She currently teaches at the Iowa Writers' Workshop.
• 1st novel: Housekeeping (1980) wins Pen Hemingway Award.
• 2nd novel: Gilead (2004) wins Pulitzer prize. It is the first of three novels Robinson wrote about John Ames, a Congregationalist minister in America's heartland, the imagined town of Gilead, Iowa. The second novel in the series, Home was published in 2008, and the third novel, Lila was published in 2014.
• Lila is set during the Great Depression and then into the 1940's in the rural farmlands of Iowa. It follows the story of an unlikely romance between Rev. Ames, who is 67 years old, and a homeless woman about 27 years old who happens into his church one rainy Sunday morning. 
• Lila has spent her whole life on the road, working the fields with an itinerant tribe of crop pickers who moved with the seasons from farm to farm until Hard Times and the Dust Bowl broke them apart. 
• The novel is written in a Stream of Consciousness style as Lila tries to think through her feelings for Rev. Ames and their life together begins.
• Tiki-Tiki Marilynne RobinsonTimeline Sign-up
• The class code for the account is 883810-100960766.
• The secret word which enables students to contribute stories to the timeline is "Teamwork".
• Great Depression Backgrounds
• Lila Study Guide

• Read Lila by Marilynne Robinson, pp. 3-26 (Sections One through Section Eight);  Lila Study Guide
• Marilynne Robinson Timeline

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• Read Lila, pp. 26-70: Section Nine (pp. 26-68) through Section Ten (pp. 68-70) 
• Lila Study Guide 2
• Marilynne Robinson Timeline

• A Moralist of the Midwest (2004)  by Megan O'Rourke for the New York Times Magazine. Good profile of Marilynne Robinson, her amazing first novel Housekeeping (1980),  her fascination with Iowa history and John Brown, her Calvinist faith, and her love of Melville, Dickinson, Thoreau and Whitman.
• John Brown in Gilead 

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• Lila, pp. 26-70: Section Nine (pp. 26-68) through Section Ten (pp. 68-70) 
• Lila Study Guide 2
• Marilynne Robinson Timeline

• Read Lila, pp. 70-132; Section Eleven (pp. 70-90) through Section Eighteen (pp. 123-132)
• Lila Study Guide 3

• Lila, pp. 70-132; Section Eleven (pp. 70-90) through Section Eighteen (pp. 123-132)
• Lila Study Guide 3

• Lila Study Groups: Weaving Together the Threads of Lila's Thoughts
• Marilynne Robinson Timeline

• Read Lila,  Section Nineteen (pp. 132-54) to Section Twenty-one (165-180)
• Lila Study Guide 4

• Lila Study Groups: Weaving Together the Threads of Lila's Thoughts
• Lila Study Guide 3
• Marilynne Robinson Timeline

• Read Lila, pp. 132-180  Section Nineteen (pp. 132-54) to Section Twenty-one (165-180)
• Lila Study Guide 4

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• Lila, pp. 132-180  Section Nineteen (pp. 132-54) to Section Twenty-one (165-180)
• Lila Study Guide 4
• Marilynne Robinson Timeline

• Read Lila, pp. 180-227; Section Twenty-one (180-227)
• Lila Study Guide 5

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• Lila, pp. 180-227; Section Twenty-One (180-227)

• Lila Study Guide 5
• Marilynne Robinson Timeline

• Lila, pp. 227-261; Section Twenty-One (pp. 227-231) through Section Twenty-Four (pp. 249-261)
• Study Guide 6

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• Lila, pp. 227-261; Section Twenty-One (pp. 227-231) through Section Twenty-Four (pp. 249-261)
• Study Guide 6

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• Essay Work

• The Place:  New York City
• The Time: 1945, late on a weeknight for Act One, the following day and night for Act Two

• Read Act One of Death of a Salesman (Study Guide) 

Act One

1. Willy and Linda (pp. 11-18) 
2. Biff and Happy (pp. 19-27) 
3. Willy, Biff and Happy (pp. 29-32) (VIDEO)
4. Willy, Linda, the Woman, Bernard (pp. 37-40)
5. Willy, Charley, Ben (pp. 42-47) (VIDEO)
6. Linda, Biff, Happy (pp. 52-61)
7. Willy, Biff, Linda, Happy (pp. 61-69)

• Read Act One of Death of a Salesman (Study Guide) 

Act One

1. Willy and Linda (pp. 11-18) 
2. Biff and Happy (pp. 19-27) 
3. Willy, Biff and Happy (pp. 29-32) (VIDEO)
4. Willy, Linda, the Woman, Bernard (pp. 37-40)
5. Willy, Charley, Ben (pp. 42-47) (VIDEO)
6. Linda, Biff, Happy (pp. 52-61)
7. Willy, Biff, Linda, Happy (pp. 61-69)

• Read Act Two of Death of a Salesman (Study Guide)

One Act Playwriting Project:

• Day One 
• Wesley's Monologue from Curse of the Starving Class by Sam Shepard

Act Two: (Study Guide)

1. Willy, Linda  (71-76)
2. Willy, Howard (76-84) (VIDEO)
3. Willy, Ben, Young Linda, Young Biff, Young Happy, Bernard, Young Charley (84-90)
4. Grown-Up Bernard, Jenny, Willy, Charley (90-98)
5. Frank's Chop House: Stanley, Happy, Miss Forsythe, Biff, Willy, Young Bernard, Young Linda, The Woman, Letta, Operator's Voice (98-116) (VIDEO) (Willy's Entrance)
6. Willy, The Woman, Young Biff (116-122)
7. Happy, Linda, Biff, Willy (122-136) (VIDEO)
8. Linda, Happy, Biff, Charley, Bernard (137-39)

Homework:

• Monologue Assignment
• People Photos

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5

Act Two: (Study Guide)

1. Willy, Linda  (71-76)
2. Willy, Howard (76-84) (VIDEO)
3. Willy, Ben, Young Linda, Young Biff, Young Happy, Bernard, Young Charley (84-90)
4. Grown-Up Bernard, Jenny, Willy, Charley (90-98)
5. Frank's Chop House: Stanley, Happy, Miss Forsythe, Biff, Willy, Young Bernard, Young Linda, The Woman, Letta, Operator's Voice (98-116) (VIDEO) (Willy's Entrance)
6. Willy, The Woman, Young Biff (116-122)
7. Happy, Linda, Biff, Willy (122-136) (VIDEO)
8. Linda, Happy, Biff, Charley, Bernard (137-39)

• Write a Scene for One-Act Play

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August Wilson (1945-2005)

Bearden, Rocket to the Moon (1971)

• One Act Playwriting Project: Day Three:  Peer Review

Final Exam 2017  (Final Exam Schedule)

August Wilson Backgrounds

• Slide Show of the Plays of August Wilson
• An African American Century (NY Times)
• August Wilson on Broadway: A History (1-10-17)
• Ben Brantley and Wesley Morris, What August Wilson Means Now NY Times (1-11-17)
• From Nosebleed Seats to the Stage, Actors Discuss August Wilson NY Times (1-11-17)

Jitney (1977; 1997)

• The Time: 1977 ; The Situation of African-Americans in 1977
• The Place: Pittsburgh 
• Jitneys in Pittsburgh (Center Stage)

• Read Act One of Jitney  (Study Guide)

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The Cast of Jitney

Paul Butler as Becker

Carl Lumbly as Booster

Act One of Jitney (Study Guide)

• Today's the day that Becker will announce to his drivers that the Urban Renewal is moving in, he's moving out, and he's not sure that he wants to keep the business going.
• Today's the day that Fielding finally gets himself fired.
• Today's the day that the feud between Youngblood and Turnbo breaks wide open.
• Today's the day that Rena confronts Youngblood with her suspicions about his running around with Peaches.
• Today's the day that Becker's boy, Booster, is getting out of the penitentiary and coming home to meet his father.

Thesis: How are the strands of the action inter-related? (ie, is it just an accident that each of these thunderheads breaks simultaneously?)

• Act One Scene One
• The Hill District comes alive.
• Act One Scene Two
  
• What has pushed Turnbo over the edge today? (Look at his rant about respect. (30-31)) What does he tell Rena?
• Why has Rena run out of patience with Youngblood? What was the straw which broke the camel's back for her? (32-35)
• Why is Becker thinking about giving up after the city let him know that they were gonna board up the place the first of the month? (36)
• Who did Booster kill? Why? (39)
• Act One Scene Three
  
• How does the fight between Youngblood and Turnbo break out? (43)
• Describe the way Becker functions in this neighborhood: what makes his presence essential?
• How does Fielding get himself fired? (51) Who does he dream about twenty years later? (53)
• Becker and Booster: Booker vs. Malcom
• Booster on the day Mr. Rand cursed out Becker (56)
• Becker on the Death of his First Wife (58)
  

• Read Act Two of Jitney (Study Guide)

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Paul Butler, Michole Briana White and Russell Hornsby in "Jitney,"  Second Stage Theater 2000. 

Paul Butler and Philip Randolph Smith

Paul Butler as Becker

Carl Lumbly as Booster

Final Exam 2017 (Final Exam Schedule)

Act One of Jitney (Study Guide)

The Day the Thunderstorm Breaks:

• Today's the day that Becker will announce to his drivers that the Urban Renewal is moving in, he's moving out, and he's not sure that he wants to keep the business going.
• Today's the day that Fielding finally gets himself fired.
• Today's the day that the feud between Youngblood and Turnbo breaks wide open.
• Today's the day that Rena confronts Youngblood with her suspicions about his running around with Peaches.
• Today's the day that Becker's boy, Booster, is getting out of the penitentiary and coming home to meet his father.

• Act One Scene One
• The Hill District comes alive.
• Act One Scene Two
  
• What has pushed Turnbo over the edge today? (Look at his rant about respect. (30-31)) What does he tell Rena?
• Why has Rena run out of patience with Youngblood? What was the straw which broke the camel's back for her? (32-35)
• Why is Becker thinking about giving up after the city let him know that they were gonna board up the place the first of the month? (36)
• Who did Booster kill? Why? (39)
• Act One Scene Three
  
• How does the fight between Youngblood and Turnbo break out? (43)
• Describe the way Becker functions in this neighborhood: what makes his presence essential?
• How does Fielding get himself fired? (51) Who does he dream about twenty years later? (53)
• Becker and Booster: Booker vs. Malcom
• Act One Conclusion: Becker and Booster: Booker vs. Malcolm
• Booster on the day Mr. Rand cursed out Becker (56)
• Becker on the Death of his First Wife (58)

Homework:

• Jitney Essay for Exam

Act One Conclusion: Becker and Booster: Booker vs. Malcolm

Act Two of Jitney (Study Guide) (Quiz)

• Rena and Youngblood
• What advice does Becker give the young couple?
• Becker's plan :   his strategy
• Becker's death: Booster's response
• final moment

Connections to African American History:

• Notes on Booker Washington
• Notes on W.E.B. DuBois
• Notes on Malcom X

• Jitney Essay for Exam