View English Reading List English 9: World Voices, Individual Stories Ninth grade English is a world literature course with a particular emphasis on the structure and development of the essay. Students will read texts that span genre, time period, and region while examining how individuals define their experiences through narrative. The required summer reading for ninth grade is Krik? Krak! by Edwidge Danticat. Krik? Krak! is a collection of short stories which range in time and location from 1930's Haiti to modern day New York City. Although you may find connections between some of the stories, each one stands on its own. We ask that you read each story in the order in which they appear, however, so that you can experience the collection the way in which the author intended. Instructions: Summer Reading Assignment Materials needed : your Krik? Krak! text, this packet, and a good pen or pencil. In addition, we strongly recommend you purchase "Post-it" flags for annotating your text. Please come to your first English class with Krik? Krak! , this packet, and your two writing assignments. 1) First read Danticat's piece "On Becoming a Writer," included in this packet. 2) As you read this short piece, be sure to underline words and phrases that interest and appeal to you. 3) After you finish reading "On Becoming a Writer," think about the following questions: 4) Write a two paragraph reflection in which you answer the questions above. Each paragraph should be roughly 6-8 sentences long. You may write using the first person perspective, or "I." Please type this reflection and bring it with you on the first day of English class . Please double space your work and use 12 point Times New Roman font. This is reflection #1 . 5) Now read the brief historical context about Haiti included in this packet. 6) Next review the annotation handout carefully. To annotate means to write notes and comments directly into the margins of a text. This handout is meant to offer you some suggested guidelines for annotating Krik? Krak! . The pages in this handout are directly from the collection. Notice that the annotations on these pages include notes and questions in the margins , explanations of historical and literary references , initial interpretations , as well as markings around important vocabulary words and French/Creole terms . 7) Read Krik? Krak! and annotate the text as you read. Whether you follow the guidelines on the annotation handout or create your own system, you are required to annotate each story in the collection. Your English teacher will be checking your text in the fall when we discuss the summer reading. 8) When you finish reading the collection, follow these directions: 9) Once you have "flagged" several moments that appealed to you in each story, begin answering the reflection question below. Please type this reflection and bring it with you on the first day of English class . Please double space your work and use 12 point Times New Roman font. This is reflection #2 . Reflection #2 :
Each of your paragraphs should address a different story and refer to specific examples by quoting directly from the text. Be sure to address why you chose each story and how those examples resonated with you. Use the following example as a model for your own writing: I was particularly moved by the depictions of women throughout each story. Images of women who had suffered greatly, such as losing children or husbands or even their own dignity were particularly powerful. When the narrator in "Nineteen Thirty-Seven" reveals that she had to watch her mother's hair being shaved off and that the prison wanted the women to "look like crows, like men," I was quite shaken (39). Notice the use of the following writing rules. Please follow these rules while you write reflections #1 and 2:
Have a wonderful time reading Danticat. We look forward to seeing you in the fall. Sincerely, Jane belton and Ileana Jimenez, Ninth Grade English Teachers
Haiti: Facts, People, and Events Haiti is located on the island of Hispaniola. Initially, the native Arawaks inhabited the island until the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492. Once the Spanish arrived, the Arawaks were faced with new diseases, poor treatment, and even execution by the Spanish. The Spanish established plantations in Eastern Hispaniola, which is now the Dominican Republic, but, for the most part, ignored the western part of the island, which is now Haiti. Gradually, French colonists transported and enslaved Africans to develop sugar plantations on the northern coast of the island. Spain could no longer protect its claim on the entire island and so ceded Haiti (then called Saint-Dominique) to France in 1697. Haiti became France's most prosperous colony in the Americas and one of the world's chief coffee and sugar producers. The society became divided into Frenchmen, Creoles , freed blacks, and black slaves. Creoles were people of European ancestry who were born in a French colony or people of mixed French and African descent who speak a dialect of French. Even after gaining independence from France in 1804 and despite attempts to unify the country, Haiti was severely divided between the black controlled north and the mulatto controlled south. Haiti's economy never recovered from the country's struggle for independence, and ended up declining even further as the years wore on. Haiti's future was clouded by rising turbulence in the Dominican Republic and by the emergence of a Communist Cuba. François ("Papa Doc") Duvalier , who was elected president in 1957, suppressed opposition to his government through the creation of his secret police, the tonton macoutes. In 1964 he proclaimed himself president for life. Upon his death in 1971 he was succeeded by his 19-year-old son, Jean-Claude ("Baby Doc"), who also became president for life. In 1986, after fifteen years of corruption, repression, and inequality under Baby Doc Duvalier, the people of Haiti forced him to flee the country. The Relationship Between Haiti and the Dominican Republic The Haitians living near the border were completely marginalized in Dominican society. Haitian currency circulated freely in the Cibao, the main agricultural region of the Dominican Republic, and in the south it circulated as far as Azua, only 120 kilometers from Santo Domingo in the DR. Rafael Leonidas Trujillo , the leader of the Dominican Republic, did not want to accept Haiti's economic presence in his country. Thus he traveled to the frontier at the beginning of October 1937, and there gave a speech announcing that the occupation by Haitians of the frontier territories in the DR must not continue. Afterwards, he ordered that all Haitians remaining in the country be exterminated. In the days following October 4, 1937, the Dominican army assassinated all Haitians on sight . Eighteen thousand Haitians were killed. The only ones able to save their lives were those who managed to cross the border, which was a river known by Haitians as the Massacre River, and those who worked for the Dominican sugar mills, which did not want to lose their Haitian labor force. Trujillo wanted to make the slaughter look like a simple frontier incident between Dominican peasants and Haitian livestock thieves which had occurred when the Dominicans, tired of being robbed, decided to attack the Haitians and managed to kill some of them. The truth is that it was an act of genocide against the Haitians much like Hitler committed genocide against millions of Jewish people. The Dominican government covered up the massacre by mounting an intense propaganda campaign defending Trujillo as the "savior of the nation." Overview Essay Question Directions: Write a well-organized essay that includes an introduction, several paragraphs addressing the task below, and a conclusion. Task: Using information from the summer reading and your knowledge of global history, write an essay in which you answer the following questions. Guidelines: Essay questions for in class essay - Overview In Class Essay Question Theme: Human and Physical Geography (Geographic Impact on Societies.) Geographic factors such as land features, resources, location, and climate of societies and regions affect how people live. Task: The examples must be discussed in The Human Story. You must select different geographic factor for each time period discussed. For example, you may not write about two rivers in different parts of the world. Do not use geographic factors from the United States in your answer. Guidelines: In Class Essay Question Theme: Turning Points. Turning points are major events in history that have led to lasting change. Task: You may use any example from The Human Story. Some suggestions you might wish to consider include the Neolithic Revolution, the Fall of Rome, the Rise of Islam, the Renaissance, the “Discovery” of the New World, the French Revolution, World War I, the fall of the Berlin Wall Note: You are not limited to these suggestions. Do not use any turning points in United States history. Guidelines: Prepare for both in class essays this summer, and be sure to bring your copy of The Human Story to class.
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