CRITICAL READING Faculty-Written Texts What, Why, and How? CRITICAL READING Faculty-Written Texts 1 Jessica started teaching at Skyline in 2007 NON-FICTION: “Learning to Read” by Jessica Powers NON-FICTION: “What Happened to the African- American Middle Class” by Nathan Jones Nathan started teaching at Skyline in 2010 FICTION: “Salute” by James Tipton Kathleen started teaching at Skyline in 1995 Jamie started teaching at Skyline in 1990 FICTION: Excerpt from Samba Dreamers by Kathleen de Azevedo

Jessica Powers has a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing (U Jessica Powers has a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing (U. Texas-El Paso) and two master's degrees in African History from SUNY-Albany and Stanford University. She writes under the name J.L. Powers and is the author of several award-winning books, including The Confessional (2007), This Thing Called the Future (2011), and Amina (2013). She is the editor of Labor Pains and Birth Stories (2009) and That Mad Game: Growing Up in a Warzone (2012). She has published hundreds of articles, stories, poems, essays, and book reviews in a variety of print and online publications and is editor and founder of The Pirate Tree (www.thepiratetree.com), Mother Writer Mentor (www.motherwritermentor.com) and The Fertile Source (www.fertilesource.com). She served as a visiting scholar for Stanford's African Studies Center in 2008-2009 and as a curriculum consultant for Stanford's Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education and African Studies Center in 2011-2012. Jessica has taught at Skyline College since 2007. (1) Do you have any strong memories of learning to read or being a beginning reader in school? (2) Was there one particular book you remember reading that had a strong influence on you when you were in elementary school? Why?

(1) What is Jessica’s attitude about the fact that she lied in the contest? Why do you think she feels this way, and what does this reveal about her motivations? (2) Why do you think reading the book about Harriet Tubman changed Jessica’s life? (1) Comparing yourself to Jessica in the story, write about your experiences learning to read in and/or out of school. (2) Explore Jessica’s motivations for getting into the green reading group. Look at her feelings for her teacher, the way she compares herself to her classmates and the hints we get about her personality.  

Nathan A. Jones has a BA in Sociology (California State University, East Bay), an MA in Ethnic Studies, (San Francisco State University), a TESOL Certification from Oxford House College (Barcelona, Spain), an MFA in Creative Writing and English (Mills College), and a Certificate for the Teaching of Post Secondary Reading (San Francisco State University). He is a poet, essayist, spoken word artist, book publisher, musician, and the author of Revolutionary Erotica (2003), Black Man In Europe (2005, 2008), and Excerpts From My Soul: Read Without Prejudice (2010). He has published numerous articles, poems, and essays for online publications and is featured in a variety of poetry anthologies. He has taught at Skyline College since 2010. (1) Discuss your experiences during the most recent recession. Did it feel like a recession or a depression? (2) What do you already know about the African-American experience in the U.S. from slavery to the present day? How has this shaped the economic realities for African-Americans?

(1) What is the author’s attitude towards the “American Dream” (1) What is the author’s attitude towards the “American Dream”? Why does he feel this way? Does this dream still exist for everyone? (2) What is some of the evidence that Jones uses to support his thesis that African Americans are suffering a depression rather than a recession? Which evidence do you think is most compelling and why? (1) If the trend described in the essay persists, what will happen if the African American middle class disappears? How would this change the African-American community? What would be the larger ramifications for our society as a whole? (2) The Langston Hughes quote of the dream deferred is referenced twice in the essay. This quote comes from the poem by the same name by Hughes. Read the poem and analyze how you feel it connects to the arguments made in the essay and the larger African- American experience: What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore-- And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over-- like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode? --Langston Hughes

James Tipton is the author of Annette Vallon, A Novel of the French Revolution (HarperCollins, 2008), which was a San Francisco Chronicle Bestseller and a Barnes & Noble Discover Pick. He has also published short fiction and a book of poetry, Sacred Places (1989). He holds a PhD in English, a Masters Degree in Creative Writing, and has been a full time Lecturer at University of California, Davis, and at the University of Bordeaux, France. For over twenty years he has taught literature and writing in the Bay Area, where he lives in Marin County with his family. James first started teaching at Skyline College in the fall of 1990. (1) What was your earliest experience with death as a child – of a pet or a person? (2) What are some ways in which a parent can create strong bonds with a child?

(1) Why does the writer include the specific details of the pots and drawers thrown off the wagons on the Oregon Trail and the white egret on the river? How do these details act as symbols, connecting to the theme(s) of the essay? (2) How does the father’s service in the war play a key role in this essay? Think about the title of the story and the way the author ends it. (1) Examine how love is expressed between father and son in the different short scenes in the essay. Identify and discuss the most important descriptive details that illustrate their close relationship. (2) In the beginning, the father cares for the son; later in the story the son cares for the father. Write about the cycle of life, the ways in which a child can learn how to be nurturing from a parent.

Kathleen de Azevedo was born in Rio de Janeiro Brazil but lived most of her life in the United States. In her spare time she writes and rewrites. Her novel, Samba Dreamers of which this selection is excerpted, began as a poem, then as a story, then, went through five major drafts and many minor ones. The book won the 2007 Pen Oakland Josephine Miles Award, given to books that address human rights themes. It also won a Latino Books into Movies Award. Kathleen has published articles in magazines and newspapers and online, but she says her secret comes down to this – “I rewrite until the piece is as close to perfect as I can make it. So of course, when I tell students they must revise their essays, I’m treating them like writers all around the world!” Kathleen started teaching at Skyline College in 1995. (1) What do you know about the L.A. gang scene? Has it changed over the years? (2) Why do people feel compelled to break the law, even putting themselves in danger?

(1) What do we know about the main character Rosea (1) What do we know about the main character Rosea? From the information in the opening paragraph, what could have happened previously that caused Rosea to seek out a gun? (2) How do the past and the present work together and/or collide in this story? (3) What is Geezer’s family like? Does the final line of this story seem accurate? (1) Rosea appears to have tried on the lifestyle of the barrio for a time. What would be alluring about this for a girl from Hollywood Hills? How does class play a role? Had she been a true part of this world? What can we learn from examining her attitudes and observations upon her return there? (2) How do we see undercurrents of violence threaded throughout the story? How does it shape the setting, the action and the characters? What is the effect or outcome for the reader?

CRITICAL READING Faculty-Written Texts that concludes 1 CRITICAL READING Faculty-Written Texts