What hobby, talent, or interest do you have that might lead to a satisfying career? Make a list of people you could go to for encouragement or advice about developing your talent. Next to each name, explain how he/she could help you.

  ELACC11-12SL1: Initiate and participate effectively in collaborative discussions on grades topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively. Objective

By Richard Wright

  Author Background on pg 296 Meet Richard Wright

  Born on a plantation near Natchez, Mississippi, on September 4,  Son of a sharecropper who deserted his family when Wright was 5.  His mother became ill, and the family moved to Jackson, Mississippi with his grandmother.  Grandmother tried to stop Wright from writing.  His grandmother attempted to crush his imagination.  Wright and his brother lived in an orphanage for a short time because of family problems. More details on his Biography

  He would recall his childhood as a “time of hunger.”  For food, but also for affection, understanding, and education.  Although a very good student, Wright never graduated from high school.  Wright’s jobs in the South were marked by harassment by whites and by his own disdain for what segregation and racism had done to distort the humanity of his fellow blacks, as he saw it. Biography

  In 1927, Wright fled the South for Chicago.  In Chicago, Wright seemed headed for a career in the post office but was also determined to become a writer.  Wright found a circle of friends with similar views in 1933 when he joined the John Reed Club.  It was a nationwide organization founded by the communist party to attract writers and artists.  Between 1933 and 1940 (the first major stage of his literary career), communism was clearly the major intellectual and political force of Wright’s life. Biography

  In 1938 four of his stories were collected as Uncle Tom’s Children.  He then received a Guggenheim Fellowship, which allowed him to complete his first novel, Native Son (1940).  In 1939, he married Dhimah Rose Meadman, a white dancer, but the two separated shortly thereafter.  In 1941, he married Ellen Poplar, a white member of the Communist Party, and they had two daughters, Julia in 1942 and Rachel in Biography

  After moving to Paris in 1946, Wright wrote his second novel, The Outsiders (1953).  In his last years, he was plagued by illness (aerobic dysentary) and financial hardship.  Throughout this period he wrote approximately 4,000 English Haikus (some of which were recently published for the first time) and another novel, The Long Dream, in  After his death on November 28, 1960, another of his collections of short stories, Eight Men, was published.  His most famous work is still his autobiographical work, Black Boy (1945). Biography

  Page 296 Building Background

  Look over the vocabulary words on page 296 before you read. Know the word intuitive! You may see this again! Vocabulary Preview

As you read, you may want to jot down notes… we will discuss in 30 minutes.

  On a piece of paper…  If you could use only four sentences to summarize this excerpt, what would they be?  Pass it to your neighbor; comment on their summary  Pass it again, comment, pass, comment (get yours back)  Finally, adjust your summary utilizing the comments that you received Short but Sweet

 Richard Wright, an eight grade African American student, writes a short story and submits it to the editor of the local newspaper. The editor publishes Wright's story and as payment, offers him a chance to learn to write. Much to Wright’s dismay, his family and friends react negatively to the publication of his story. Nevertheless, as Wright grows up, his desire to become a writer becomes stronger. Summary like this?

  At the bottom of your sentences, revert back to our theme of alienation.  How does this theme apply to this excerpt? Conclusion

  Review your journal entry…what do you think would happen to your dreams if you received no support from your family and friends? Would a lack of support discourage you- or push you to achieve as it did Wright? Write it. Finally

  Memoir rubric due TODAY; memoir due TONIGHT via student portal  Extra Credit Letter assignment—on website; due 9/29 for revisions first  The Veldt story copies??  Tonight is Curriculum Night. Parents usually only; you can come but zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Come if you have too. Lastly…