Ana Karina Parra

 

Dr. Warner

 

Young Adult Lit.

 

10 May 2006

 

Memoirs about Entrapment: Telling Stories

 

            Gang activity is probably at the highest in its history, especially in urban areas.  In June 2005, the mayor of Richmond, CA asked Gov. Arnold Swarzchenegger to declare a state of emergency for the rampant gang violence (Gonzales weblink). Young adults living in impoverished communities and in cities with high gang crime rates are more susceptible in joining gangs and risking incarceration.  Although organizations and academic institutions have intervention programs in place to deal with gang problems, gang activity rate has been escalating, not diminishing.  Teenagers join gangs for a variety of reasons, and for many, going to �juvie,� as they call juvenile hall, is a way to become �tough,� gain respect from gang members, and reach manhood or womanhood. 

Organizations and academic institutions have addressed the effects of joining gangs in different ways; however, perhaps the rhetoric used comes across as too didactic, which fails to make an impression on young listeners.  To demystify and to de-romanticize prison and gangs without being too didactic, teachers can address gang issues to either mature or at-risk high school students in a more subtle way through their curriculum.  English teachers can create a unit incorporating canonical and modern memoirs that deal with entrapment which may encompass any of the following subtopics: wrongful incarceration; rightful imprisonment; and involuntary confinements due to political instabilities. 

Because memoirs are written by writers who �feel so strongly about� their personal experiences and �wish to share [their] feelings with readers� (Donalsen 268), young adults might find memoirs intriguing.  According to Donelson and Nielson, authors of Literature for Young Adults, �One aspect of personal experience books that makes them attractive to young readers is that they are by people looking back on experiences they had when they were young� (268).  By reading honest accounts of people who have experienced some type of entrapment, young adults may find reasons to stop treating prison and gangs as an apotheosis. 

The entrapment unit will be centered on four chapters (1,2,3,5) of a canonical memoir, also referred to as a slave narrative, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself (1845).  In this text, Frederick Douglass contemplates on the meaning of his life as a slave in retrospect, that is, after he was freed.  Douglass�s passionate account exemplifies the fear and treatment of African Americans before the U.S. Civil War. It is very likely that students will conclude that slavery, a form of entrapment, is undesirable and ominous.

Before reading the centered text, consider doing some anticipatory activities.  Such activities include discussing examples or meanings of the theme entrapment and reading excerpts from 20th and/or 21st century memoirs that deal with entrapment in some way.  By comparing and contrasting the forms of entrapment, students will discover their effects�separation of family, abandonment, human suffering, annihilation.  In order to avoid discussions about criminology and sounding didactic, teachers should include a few texts dealing with incarcerations due to crimes.  Reading memoirs dealing with a variety of subtopics will keep students from feeling preached at.  The two memoirs that can be included in the anticipatory activities are Hole in My Life (2004) by Jack Gantos and Life in Prison (1998) by Stanley �Tookie� Williams because the writers have endeavored to help young adults from living a criminal life. 

Following is the format of the three-four week curriculum and some activities for before, during, and after the reading of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself (1845).  After reading that text and other memoirs, students will hopefully steer away from criminal activities that will send them to jail and/or stop from glorifying prison life.

 

Launching the Unit

 

The following anticipatory activities will introduce the meanings of the overall theme of entrapment, its subtopics, and ethical issues raised by writers listed below. 

 

Anticipatory activities:

 

  1. Write a journal entry about your understanding of the word entrapment.  
  2. Pair up to make a web of ideas about what it means to be entrapped; then have a whole class discussion.
  3. Read an excerpt from the following memoirs.  Explain what memoirs are.  The memoirs reflect the sentiment of living in either a prison cell, being sentenced to death row, or living under a totalitarian regime.  Choose two texts to compare and contrast ideas of entrapment. 

 

    1. My Forbidden Face by Latifa

 

According to Amanda Barker, sixteen-year-old Latifa �became prisoner in her own home [Afghanistan].�  �With painful honesty and clarity Latifa describes the way her world fell apart in the name of a fanatical interpretation of a faith,� writes Barker. 

 

    1. Life in Prison by Stanley �Tookie� Williams

 

Stanley �Tookie� Williams was co-founder of the Crips gang and was executed this year.  Because he was convicted of killing four people, he was sentenced to death row and imprisoned in San Quentin, CA.  After being in the penitentiary, he committed himself to ending gang warfare through anti-gang projects, street-peace organizations, and writing books telling his accounts about living in prison, which earned him a 2001 Nobel Peace Prize nomination. 

 

    1. Hole in My Life by Jack Gantos

 

This memoir is an account of �the fifteen months [Gantos] spent in federal prison between high school and college� (Donelson 268) for smuggling drugs. 

  

  1. Create a book pass session during which students will read for 10 minutes of memoirs, narratives, or autobiographies with themes of entrapment.

 

 

 

The Unit:

 

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself (1845)

 

During the in-class reading and discussions, teachers may use one of the following �List of 10� activities.

 

a.     List ten statements that evoke Douglass�s strong conviction of freedom.

b.     List ten reactions to slavery.

c.     List ten ways that Douglass�s experience relate to entrapment. 

 

After students finish reading selected chapters (1,2,3,5), work on the following: 

 

1.  Hold a debate discussing that if Douglass fought for freedom for slaves, why is it that some individuals want to give up their freedom by going to prison just to prove a point? What kind of ideals are worth losing your freedom for? What are the benefits, if any, and consequences of incarceration? In short, do students see parallels to today�s world?  

 

  1. Work with a group to make a poster reflecting Douglass�s sentiment on slavery.  Include a �power line� from any of the selections, if applicable, or create one that may fit the poster idea.

 

Extending the Unit

 

For this part of the unit, students should work in small groups to do one or more activities on memoirs or narratives written by individuals who have experienced some form of entrapment.

 

Students could work on

 

  1. Presenting a book talk about one of the memoirs from the list below
  2. Create a book pass session during which students will read for 10 minutes of memoirs, narratives, or autobiographies with themes of entrapment
  3. Create artwork, painting, sculpture, or other format that symbolizes the various types entrapment

 

 

 

Recommended books:

 

Frank, Anne.  The Diary of Anne Frank.

Gantos, Jack  Hole in My Life

Latifa. My Forbidden Face

Neil, Gaiman.  American Gods

Mandela, Nelson.

Munoz-Ryan, Pam. Esperanza Rising.

Myers, Walter Dean. Bad Boys: A Memoir.

Soto, Gary. Living up the Street.

Williams, Stanley �Tookie.� Life in Prison

Wiesel, Elie. Night.

X, Malcolm

 

 

Recommended References

 

http://www.americanwriters.org/classroom/

 

http://teacherlink.ed.usu.edu/tlresources/units/Byrnes-famous/douglass.html#Objectives:

 

http://www.webenglishteacher.com/douglass.html

 

http://www.tolerance.org/teach/web/power_of_words/pdf/power_words_lesson_10.pdf

 

http://www.mcrel.org/standards-benchmarks/activities/output.asp?Activity=83

 

http://urbandreams.ousd.k12.ca.us/lessonplans/frederickdouglass/lp00.html

 

 

Works Cited

 

Donelson, Kenneth L. and Allen Pace Nilsen. �Chapter 9: Nonfiction: Information, Literary Nonfiction, Biographies, and Self-Help Books.� Literature for Young Adults. 7th edition. Pearson Education, Inc.: Boston (2005) 267-69.

 

Barker, Amanda. Book Talk/Handout on My Forbidden Face by Latifa. Presented on March 1, 2006.

Gonzales, Richard. �Crime Wave Engulfs California City.� http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4719656 June27, 2005.

Williams, Stanley �Tookie.� Life in Prison. Morrow Junior Books and Company, Inc.: New York (1998).