Young Adult Lit/Crit

Kanye West and other lyrics

Here's the link to a website that has the lyrics to "Through the Wire," the Kanye West song that mentions Emmett Till.  It has two instances of the word "ass" and one "shit," but they both come far after the opening verse that contains the Emmett Till allusion. "Through the Wire" link

On another note, I'm by no means a big hip-hop/rap fan; I can barely stomach a lot of it.  In that spirit, I figured I'd give a little shout for the use of the Grateful Dead in the classroom.  If you're talking about allusion I don't think "Ramble on Rose" can be beat.  Also, everything is introduced with "Just like," a nice little simile example as well.  For lyrics and complete annotation of a huge number of songs check out David Dodd's site.  The amount of work he put into it is really extensive.  Grate Lyrics

Have a good weekend all.  Be good, or be good at it.

-Matt W.

"Strange Fruit"

It is the second stanza in A Wreath for Emmett Till which Professor Stearns was referencing tonight, where it mentions the phrase "strange fruit."  This is a reference to Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit."  Check out that link for some background on the song, as well as to hear an audio clip from it.

-Dave

Emmett's mom

I posted a comment to Karen's inquiry that addresses my experience with this poem a little, but I thought I could go a bit deeper here.

This morning, I read the crown of sonnets with my students.  I assigned them each two sonnets and took the opportunity to practice mine with a real audience by "performing" the one Karen assigned to me.  As I read the first line, "Emmett Till's name still catches in my throat," I felt a catch in my own throat.  Here is a sonnet about Emmett's mother packing his luggage, giving him serious advice about the threat that "white folks" pose and hoping that he'll remember to brush his hair.  The contrast between the comforting images of home and the last line: "... A body left to bloat," is, to say the least, very difficult to reconcile.

Reading this poem reminds me of the first time I read William Blake's "The Chimney Sweeper."  Tears rolled out of my eyes as I sat in the front of Dr. Gonzalez's Intro to Poetry class, imagining my very own two-year old being lowered into the terrifying confines of a London chimney.  Emmett Till was not much older than my son is now.  I have to wonder how much guilt his mother felt for letting him go, even though she knew the inherit danger such a trip included?  Of course she wanted her son to know his family, to experience life outside of her home, etc..., but I suspect there is a part of her that whispers, "You shouldn't have let him go.  Why did you let him go?"

I look forward to our discussion about this book,

Jacqueline

Emmett Till??

Dear Teachers, are we set to do our reading of EMMETT TILL Thursday night? Do we need more time with it? I have been looking for posts on each of your sonnets.

Perhaps we should continue to channel our excitement to LORELEI STREET and postpone TILL until next week? Especially when Mary Pearson has been so generous w/her comments. Don't miss her post "on writing" in the comments to CHRIS. We have guests in class tomorrow night and I don't want to go ahead with TILL unless you feel comfortable and ready.

Too, we have other reading--the chapter from STUDENT BOOK CLUBS, the CHOICE chapter, REYNOLDS (which I think all of you have read). Let me know about TILL. I do think this is a compelling text and I hope you do too.

Those of you who have spent time w/your sonnet--would you be willing to model a reading of it to inspire all of us tomorrow night?

And, I'm still looking for facilitators for the discussion of the first half of LORELEI tomorrow night? Be in touch. And don't forget to share your potential seminar topics with us. KES

Rich in Allusions

As you begin to work on your reading of A WREATH FOR EMMETT TILL for TH night, do share some of your analysis of the rich allusions in the text. It would be lovely if everyone posted a note on her/his speaking part in the next few days. Do read the whole collection of poems so that you are able to contextualize your piece of the "wreath" and know what comes before and after. KES