A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness

A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness: Oscar Award Winning documentary

Produced by: Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

Where you can find it: Youtube, HBO

Brief Description:

A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness is a documentary that follows Saba, a 19 year old Pakistani woman who survives an honor killing by her dad and uncle. Saba was set to marry a man she loved  but, her uncle disapproved so the family called off the wedding. Saba decided to marry the man anyways and is kidnapped by her father and uncles, beaten, shot, cut, and then thrown in the river left for dead. Saba managed to pull herself out of the river and survive. With her father and uncles in jail, Saba is being pressured to forgive her attacker so that they maybe set free from jail or repercussions.

My Thoughts:

This documentary was extremely heartbreaking. I didn’t thinking this is something I would play in any class younger than 8th grade. I think too often we expect happy endings and life isn’t always like that. This documentary was reminder that justice does not always prevail. Aside from the really sad content, this  documentary really does make a statement and opens up the world to some practices that need to be brought attention to.

Pedagogical Response: Literary Criticism

When subjects like honor killings are brought up, it maybe easy to assume that that would be something everyone is against. Killing someone for what is the slightest display of “dishonor” just doesn’t seem logical. However, I was shocked to see in this film the women who justified this. In the documentary, Saba’s ow sister and mother justify her attempted murder by saying she did dishonor the family by getting married without consent. This begs the question of how deeply are these honor killings so rooted in the culture  that the victims now defend the act? Throughout the documentary, Saba was getting pressured by her community to forgive her attackers and set them free. The court systems even allow a family member to forgive an attacker on behalf of the victim. It makes me wonder if the women that follow this do so because they live is a male dominated society where men have most of the power, or if this is something that is a perceived norm and something where we should be applying cultural relativity.

 

Wonder 2017

Wonder is a 2017 movie  directed by Stephen Chbosky and based on the book Wonder by R.J. Palacio

It can be bought on Youtube, Amazon Prime, and Google Play as well as many other outlets.

Brief Summary:

       Wonder is a movie about a alittle boy named Auggie who has Mandibulofacial Dysostosis or Treacher Collins Syndrome. He has had a large about of surgeries and is deformed. Starting his 5th grade year, Auggie’s parents enroll him in a school which is a huge adjustment because he’s used to being homeschool. There, Auggie has to deals with being the odd one out, bullying, prejudice, socializing, and making that transition from homeschool to now being around his peers.

My Thoughts:

        I though Wonder was a very heartwarming movie. There were several instances where I cried. Auggie is like any regular boy and its hard to watch this movie and not want to protect him. This movie also provides some insights to bullying and how sometimes adults miss it or influence it. I also appreciate that many of the characters are complex, they aren’t portrayed in a way that is just static.

Pedagogical Response: Literary Criticism

It’s not too often that a movie is made with one of the central themes being disability and coping with what come with it from society so I appreciate the movie in that aspect. I however wondered if the directors avidly looked for a person with disabilities to play Auggies character before handing the role to an able bodied person. The fact that the actor playing Auggie (who does a great job) is wearing make and costume takes away from the authenticity and the impact this movie really could have made. Though the movie presents the societal prejudice that people with disabilities face, it also glosses over many issues with out necessarily confronting it or dismantling those biases. For example, a student, Julian, who bullies Auggie is being reprimanded for his actions but does not show remorse. When his wealthy parents threaten to pull him out of the school if he is suspended, the student shows remorse and apologizes, to the principal-not Auggie. This movie did a good job of showing hardships a child like Auggie would face in society, but does not do a good job of taking that further and challenging societal constructs of disabilities.

 

Aging Adolecents

Smile

Text type: Nonfiction text, Graphic Novel

Author: Raina Telgemeier

Year of the creation: 2010

Where I found it:  I first encountered this book when my little sister brought it home. She was in 7th grade at the time and thought the book was a fun read and suggested that I would enjoy it too even if I’m “a lot older than her”.

Brief Summary: This story takes us on a four year journey with Raina. Its starts out when she’s 11 years old in 6th grade and knocks out her two front teeth in an accident. Raina is navigating dental troubles as well as things that come up in this age frame such as bullying, transitioning to high school, and crushes, all the elements we love about a good coming of age story.

My Response: I have to say this book goes on my list of favorites. The author look us through four years in one 227 paged graphic novel. I feel like Raina is a character we can connect with in some way. The author added a lot of funny moments to keep the story a bit light hearted. Since the story is an autobiography, it doesn’t present one central struggle that the character has to overcome, it shows a variety of ups and downs that hold true to our own lives which makes it so relatable. This book reminds us that we all have insecurities and navigating through them is a part of life and growth. The illustrations are just another plus.

Pedagogical reflection: Activity

This book could be used as a resource in teaching narrative writing. With non informational texts, students are used to using plot diagrams which looks like a hill, rising, peaking, and falling. This story could be used to map out how in the text, there are many constant highs and lows and different problems to navigate because it’s based off of life which does not have a rigid plot.

Raina Telgemeier used important/big moments in her life in a span of 4 years and wrote her biography around that. Students could use a graphic organizer to pull two important events in their life, how it effected them, and how they felt with it as a way to write their own mini graphic novel or narrative.

ReplyForward

MY Name is Zainab

“My Name is Zainab, and I Am Not a Terrorist”

Text type: Audio / Ted Talk

Author: Zainab Mabizari

Year of the creation: 2016

Where I found it:  I found the video on YouTube when I was looking for a slam poetry example for my students.

Brief Summary: The speaker starts the poem Introducing herself as a girl, correcting it and introducing herself as a Muslim and for one last time she says “Hi, nice to meet you, I’m uh… terrorist”. As a Muslim woman who wears a Hijab, Zainab apologizes for acts of terrorism that have been blamed on Muslims. She takes a turn and sheds light by taking a positive approach and naming things that Muslims have contributed to the world. She addresses stereotypes and forms of oppression she has faced and ends by saying her name is Zainab, and she’s not a terrorist.

My Response: Zainab’s words along with her presence and inflection really allow you to hear the pain as she describes how Muslims are painted with the same brush and unfairness. I really enjoyed how she mentions being an American and yet still being considered a foreigner in a place called home. She uses her experience as a powerful tool to bring awareness.

Pedagogical Response: I used this video/audio in my classroom as part of ” Exploring Identity Through Poetry Unit”. During our unit, I used features from this audio as a model for some of their own identity poems. We talked about how the Ted Talk related to the speakers’ identity and mapped out what things she said that told us more about her, what words did she use to bring the poem alive, and inflections she made in her voice to make it more powerful. The students had their own poetry slams as the final assessment to the unit where they had to present their poem. This audio helped to guide students in terms of picking out what they think is important to them, critically thinking about what aspects of themselves they want to share, and what word choice we can use in writing to really convey our message.

Angela’s Ashes

Video Link:

https://spark.adobe.com/video/fQKw5M6gvcGkV

Brief Summary:

     Angela’s Ashes, by Frank Mccourt, is a memoir about the struggles an Irish family deals with. The McCourt family moves from New York back to Ireland after the death of Frank’s baby sister that leaves his mother depressed. At a young age, Frank has already witnessed the death of 3 of his siblings. With an alcoholic father who later abandons them, Frank is forced to grow up young as he is navigating life as it hits him over and over again. Though it sounds like a complete doom and gloom tale, there are ]constant hilarious moments to keep the reader from feeling too depressed.

My Thoughts:

         I first discovered this book in 8th grade in my teacher’s classroom library. There were a lot of inappropriate parts which attracted me to it because at that age of adolescence, you’re constantly seeking autonomy and something that feels more “grown” to you. I would not recommend this for elementary/ middle grades

 

 

Esperanza Rising

Find it:  https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/books/esperanza-rising-by-pam-munoz-ryan/

Brief Summary:

       Esperanza Rising, published in 2000, is a realistic fiction novel by author Pam Munoz Ryan. It details the story of a 13 year old girl who fled to the United States from Mexico with her mother and house servants after the murder of her father, a ranch owner, during the Mexican Revolution. Once an upper class rich girl in Mexico who had everything handed to her and never had to work a day in her life, Esperanza has to leave everything behind to start a new life where she is no longer surrounded by luxury.

My Thoughts:

         I first discovered this book last year in my Literacy class. The coming of age genre is timeless, but what I particularly enjoyed about this coming of age story is that it is embedded with so many relevant themes like immigration, classicism, and discrimination/prejudice. I feel like YA can relate to the notion of identity and growth in this story, as well as being encountering layers of it and inter-sectionality of said themes in the coming of age genre. Esperanza is 13 years old and finding that her life will not be the same anymore. She’s going to have to take on responsibilities she never imagined as well as now having to face the discrimination that she was once projecting and i think that’s  something worth unpacking with adolescents.

Pedagogical Response: 

       Esperanza Rising can be taken out of the language arts scope on placed in a social studies/ history context. Esperanza Rising can fit in a social studies lesson as it highlights the Mexican Revolution. Especially with how big of a discussion this country is having about immigration is, the book can be provided as a realistic fiction account of the hardships immigrants face along with discrimination. This could be seen in many different ways in a classroom, but i would imagine it as a Socratic seminar or just a student led discussion with essential questions about 1. Why do people immigrate, 2. What is prejudice/discrimination and 3. Is Class related to prejudice/ discrimination.

 

Meet Afi!

What excites me most about teaching is getting to work with young people, hear about who they are and help guide them in their walk in life. 

What scares me most about being an educator is not being well prepared to teach my kids, not being able to get them where they need to be, or just plain not being able to help them.

My favorite movie memory is when we watched Matilda in my third grade class and the whole class gave a standing ovation at the end when Matilda persevered. 

Shug by Jennie Han was extremely important to me because I was going through the same thing as the character at the time. I also liked how it didn’t end so happy go lucky, like all the books I read at the time did.

Angelas Ashes by Frank McCord was a highschool requirement that I refused to read and spark noted instead because the cover was so boring. I was bored one day and decided to read it and actually cried throughout the book.

The Kite Runner is one of my favorite books because of the roller coaster of emotions.

My entrance song into any room would be Originality by Sister Nancy (for now)

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