Memoir/Biography Assignment Part 1

You must choose a book from the list provided in this post. You need to get your own book and bring it to class on Friday. 

If you have absolutely no way to get a book from the library, a store, a friend, or a family member, then you must notify me in writing or email by Wednesday. I will need a full explanation as to why you could not get a book. 

If you want to read a different memoir or biograph, then you must submit a written or email request for approval. 

  

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, 

by Sherman Alexie and Ellen Forney

No Crystal Stair: A Documentary Novel of the Life and Work of Lewis Michaux, Harlem Bookseller

by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson and R. Gregory Christie

Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty

by G. Neri and Randy DuBurke

Enrique's Journey: The True Story of a Boy Determined to Reunite with His Mother

by Sonia Nazario

Circuit, The: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child

by Francisco Jiménez

Bad Boy: A Memoir by Walter Dean Myers

War Child: A Child Soldier's Story by Emmanuel Jal

When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago

Breaking Through by Francisco Jiménez

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

Under the Royal Palms: A Childhood in Cuba by Alma Flor Ada

Family Romanov, The: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia by Candace Fleming

I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Changed the World by Malala Yousafzai and Patricia McCormick

Black Boy

by Richard Wright

King of the Mild Frontier: An Ill-Advised Autobiography

by Chris Crutcher

Restless Spirit: The Life and Work of Dorothea Lange
by Elizabeth Partridge

Laughing at My Nightmare
by Shane Burcaw

Fort of Nine Towers, A: An Afghan Family Story
by Qais Akbar Omar

The Glass Castle: A Memoir

by Jeannette Walls

House of Houses by Pat Mora

Chinese Cinderella: The True Story of an Unwanted Daughter

by Adeline Yen Mah

Devil in the Details: Scenes from an Obsessive Girlhood

by Jennifer Traig

Pact, The: Three Young Men Make a Promise and Fulfill a Dream

by Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, Rameck Hunt, and Lisa Frazier Page

Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez 

by Richard Rodriguez

Three Little Words: A Memoir

by Ashley Rhodes-Courter

Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West by Blaine Harden

Angela's Ashes: A Memoir

by Frank McCourt

Go Ask Alice

by Anonymous

Year We Disappeared, The: A Father-Daughter Memoir

by Cylin Busby and John Busby

Sugar Falls: A Residential School Story

by David Alexander Robertson and Scott B. Henderson

Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace, The: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League

by Jeff Hobbs

Walk to Beautiful: The Power of Love and a Homeless Kid Who Found the Way

by Jimmy Wayne and Ken Abraham

A Place to Stand by Jimmy Santiago Baca 

Eyes Right: Confessions from a Woman Marine by Tracy Crow

Sickened: The Memoir of a Munchausen by Proxy Childhood

by Julie Gregory and Marc D. Feldmann

I'm Down by Mishna Wolff

Sorrow's Kitchen: The Life and Folklore of Zora Neale Hurston

by Mary E. Lyons

Bronte Sisters, The: The Brief Lives of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne by Catherine Reef

Grace, Gold, & Glory: My Leap of Faith by Michelle Burford and Gabrielle Douglas

Hidden Girl: The True Story of a Modern-Day Child Slave

by Shyima Hall and Lisa Wysocky

Hideous Love: The Story of the Girl Who Wrote Frankenstein

by Stephanie Hemphill

Some Assembly Required: The Not-So-Secret Life of a Transgender Teen

by Arin Andrews

Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons: The Story of Phillis Wheatley

by Ann Rinaldi

Always Running: La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A. by Luis J. Rodriguez

Pre-Activity for Night by Elie Wiesel

We are preparing the read Elie Wiesel's memoir Night. The novel depicts his time in the Nazi German concentration camp.

Part of our literary journey will be to analyze how ignoring a belittling joke can eventually lead to genocide. It is hard concept to imagine that ignoring a joke can lead to such drastic events, but it does happen.

Examples of belittling jokes and stereotypes

The first thing that one should familiarize themselves with the various forms of prejudice that exist in the world. It is far more than race and sexual orientation (a primary focus in the current landscape of American culture). 

Survivors of Buchenwald Concentration Camp

1. Go to Most Common Prejudice. After reading the list and 

description of the various forms of prejudice, create 

Cornell Notes for each type. Include questions that can be used for a Socratic Seminar. 

2. Familiarize yourself with the history of genocide so that you may have a full historical understanding and the background knowledge needed for an analysis. There are two sites that you should read and add to your Cornell Notes: 8 Stages of Genocide and 10 Atrocious Genocides In Human History. 

3. Although The Pyramid of Hate was discussed thoroughly in class, resources for personal research and growth can be found at The Southern Povery Law Center (a group focused on fighting hate and teaching tolerance in the United States) and The Anti-Defamtion League (a group that was orginally formed to fight against the defamation of Jewish people, but has grown to fight many forms of discrimination and hate). 

The Hate Map on The Souther Poverty Law Center website tracks various hate groups throughout the country. 

4. We began creating Cornell Notes over Oprah's interview with Elie Wiesel at Auschwitz Concentration Camp. You can find videos 1-6 at Winfrey and Wiesel - Auschwitz. 

5. Read and try to retain the information found at  26 Holocaust Facts for easier comprehension of Night by Elie Wiesel.