Final Blog Post- What Diverse Literature NOW Means to Me!!!

Throughout the semester I realized that I learned A LOT about diverse literature. I think that the biggest thing I learned about diverse literature is that diversity crosses many different areas and groups of people. Before this course I used to think of diversity in specifically cultural terms, however now I think about diversity in a whole new light. Included in diversity are people with disabilities, sexual orientations, and religions along with different cultural groups. I have also learned a great deal about really looking into a book and seeing the stereotypes that it presents. However, I think that I have also thought a lot about and learned how one could use these books and the stereotypes in them to teach about stereotypes in text.

I really enjoyed looking into the text and questioning things that I may have seen as stereotypical or simply just problematic in the text. However, I believe that questioning is a correct term because in some areas there are unanswered questions. Sometimes it is a matter of interpretation if something is stereotypical or not. There were many times in which my groups discussion allowed me to think further into the issues I saw in the text and to see that they may not be as stereotypical as I at first may have thought. On the other hand these discussion also brought up many issues and questions in the novels that I had not even thought of. Overall, I think that I learned a lot about looking deeper into the text that we read and would use in our classrooms. I think this is important because not every book is perfect and teachers can use the imperfections in the text as teaching tools, to make children aware, and as ways of discussion. I also learned that it is important to discuss issues related to diversity even if they may be uncomfortable at first. Going to the MSU museum to see the KKK Quilt, which at first my reaction was “why would this be in a museum”, was a great eye opener into this issue. After going to see the quilt and talking about it I think that I really understood better the reasoning for the quilt being in the museum and I appreciated the quilt as an artifact of history and a artifact to ignite discussion.

When thinking about the literature I would use in my classroom I thought a lot about how important it was to avoid all stereotypes in books that the children would explore on their own. I also thought about how one could use books that might present stereotypical images but with the intention of discussion of those things and how this would be great in a whole class setting. I learned that the literature that I place out for students to view may be different from the materials that I use in class to read together because I think some books are great books to use as discussions but they need to be used in a whole group setting to discuss possible problems with the book or things of that nature with a class. Overall, this course taught me to the important of multicultural literature, but also the importance of the authenticity of the literature that you choose to put in your classroom and the importance of having group discussions on books to share thoughts and ideas about the text.

Reflection Post

When looking at this text set as a whole the picture books discussed show an authentic representation of African American Culture specifically through the author’s use of African American Language in the books. The use of AAL accurately in the narrative and the dialogue in the books, by both insider and outsider authors allows one to see the ways in which authentic AAL can be used in the text. In each text the inside and outsider authors use AAL as a way to add cultural authenticity to the text through the dialogue. It is important that the use of AAL is accurate in these texts and not simply a person’s own person language created through the text. AAL as a language has its own set of grammatical forms that construct the sentence formation of the language. Through this text set we see authors using authentic grammatical forms of AAL in both the narrative and the dialogue which shows that AAL is a language that can be used in both speaking (the dialogue) and in writing and creating stories (narratives).

Overall, I think that the cultural importance of the use of AAL in African American culture is shown through the books in this text set. Through the different styles of writing such as call and response and the different use of AAL in narrative children can learn about the language of the African American culture in an authentic way. The stories in these books are stories that range from users of AAL showing their intelligence, like in Flossie and the Fox, to stories about being proud of ones physical appearance, such as in Nappy Hair. Each of the books in this text set offer insight into the African American culture in both language and in other areas as well and are good examples of the diverse pieces of literature.

Professional Resource Review

In the May/ June 1999 issue of The Horn Magazine, Michelle Martin reviewed the book Nappy Hair written by Carolivia Herron. Martin as an insider to the African American culture shed light as an insider reviewer of her opinion on the book. In the article in The Horn Magazine, titled “Never too Nappy”, Martin discusses both the book and the controversy that surrounds it in a critical review of the text. Martin states that, “Typically a negative term, nappy connotes unmanageability-hair that is too dense to comb with ease. Because hair-straightening chemicals have been widely available to African Americans since the nineteenth century, being called nappy headed (or peasy headed a term derived from peas) often suggests that the nappy-headed person is too poor, too careless, too unkempt, or too old-fashioned to "do something with that nappy hair" (Martin 1). From this she explains why the controversy may have emerged in a school as a teacher used this book in her classroom and the parents of children in her class were offended by the title and topic of the book.

Martin discusses this issue by portraying both sides of the controversy as she shows the negative connotation that people have with the word nappy, which shows where their issues might rise from. However, she also explains that many of the individuals that had a problem with the book had not yet read the text itself. Martin further states, “Herron's book, in the end, affirms that natural, unprocessed Afro hair is wonderful just as it is. Fostering self-love in the children who read these texts, these picture books do not suggest that children should change their hair in any way” (Martin 1). This is a positive thing that the book is trying to accomplish and therefore uses the negative term nappy and sheds positive light on the term as it shows an African American family that embraces the uniqueness of their hair. Martin further goes on to state that, “in some ways Nappy Hair and picture books like it are way ahead of African-American popular culture in that they resist conforming to white standards of beauty and affirm the beauty, versatility, and historical significance of natural Afro hair”(Martin1).

Overall Martins review of the book Nappy Hair is a well-balanced review in that she explains the issues people might have with the book and the reasons behind it. However, she also explains the text and the positive things that Herron as an author does with a traditionally negative view of the word “nappy”. As an insider to this culture Martin offers personal experiences in her review that show her connection to the culture and shed light on her views of this book as an insider.

Martin also discusses the connection between the illustrations and the call and response style of text as she states that “The call-and-response style of the narrative would be less effective without the visual affirmation that Brenda's family is actively participating in Uncle Mordecai's oral tale” (Martin1). Although I agree with the strong connection between the illustrations and the text in this book I feel as though the call and response text is not necessarily made stronger through the illustrations and that this style of writing might still be difficult to understand without background description in it before reading.

The strongest thing I think that Martin’s review did was bring up the idea that this book could be used as a discussion tool. She stated that, “Nappy Hair can help to foster open discussions about ethnic topics that people don't usually mention outside of their own families and communities”(Martin1). This came after a personal description of how as a young adult she had conversations with white people about the similarities and differences in their hair. Although I agree that this book could be used as an important tool for discussions I also think that discussion about the call and response technique and other uses of African American language used in the text could be topics of deeper discussion and discovery for children reading this text.
Overall, this review explained the book and both the positives and negatives that go along with it. She discusses the negative ideas that are associated with the word nappy and how this could result in criticism in the book, however, she also brings to light the idea that the author is using this traditionally negative word and is using it in this instance in a positive light. Martins overall opinion is that people should read the book before criticizing it and she feel as an insider that this is a positive book. My only criticism of this idea is that there may be other insiders out there who do not share the same view of this book even after reading it, and that they might not feel the same way about this as she does. The review also does not discuss other aspects of AAL used in the text of the writing and although it tries to address both sides of the debate over the book it seems to show a rather one-sided opinion from 1 insider on the issue. Martin seems to think she speaks for all insiders in her review and doesn’t seem to reflect on how other insiders might feel differently then herself, due to different life experiences.

Martin, Michelle. "Never too nappy”. The Horn Book Magazine 1 May 1999: 283-288.
Research Library Core. ProQuest. MSU library, East Lansing, MI. 1 Dec.
2007

Final Project Book 4

Joosse, Barbara. Stars in the Darkness. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2002.



Stars in the Darkness is a story about an African American boy who lives with his mother and brother in an apartment in the city. The boy is the narrator of the story and is dealing with the issue of his older brother, Richard, who he looks up to and respects, joining a gang. The narrator and his mother decide to rally the neighbors together to fight against the gangs by starting Peace Walks at night to stop the gangs. The story deals with the emotions the boy is feeling along with his mother as they realize that Richard has become part of a gang.

The book is written by Barbara Joosse, who grew up in Milwaukee, and who according to the images on her website she does not appear to be African American and according to her biography she also did not appear to grow up in the inner city. For these reason she would be considered an outsider author for this particular book about African American individuals. On the issue of her writing as an outsider Joosse stated that, "I often write outside of my own experience, drawing word pictures of places or people or activities other than my own. In order to do this, I need to visit those places (whether it is a geographic location or a new activity), record the voices of people who live the story I tell, research and call on a team of expert readers to check for accuracy”. This is an important thing to note when thinking about her as an author because it explains how she does her research to create these authentic books even from a culture that is not her own.

However, even as an outsider author she uses African American Language (AAL) in both the narrative and the dialogue in the book. Since the narrator is an African American boy the narrative text also uses this language. Through the use of words that drop the final consonant, as is a typical grammatical form of AAL, such as howlin’ fightin’ playin’ sleepin’ and nothin’, the author uses this grammatical form used in AAL to add authenticity to the text. This correct grammatical form of AAL as written by Joosse shows the way in which an outside author can also authentically create AAL in text. For this reason I believe that this book is a great example of a diverse literature book written authentically by an outside author and would be great to add to a classroom collection.

Final Project Book 3

McKissack, Patricia C. Flossie and the Fox. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, 1986.



Flossie and the Fox is a story of a young African American girl who goes to bring her neighbors some eggs and on the way uses her wit to outsmart a fox. As she walks through the forest she meets up with a menacing fox and Flossie makes him prove that he is indeed a fox. She does this by using the physical description the fox gives to identify himself as a fox against him by saying he could just be another animal. For example, when the fox says he has a thick coat Flossie says a rabbit has a thick coat too. This continues as she walks through the woods to her neighbor’s house. The fox gets frustrated in trying to prove that he is a fox and that Flossie is not afraid of him and he gets so wrapped up in proving his identity that he does not notice that he has followed her out of the woods and into a dangerous situation of being chased by a hound. This book follows Flossie and the fox in their trip through the woods and Flossie cleverly outsmarts the fox and the fox tries desperately to prove his identity as a fox.

Patricia McKissack uses many techniques in her writing that add to the authenticity of her text. She uses many grammatical components of African American Language (AAL) that add to the authenticity of her writing. Through her use of the zero copula form, or the absence of the word “are” in a sentence, she demonstrates the African American Language in her text. One example of this is when she states, “I don’t believe you a fox”. This use of AAL in her writing adds authenticity to this book and demonstrated diversity in her writing style. McKissack also uses multiple negation in her writing, such as “I aine never seen” and “you anie no fox” which is also a typical grammatical form use in AAL. These grammatical forms that are typical of AAL show authenticity in the use of AAL in the dialogue and narration in the book. The book also shows diversity in language as the African American characters in the book are depicted using AAL and the fox is shown using LWC (or language or the wider community also known as Standard English). This shows diversity in language types throughout the book. Although some may consider the fact that the African American characters speak AAL and the fox speak LWC as a stereotype, I believe that the way in which the characters speak shows authenticity in language and also goes against the typical stereotype that speakers of AAL are unintelligent in the way in which Flossie outsmarts the fox in the book. This goes against typical stereotypes because the African American girl who speaks in AAL is shown outsmarting the fox that speaks LWC. Overall, I believe that through the use of African American Language and LWC in her book, McKissack creates an authentically written story using AAL and LWC and that this book is a creative and authentic piece of diverse literature.

Final Project Book 2

Herron, Cavolivia, Nappy Hair.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1997

Nappy Hair is a picture book written in a unique style of writing known as Call and Response. This call and response story tells the story of a young girl, Brenda, and her Uncle Mordecai’s view of how she got her “nappy hair”. The book talks about this young girl and how proud she should be of her hair because it comes from “the lord” and her ancestors from Africa, and how “one nap of her hair is the only perfect circle in nature”.

This style of call and response is an authentic African American story telling technique in which the characters in the story respond to the narrator of the story. Uncle Mordecai is the narrator in this story and throughout the book the author uses different styles of text to show that another character is speaking in response to Uncle Mordecai. For example in this passage the standard text is Uncle Mordecai and the other text is the response by other characters in the book:

“Brenda, you sure do got some nappy hair on your head, don’t you?
Well.
It’s your hair, Brenda, take the cake,
Yep.
And come back and get the plate.
Don’t Cha know.”

Call and response technique of story telling is an African American traditional way of telling stories and this adds authenticity to the text and the story as told by Carolivia Herron. Herron uses another grammatical form of AAL in her writing as she writes, “ain’t going to be nothing they come up with going to straighten this chile’s hair”. In this passage the author also makes use of AAL in the way in which she uses multiple negation in her passage through the phrase “ain’t going to be nothing”. Multiple negation is also a AAL grammatical style which adds authenticity to the text itself.

The illustrations in this book are done in a cartoon style and depict an African American family and specifically Brenda with her nappy hair. Each character in the book is African American as depicted in the illustrations, including the angels in heaven. Brenda is the character with the nappy hair and her expressions in each illustration depict her happiness and how proud she is of her hair showing through the illustrations that she is proud of herself and her hair. The illustrations depict a multi generational family, all dressing in various clothing some traditional and some modern, and they all have different styles of hair which is an important emphasis of the book and a detail the illustrator considered in his illustrations.

The different techniques of AAL used in the text by the author of Call and Response and multiple negation are grammatical forms of AAL that add authenticity to the text itself. This authenticity in the way the book is written and the accurate use of AAL throughout the text and the illustrations makes this book a piece of diverse literature. Herron also uses the word “nappy” a traditionally negative word used to describe African American people’s hair, in a positive light throughout the book, which counteracts the typical negative stereotypical view of the word “nappy”. For these reasons I believe that Nappy Hair is a unique book that would be piece of diverse literature that could be used in many ways to inform others about African American culture and to ignite discussion about things such as call and response techniques, AAL, and even ideas about nappy hair.

Final Project Book 1

Clifton, Lucille, Three Wishes. New York: Delacorte Press, 1992.

Three Wishes is a story about a young African American girl named Zenobia. On New Years day she finds a penny with her birth year on it on the ground while out walking with her friend Victor. Zenobia believes in the luck of the penny and that she has three wishes to make on the penny. When she jokingly says that she wished it was warm out on that cold winter day and the sun immediately came out, her and Victor began to think that the three wishes might really come true. However, afterwards in Zenobia’s house when she says she wished Victor would go away her second wish came true. After talking to her mom about what she would wish for Zenobia comes up with her last and final wish on her penny.

This story about wishes and friendship is written by Lucille Clifton using African American Language in both the dialogue and narration of the book. Clifton uses authentic grammatical forms of AAL as she uses words such as “somthin” and “walkin” in her text. This grammatical form of dropping the final consonant of the word, known as final consonant negation is a grammatical form of AAL. The characters in the book are all depicted as African American through the illustrations. Through the illustration the characters appear to live in a middle class neighborhood through the neighborhood depictions and the depiction of the way the characters are dressed in the illustrations. Through the use of authentic AAL in the text and the depictions of a middle class African American family this book appears to go against typical stereotypes of African Americans, and uses authentic language to create a story about friendship. Also, the topic of the book is something that could be relatable to children of all cultures, in that the plot is not culturally specific. However, the use of AAL in the text of the book adds cultural authenticity to the text and the African American characters in the book. For these reasons I believe this book is an example of diverse literature that could be added to a multicultural library.