Takaki Chapter 9

I'll start the reflection by thanking the wonderful public library in Alexandria, Va. Without having Takaki's book in circulation, I would have never completed this reflection as I left my book in class last week. Oooppppssss!!!!



Without having my copy to write notes in the book, I had to improvise and write my notes down on a separate sheet of paper. Not a terrible inconvience, but a slight annoyance none the less.



As I read the description of Wounded Knee, I was trying to imagine the encounter in my head. I made a note as to how well Takaki paints the picture of the battle with strong, vivid language, and how real the encounter appeared. I also thought back to how the battle was introduced to me as a student and how the instruction I received lacked the passion, energy, and pain Takaki's discussion presents.



I also reflected on how the "Native American" question is presented in schools and how, for whatever reason, it receives none of the focused attention it deserves. I also reflected on how I can present the lesson better next year, making notes on paper about what I can add to the lesson, such as Takaki's description of Wounded Knee and the picture of the death of Big Foot.



For my lesson, I would have my students read what their current text book mentions about the battle of Wounded Knee and then have them read Takaki's decription. Usually, I would have my students compare each piece of literature and discuss their differnces and why the authors may have choosen to present the story as they did. While this method is an effective technique in teaching social studies, I would like to spice things up a bit and focus on teaching writing style and how the style of the textbook and Takaki are draqstically different and how writing style can impact how an event is understood.

Style, for lack of a better term, means voice. When comparing the textbook to Takaki, the voices used by the authors differ significantly. I would have my students make note of how the styles differ and ask why did the author choose that particular style to tell the story. In addition, how do the different writing styles impact your interpretation of the event? After comparing the two pieces, I would present students with primary source documents of Wounded Knee and have them write a newspaper story describing what they read.