This has been one of my favorite history books for a long time. People don't really hate American history, they just hate the dull versions of American history that they slept through in school. They won't sleep through this history book. Kenneth Davis covers most of the big picture history of the America, from the beginning right through the present, but he does it by "busting myths and setting the record straight." His writing style is witty, even humorous, but always engaging and interesting. His pace is fast. Quick and too the point, history in easily accessible, easily digestible chunks. He covers the big picture of American history, but he also gives the reader the real deal; like who really discovered America, what was " the shot heard round the world", Washington's bawdy sense of humor, Lincoln's real views on race relations, and Henry Ford's shocking bigotry and animosity. He also exposes and attacks the cynicism and exploitative behavior of our nation's "robber barons", like Vanderbilt, J.P. Morgan, Rockefeller and even Joe Kennedy. He also gives sincere and thoughtful treatment to the many African Americans who made great contributions to America's history, like Frederick Douglass and W.E.B. DuBois. It is good history and critical literacy at it's best.
I will keep this book in the classroom and recommend it often to my class. I plan to use it as an adjunct text to the textbook. Because of its quick, too-the-point style, it will engage the students who have a hard time slogging through page after page of dry history textbooks. It will also be a good guide to get them on point and facilitate and encourage more in-depth research and study. It will also provide a wealth of interesting research topics for students who are having trouble coming up with a topic on their own. I will also offer it as an appropriate activity for students who may finish a project ahead of their classmates and need something to keep them appropriately occupied.
9. Gaines, Ernest J. A Lesson in Dying, Vintage Books. (1993).
This novel is set in a small Cajun community in the late 1940s. Jefferson, a young back man, has been caught up, unwittingly, in a robbery and shoot-out where three people, including a white businessman are killed. His quick conviction is a foregone conclusion, he is black, the victim is white, he was seen there, he is guilty, case closed. Based on his white court appointed lawyer's defense of "why, I would just as soon put a hog in the electric chair as this," he is given the death penalty. Grant Wiggins is another young black man from the community who was fortunate enough to go away to university and obtain his teaching certificate, and he has returned to his hometown to teach while he mulls over plans to leave this backwater with its racism, bigotry and provincialism for the big city. Grant's aunt and Jefferson's godmother, shocked at the dehumanizing trail and conviction that Jefferson endured, particularly by the characterization of a black man as being something less than a hog, prevail upon Grant to work with Jefferson in his jail cell to teach him some rudiments of reading and writing, so that he won't die illiterate, but also to teach Jefferson to die like a man; not like a hog. The story is of the difficult journey the two men make together, and the growth each of them experiences as they both learn and understand "the simple heroism of resisting-and defying-the expected.
I will use this novel to introduce my students to the shocking and dehumanizing state of racism and bigotry that African Americans endured in the South, and just how African Americans were excluded from the basic civil and human rights that all people are entitled to by natural and Constitutional right. It will suggest it to students as a good catalyst for deeper research and exposition of the African American's mistreatment by the American criminal justice system, right up to the present. Also, being a critically acclaimed book about African Americans written by a critically acclaimed African American author with several even more famous books to his credit, this book will be something that I recommend to my African American students as something and somebody from their own race of which they can be very, very proud, and to my students from other ethnic backgrounds as an example of how worthy and important the contributions of people from all ethnic backgrounds are to our society.
10. The American Vision; Spanish Reading Essentials and Study Guide with Workbook. (Spanish Edition). Glencoe/McGaw-Hill. (2006)
This is a reading and study guide on American history and civics, written in Spanish. I plan to use this book for my students who speak mostly Spanish and are having problems reading and comprehending texts written in English. When I detect that students are having difficulty understanding the English texts that we use in our lessons, I will suggest that they pick-up this book, find the same topic therein, and read and study about it in Spanish. Hopefully, this will help them come back to the English text with greater understanding and comprehension. I will also offer this book to my Spanish speaking students as a resource for research projects. I will recommend that Spanish speaking students read and study in this book as an appropriate classroom activity while I am working with other students. I will also recommend it to my English speaking students as an appropriate classroom activity in hopes of increasing their understanding and appreciation of the Spanish language and their Spanish speaking classmates. I will use this text not only as a teaching aid for ELL students, but as an aid in building and encouraging respect for other diverse cultures in our school and in our community.
Excellent collection of strategies and texts!
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