# data[].attributes.headline
From the Journal of          Ruth Miller

# data[].attributes.subject
From the Journal of          Ruth Miller

# data[].attributes.body
Mama's been fussing up a storm about my new hair. Sayin' the new dresses and the bob I got yesterday is crossing the line. She can complain all she wants the hair ain't coming back. Pa told me it looked fine, he don't care much about what I do nowadays as long as I don't end up dead in a ditch. I can still hear mama from my room complaining about flappers corrupting the young women of the nation. She should tell it to Sweeney since she also seems to enjoy a bottle of hooch with pa after dark like the "morally bankrupt" flappers.

Betty was the one to convince me and Doris to get those new dresses and haircuts yesterday. Though, didn't take much convincing to get me to blow my mazuma on a new hairdo. I've been wanting a new get-up for a while. Unlike Doris, always a bluenose, she didn't want to cut that much hair off but she eventually gave in. Betty had been eager to get all dolled up, she probably wanted to impress that new boy she met, Donald, I think that's what he's called. From what I heard he's a Sugar Daddy, so no wonder Betty is so head over heels for him.

I also went to my first speakeasy yesterday which was on the main drag. Usually I steal gigglewater from my mama's cabinet or Betty manages to get some foot juice from her brother. There were a couple of strange fellows coming in and out of the speakeasy. They gave me the heebie jeebies but this ain't exactly a clean business so it not that shocking to see these kinds of hard-boiled eggs at the bar. The bartender was a swell fellow and I got what he called a cocktail. It was a bit of gin with Coca-Cola. I've always been able to hold my bathtub gin but Betty got zozzled and had to be carry home last night. I have absolutely no idea how we made it without a copper stopping us, possibly cause they were also in the gin well as well ha ha ha. Maybe I can get the girls back to the bar but I don't know if Betty can handle another night out.

# data[].attributes.body
Charlie Chaplain was born in London in 1889 to two actors, Hannah and Charles Chaplin Sr (his father not much participating in his upbringing). They both died by the time he was 10 leaving him and his older half-brother, Sydney, to fend for themselves. Because of his late parents acting careers, Charlie took to the stage to support himself, joining the “The Eight Lancashire Lads”. His acting career took off when he was sent to America to be a featured player with the Fred Karno Repertoire Company in 1910. By the fall of 1912 he was offered a motion picture contract which lead to his overnight success on screen. He stared in multiple films (comedies and WWI propaganda movies )and even made his own movie studios. He died in Switzerland in 1977 survived by 8 children from his 4 marriages.

# data[].attributes.body
Joseph McCarthy/McCarthyism
He was accused of communism and exiled from America while he was on vacation in England in 1948. He never came back to America until 1972 to accept an honorary Academy Award.

# data[].attributes.body
Annie The Orphan
His mother's health was deteriorating as well as the family finances so his brother and him were sent to an orphanage for 18 months. Much like Annie, little Charlie lived in an orphanage.

# data[].attributes.body
Quantum of Solace-Oona Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin's granddaughter plays as a receptionist in the James Bond movie Quantum of Solace.

# data[].attributes.body
The Greenwood District in Tulsa Oklahoma also known as Black Wall Street due to the boom of African American businesses in the district in the early 20th century. The exponential success of Black Wall Street had the district expanding which lead to increased hostility among the whites in the area. The contemptment for the success and growth of black Wall Street blew up on May 30, 1921 with a white mob burning down the greenwood district and killing 300 and leaving 10,000 homeless.  Despite the massive loss and no help from the government Black Wall Street was rebuilt by 1924 and began to flourish again for multiple decades, until the desegregation and destruction of many focal point of the community to build a highway in the 70s and 80s.

# data[].attributes.body
The early 20th century more specifically 1917 began seeing a increase in barbaric white mobs lynching and burning down black communities. Fueled by the jealousy and hate of the growth and prosperity of the newly establish black communities like that in Tulsa Oklahoma white mobs would shot, burn, hang and dismember black Americans using minor incidents like bumping into a white woman to enact their sick sense of justice. This would slow down after the ending of the first world war but the bloodshed would forever be remembered as the "Red Summer".

# data[].attributes.body
Opening:

What adjective would you use to describe how the author feels?

Pride (in a positive way)

Core:

What does it mean to be an American?  Who deserves the rights and protections that Americans automatically have?

To be American means to a person with an American citizenship through birth or naturalization. All Americans deserve these rights and protection not just those deemed more desirable (white)

Why did Hughes feel excluded from this designation, and was his feeling justified?

As a black man during the early 20th century with rampant racism in society and the law with Jim Crow in the south and segregation throughout the country he felt as though the country was working against him to keep him from experiencing freedom guaranteed to each and every American.

Has our concept of who is truly American changed over time?  How?

The concept of who is truly an American has never had one simple definition and even today there are many heated debates about who is truly american and what classifies that. But as America's mainstream media becomes more progressive and more laws to protect BIPOC are created minorities are slowly being let in to experience what it truly means to be American with all the freedoms that are guaranteed in the constitution.

Closing:

Who do we exclude from being an “American today?  What is our justification?

BIPOC, immigrants, and other minorities are excluded from being an “American”. The people in power believe things are going well now that segregation and civil rights have been addressed in the 60s-70s and nothing more is needed.

Lately, the National Advertising Council has aired ads in which people of diverse backgrounds say, “I am an American.”  What is their message and is it relevant to the present?

It is saying despite the hate still prevalent today they are American and their hate towards them cannot take that away. It’s also a hollow way corporations try to milk the civil rights movements of the present day.

# data[].attributes.body
Opening:

What do you think Hughes means by the phrase “Genius Child”?

Someone who is smart and challenges the information and reality presented before them (activists for example)

Core:

To what does Hughes compare a genius child? Are those comparisons appropriate?  Why/why not?

He compares the child to an eagle and a monster. These are appropriate because the comparisons are from the perspective of society and society sees the genius child as a wild beast that cannot be tamed.

Why do you think Hughes reverses lines 6&7, 8&9?

To have repetition in the poem to create interest and rhythm. Since the question is posed twice it can also be assumed the question is rhetorical (no you cannot love the eagle)

If you could be a child prodigy, would you want to be?  Why or why not?

No, I struggle with presentations in class. I wouldn't be able to handle near constant media coverage and people scrutinizing every breath I take.

What is a genius?

An insane person who makes good points.

What is the price of genius?

Insanity either from the genius or the constant pressure from the media or society that they are conforming to much or not conforming.

Do you think Hughes was a genius?

I think there is a certain level of genius that comes with being such a prolific artist and I also believe just from what research I have done on him and what poetry I've read from him he was intelligent and outspoken.

Closing:

Who, today, do you consider to be a genius?  Support your answer

Greta Thunberg, she is an outspoken young woman fighting for the future of our planet and is able to speak clearly and with conviction at international meetings pressing the issue of environmental protection shaming negotiators at a UN climate summit for their lack of action as well as businesses for being complacent. She is such a key figure in the global fight for environmental protection which makes her a young genius.

# data[].attributes.body
Opening:

How do you think most people feel about death?

Most people are afraid of death or have a certain understanding that it's just a natural part of life

Core:

What is Hughes’ conception of death?  Support

He views dying and death as a change of state; saying that death never kills only changes

What is Hughes’ conception of life?  What might have shaped his views?

Based on the fact he thinks death is a change of state then living is just a state we exist in. His views on death could be formed from his catholic beliefs (afterlife is another state you live in).

What is Hughes’ conception of change?  Support

Change to Hughes is something becoming something that isn’t exactly the same as it was before and it’s impossible to be what you were before the change “To make it either more or less {but not the same thing again}”

Closing:

What factors have shaped your view of death?

My grandfather’s death (my first exposure to death of a loved one and going through the grieving process) and having conversations (good and bad) about death with my friends

# data[].attributes.body
Opening:

How would you describe the mother who is speaking in this poem?

She is firm but loving

Core:

What is the main idea of the poem?

Keep on going even if it’s hard because if you stop it’s hard to get back up.

What are the benefits of living an “easy life”?  What are the costs?

An easy life gives someone everything they want without having to work hard for it and generally allows the person to feel happier. The cost is not being able to appreciate what you have and thus making it easy to lose it and also takes away any experience you might need for life.

What are the benefits of living a “hard life”?  What are the costs?

You are filled with wisdom from your previous experiences and can support yourself not to mention you truly appreciate what you have. The cost is often mentality stability and constantly having to struggle to survive.

What is the relationship between experience and wisdom?

You gain wisdom through experience.

Why do you think Hughes used a staircase as a visual image for this poem?

His religious background influences that with the stairway to heaven representing the progression to the afterlife. Another reason for that could also be the idea that you are always trying and working for a better life so your life is a constant move up even when you take a break or stumble back.