My Reading Process of My Partner's Content-Area Text (Part I)

Image #1: RFK's Funeral (Refer to reflection #1)
Image #2: 1960's Little League (Refer to reflection #1)
Image #3: 1960's Veterans (Refer to reflection #1)
Image #4: 1960's housewife with apron (Refer to reflection #1)
Image #5: Hippies 1960's (Refer to reflection #4)
Image #6: Woodstock 1960's (Refer to reflection #4)
Image #7: Bellboys (Refer to reflection #5)
Image #8: Greased Pig (Refer to reflection #5)
Image #9: Black Panther Party (Refer to reflection #7)
Image #10: Full Black Attire (Refer to reflection #7)































































































Introduction:

This week we begin reading our partner’s content-area/ self-chosen text. My partner’s content-area/ self-chosen text is a historical text, entitled Battle Ground Chicago: The Police and The 1968 Democratic National Convention by Frank Kusch.

My partner has stated that he finds it useful to frequently use visualization and to make connections when reading a historical text. In taking this suggestion, I will attempt to use a lot of visualizing and connection making in combination with other strategies that seem appropriate throughout my reading of this text.

This reading guide will be focusing on Chapter 4 of the text, "'On to Chicago': Countdown to August."

This blog will focus on the first section of Chapter 4, “‘On to Chicago’: Countdown to August,” pages 43-50 of the text.

In the same fashion which I presented the reflections from my content-area/ self-chosen text, I plan to organize each of these reflections into three parts, the first, a direct quote from the text; the second, my reflection; and the third, the strategies which I have used.

The following is the reading guide I have created in the process of reading this text:

1.
Text:
“Boys in Little League uniforms, caps in hand, veterans, women in aprons, the young and the old stood alongside the tracks of the 226-mile funeral train that took the body of Robert Francis Kennedy from New York to his final resting place in Arlington, Virginia” (Page 43, Paragraph 1).

Reflection:
This quote triggered images from the 1960’s in my mind. I could see images of how little league players, veterans, and housewives from the 1960’s are portrayed in movies and television. I could also see JFK’s funeral images in my mind. I have seen video clips from his funeral on television. However, I don’t recall ever seeing video clips from RFK’s funeral. I imagine that they were similar, since they took place in the same decade and in the same nation.

Strategies:
Here I used both visualizing and making connections. The words on the page were able to trigger related images in my mind. And I was able to make a connection between JFK’s funeral and RFK’s funeral because they took place in the same decade and in the same nation.

2.
Text:
“The night before his funeral, former SDS leader Tom Hayden, who had serious disagreements with Kennedy, sat in the back of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City and wept. Among those standing as an honor guard close to the senator’s coffin was Richard Daley, head down weeping. Despair crossed political boundaries” (Page 44, Paragraph 3).

Reflection:
Although tone is a literary element, usually found in literature read in the English Language Arts discipline, this quote gives the reader a real sense of the tone of this portion of the text. The scene described really conveys a very somber tone.

Strategies:
Here I am using my prior knowledge of the writing techniques used in my discipline in order to identify tone.

3.
Text:
“The assassinations of King and Kennedy, Gitlin recalled, constituted the ‘murder of hope’” (45).

Reflection:
Again, although this is a historical text, I have found literary elements within the text. In this particular quote from the text, the author seems to be using metaphorical language. As I have said before, it is important to be able to identify metaphorical language in order to better understand the text. The author is making a comparison between the murders of King and Kennedy and the figurative ‘murder of hope.’ Readers must be able to discern this figurative comparison in order to appreciate the message that the author is attempting to convey. It does not matter whether it is literature, historical text, or etcetera, understanding the purpose of metaphorical language is significant.

Strategies:
Here I am clarifying the text by again activating my prior knowledge of the writing techniques used in my discipline in order to identify metaphorical language in the text.

4.
Text:
“A veteran of Berkeley and the student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Hoffman took his ‘theater of the absurd’ to New York’s Lower East Side where he joined Rubin in a thriving hippie community. The pair devoted themselves to a revolution by drugs and sex, creating absurd situations, uttering outrageous statements, and provoking public demonstrations and stunts-all designed to attract media attention” (46-47).

Reflection:
I picture a Woodstock type of scene, where thousands of hippies, with long hair, big sunglasses, headbands, face paint, peace sign jewelry, and further hippie attire, are openly using drugs and conducting sexual acts.

Strategies:
Here I used both visualizing and making connections. The words on the page were able to trigger related images in my mind. And I was able to make a connection between my prior knowledge of hippies and how hippies are being described in this text.

5.
Text:
“Their well-publicized threats included placing LSD in the city’s water supply, nominating a pig for president, floating 10,000 nude bodies down Lake Michigan, dressing up as bellboys to try seduce the wives of delegates, and picking up delegates in fake cabs and dropping them off in Wisconsin. They also threatened to slash tires along the freeway while releasing greased pigs throughout the city” (47).

Reflection:
This quote conjures up a number of disturbing images, from hippies disguised as bellboys to greased pigs running through city streets. This quote truly allows the reader to envision the hectic scene of chaos which the “Yippies” intended to create.

Strategies:
Here I am using visualization. The words on the page were able to trigger related images in my mind.

6.
Text:
“The Yippies had called for a spring equinox celebration at midnight on March 22 at New York’s Grand Central Station. Six thousand people arrived. Many of those who showed up, however, had more on their minds than to mark the cycle of the seasons. As cherry bombs went off, some climbed atop the information booth and chanted: “Long Hot Summer, Long Hot Summer.” Without warning fifty New York police officers waded into the crowd and attacked with nightsticks” (47-48).

Reflection:
This quote is rich in imagery. There is a lot going on here, visually. It creates a very detailed and horrific scene in your mind.

Strategies:
Again, I am using visualization. The words on the page were able to trigger related images in my mind to create an entire scene.

7.
Text:
“’I remember the years before-the radicals used to wear black all over or turtlenecks when it was hot enough to fry an egg on the hood of your car and sunglasses on cloudy days’” (49).

Reflection:
I picture the Black Panther Party and thieves that strike in the middle of the night because they dress in a similar fashion to what was described in this quote. I picture full black attire, including a black long sleeve turtleneck, black pants, black shoes, black hat, and a pair of black sunglasses.

Strategies:
Again, I am using visualization. The words on the page were able to trigger related images in my mind.