Abstract
This Key Assessment was completed for Children’s Literature and Language Arts, READ 3090, class at the University of North Georgia for Dr. Davidson. The Key Assessment was to focus on an ethnic group within our schools and find books which are relatable to them and analyze the books. Part one of the Key Assessment was to find five articles about African American children’s literature, which was focused on research and discussed the difficulties of being an African American author, finding books which were written by African Americans, among other things. The books chosen for the analysis part of this Key Assessment include When Marian Sang, Martin’s Big Words, Henry’s Freedom Box. These three books are categorized as African American Literature. One book is a biography about an African American singer, who faces the obstacles of segregation and racial limitations to continue and further her career. Martin’s Big Words is a biography, telling the story of Martin Luther King Jr. and the impact on which he had on the United States. The final book is Henry’s Freedom Box, which tells the journey and perseverance of a slave who found his way to freedom. The recommendations for the use of African American literature in the classroom were established based upon the research of the five articles and the evaluation of each African American children’s book chosen for this Key Assessment. Recommendations include but are not limited to equality, segregation, slavery, learned and instinct behaviors and geometry. These books should be easily accessible for students and integrated into different content areas.
The History of African American Literature in Education and Children’s Literature
African American literature is a form of literature written to represent the African American community and their culture. This category of African American literature is to demonstrate the lives of African Americans and the different stories, acknowledging their past and how history has impacted present day. African American literature focuses on the obstacles of segregation, the fight for freedom and how slavery was more than a minor effect on life, but African American literature also focuses on the heroes who endured the worst to overcome in order to receive the best. African American literature includes children’s books, autobiographies and biographies. African American literature represents a strong culture, who lives in our society and represents the history of those before us.
Synthesis of Articles
There were many different reoccurring themes which focused on how African Americans are portrayed in literature. The themes included stereotypes, books which are relatable to students and their culture, and the history of African American people represented in literature. These themes are seen through the different articles and also seen in everyday life, affecting many students. Children’s books with an African American main character or focus on African Americans are more often under represented, especially books which portray things which would be classified as good or books that do not focus on slavery. These themes are ones which reoccur through different pieces of children’s literature, but also come of main concern to many researchers.
Throughout the different articles, African American’s are portrayed with certain stereotypes, which the author focuses on opposing those and informing people of actual events in which happened. In The Reading Teacher (2009), the author Erika Gray finds she was deriving her students of ethnically cultured books, which would pertain to them specifically (Page 472). As she began researching books, she found that many of the books were only focused on certain stereotypes of African Americans. The books only focused on things such as slavery, boycotts and controversial issues which occurred in the history of the United States. According to A Picture is Worth One Thousand Words: Representation of African American Women in Children’s Picture Books (2014), the books discussed within the text are only focused on slavery and the Underground railroad, in which he women were a crucial part of the behind the scenes of the Underground Railroad (Page 1462). These books continue to give women the perspective of being a just house wife, but also of doing “illegal” things during certain eras. It is very rare for a known book be about a woman who made a difference, without focusing on the things which were considered bad during the time frame. The stories also focus on segregation and the different movements women, such as Rosa Parks did to take a stand against slavery. This puts a stereotype on African American women, especially in books. It portrays more evil doing and focusing on the wrong of the situation, then actual good.
Another theme which occurred throughout the articles was books being relatable to the students and their cultures. Gray realized after looking into the classroom library, she did not have books which were relatable for students. (The Importance of Visibility, 2009, pg 472). The authors of the reviewed articles spent time identifying how books would be relatable to students and how the students identified them as relatable. There are three summarized points in which the authors found the students look for in a book, 1. The connections to the main character, 2. The genre and 3. How appealing the book is to the students. The students feel the need to be able to connect with the main character to understand and really make connections to the book. Jonda McNair stated in one of her articles that books which had been selected by her colleagues during a study where all Coretta Scott King Books, but the underlining composure of the books focused on the skin tone of African Americans. Although this is something which students would relate to, it is not a fair or equal way for students to have to see books as relatable to themselves (Classic African American Children’s Literature, 2010, page 96-105). It is often that African American students do not have enough text which is relatable to their lives. The main characters should be relatable to the students for students to fully understand and connect with the text.
Many of the books which represent African Americans focus on components of history which are slavery, the Civil War and boycotts. As stated before, the history which is focused on focuses on more bad than good. In the article, A Picture is Worth One Thousand Words: Representations of African American Women in Children’s Picture Books (2014), the books the author chose to research were focused on the Underground Railroad and Slavery, as well as segregation (pg. 1462). Although it represents the history of African Americans, they are often also misrepresented in books. According to Reflections on the Development of African American Children’s Literature (2012), African Americans are also misrepresented in books visually and verbally (page 5-13). It has also been concern from the authors of these articles that there is an under representation of African American authors throughout literature. Jonda McNair states “…children’s literature and classics seem to overwhelmingly be written by Whites” (Classic African American’s Children’s Literature, 2010, pg. 96-105). Books which are focused on African Americans and their history especially should be written by African Americans because “…the books are about them and they should accurately depict the history of their lives” (A Picture is Worth One Thousand Words: Representations of African American Women in Children’s Literature, 2014, page 1462). As a concluding statement, Rudine Brown summarized her beliefs of African American history representation in children’s books but stating there are many stories in African American literature, which have not been told but need to be told.
The different articles focus on the stereotypes of African Americans through literature, books being relatable to students and the history of representation of African Americans in children’s literature. There are number of stereotypes which occur through history, but it is most relevant in the history of African Americans. Through the studies, it was found that many of the books published about African Americans, children do not find relatable to themselves, therefore they are disengaged from the text. It is also difficult for students to relate to main characters who do not demonstrate similar characteristics as the reader, for example a Caucasian main character. The other occurring theme throughout the article was the history and representation of African Americans. The authors focused on how many African Americans in literature are a part of slavery and that is what many of children’s literature books are about. It also was of concern that many books about African Americans are written by Caucasian authors. These are themes which consistently reoccur through literature, but also raise concern to researchers because of the disadvantages and topics which do not relate to students first hand.
Evaluation of Children’s Literature
The books chosen for the evaluation of Children’s Literature include, When Marian Sang by Pam Munoz, Martin’s Big Words by Doreen Rappaport and Henry’s Freedom Box by Ellen Levine.
When Marian Sang tells the biography of Marian Anderson through detailed illustrations across landscaped pages. The book tells the story of Marian’s life from a young child and the passion she has for singing. Marian faced many obstacles and limitations as she pursued her dream of singing. Her limitations and obstacles were due to segregation which was a national issue at the time. The author, Pam Munoz, wanted to display the struggles that Marian faced and wanted her audience to understand the struggles of diversity as Marian followed her dreams.
In this book, there were no distortions of history in the text or within the illustrations. The setting of the book took place during a time of segregation and prejudice against African American people. African Americans were unable to participate in certain events due to the color of their skin during this time and setting. Marian was in a situation similar, where she longed to sing for the President Franklin D. Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt at the White House. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt offered Marian the opportunity to sing at the Lincoln Memorial Hall. Marian became the first worldwide known African American female singer. This book does not contain any non-English words and the text is written with simplicity making it easy for readers to understand.
In When Marian Sang, there are no signs of stereotyping or derogatory remarks within the text. The author does refer and use the term “negro”, but it is used in a reference which is not presented in a hateful or inappropriate manner. Marian is presented as a a Christian woman who is well composed and in pursuit of her dreams. There is no evidence of stereotyping within the characters or illustrations. The minority of the book, which was the African American population, is not treated or displayed as equal throughout the text. The story is taking place in a time frame of segregation and when public property was segregated by race. Marian preferred to perform for a white audience, versus performing for an audience of her own ethnicity. This story is one which should be shared with students, without embarrassing any students. This story should be shared with children to present the difficulties which African Americans faced during a time of hardship for their culture and the United States. This book also gives the example of perseverance and determination.
This book is written using an outsider voice, but told in the form of a biography. Pam Munoz wrote the book to introduce and honor Marian Anderson, as one the country’s greatest singers. Pam Munoz wrote this biography about Marian and had the qualification to do so. Munoz is best known for her books about overcoming the obstacles within society’s limitations, focusing on the stories of women, which she feels needs to be shared. The language and dialect used in the text are culturally authentic and accurately represent the traditions of the cultures. Marian’s lifestyle and relationships with supporting characters were accurately and genuinely represented. This book focuses on telling the story of Marian’s life and how she faced hindrances and overcame them. Marian is portrayed as the hero within the story, fighting for justice and equality.
This book does not reflect current dynamics of the today’s society, but does reflect the era of segregation. This book would be good and useful in the classroom to teach students about the history of segregation and the obstacles which people have faced in order to receive. This book would also be beneficial to use in the classroom to display the differences people were facing and to introduce segregation within the classroom. This book was focused during the time of segregation and the battle for equality. This book was published in 2002, so approximately 15 years ago. The overall quality of the book respects the representation of African Americans and presents the difficulties of segregation.
Martin’s Big Words tells the biography of Martin Luther King Jr. and his journey to end segregation. This book is well written with illustrations accurately representing the history on landscape pages. The story focuses on the life of Martin Luther King Jr.’s life from an early age, growing up in church and realizing the differences which were among his community. This book immediately begins discussing the issue of segregation within the town he was raised. Martin was raised in a Southern African American Baptist church, where he got his inspiration for his big words from his father, who was the minister. The book intrigues the readers to continue reading to understand the meaning and purpose of Martin Luther King Jr.’s life. The book is appropriate for readers and is intended to be easily understood by readers. In this book, it does briefly discuss when Martin Luther King Jr. traveled to Tennessee and was murdered. Younger audiences would need an extension of this to understand the meaning of what happened and for more information.
There were no distortions of history within the text and illustrations accurately represented the culture and the society of the cultures. The cultures represented were focused during the time of segregation and the fight for African American’s right to be involved in different activities which were restricted. The story was told about Martin Luther King Jr. and his journey to become one of the country’s greatest speakers and a person of such inspiration. The book tells the story of Martin’s desire to change the world for the better and how he chose to fight the issues on head on with love, not hate. Throughout the text, it focuses on Martin’s desire to face the issues of the society and inequality with love, not hate or killings. There were not any non-English words within the text.
There were no signs of stereotyping or derogatory remarks within the text. The characters are portrayed as individuals but focuses on their cultural group and the difficulties they faced. It does separate society throughout the text with signs saying “blacks only” or “whites only”, but it is only in context of the signs. The illustrations within the text are authentic and are non-stereotyped, but also show a variety of attributes. The characters do not look alike throughout the text. One of my favorite illustrations in the text, has the face of a young African American female with the American flag streaming over her, emphasizing “we are one”. The minority group in the text, which would be the African American’s are not portrayed in the beginning of the text as equal as they are fighting to end segregation. The text does continue to display and discuss the rights they acquire throughout. This story should be shared with a whole group of children from a variety of cultures and should not offend any child. This story is focused to tell the story and history of Martin Luther King Jr. and be an inspiration to all readers, to fight for what you want but do it in the right way.
This book is not written from an insiders perspective. Doreen Rappaport wrote the book due to the inspiration Martin Luther King Jr. instilled her with. Doreen Rapport is an award winning author focusing on celebrating multiculturalism and retelling the history of world leaders. Rappaport is known for her unique ability to combine historical facts while retelling stories to represent the lives of well-known heroes. The language and dialect represents the cultural authentically and represents an oral tradition accurately and applicably. Martin Luther King Jr.’s lifestyle was genuine and it was displayed from the beginning of the story when Rappaport began discussing the different obstacles and trials Martin faced from a young age. The book displays and represents the relationship between characters who were culturally similar and culturally different. Rappaport focused on the fight Martin was advocating for and how he wanted to approach the fight. He wanted to fight this battle with love, while others from different cultures wanted to fight with hatred and fist. This book was written to honor Martin Luther King Jr. and the service he did to the African American community, but also how he forever changed the United States. The story focuses on the life of Martin Luther King Jr., but it also relies on historical facts to tell the story of the United States and how the country overcame a difficult time in history.
Martin’s Big Words do not reflect the current dynamics of our society, however it does reflect life in the 1950’s and the many types of adversity the society had to overcome in order to be the nation we are today. The book was focused on the era of segregation and the battle to end it. It is a book which would be beneficial to use in a classroom to introduce children about the history of segregation and of the United States of America. This book would also be beneficial to use in the classroom to explore the causes and effects of segregation and comparing how society was in the 1950’s to how it is in modern day. The book was published in 2002, so approximately 15 years ago. The overall quality of this book respects the representation of African Americans and presented in an effective manner.
Henry’s Freedom Box tells the story of a young boy who is born a slave, working on the farm with his family. The slave owner becomes ill and passes away. As this life changing event occurs, Henry is separated from his family and sold to a new slave owner at a young age. As Henry continued to mature and become older, he was always pondering the thought of freedom. Henry was born a slave, as his parents were and the family who owned them also owned Henry. The owner grew weaker and became ill, then resulting in his passing. After the passing of the owner, Henry was sold from his family to another slave owner and taken away from his own. As time passed, Henry met a woman and fell in love with her, when asked to marry her, both slave owners approved. The couple began a family, which flourished quickly. As he went to work one day, he was separated from his family again because there were sold in the middle of the town square. As Henry continues his daily lifestyle of going to work, he is told his family was being sold in the town square. As he arrived, he found his family being carried away. Henry works with people affiliated with the Underground Railroad and begins his journey to freedom, in a box.
This book tells the story of Henry and his journey to freedom in a box. It is well written and displays large detailed illustrations, appeasing to the readers eyes. The story focuses on Henry’s life as a slave, but then begins to discuss how he overcame his obstacles for his journey to freedom. The book becomes intriguing to readers when Henry faces the reality of being separated from his mother and the rest of his family as a young child, then again as he is separated from his wife and children. The book is appropriate for children, but will require background knowledge of slavery and may require extension to how life as a slave was a different than modern day.
There were no distortions of history within the text and the illustrations clearly represented the text and history accurately. The story focuses on the era of slavery and the Underground Railroad, in which the cultures within the text were accurately represented. This story discussed the life of Henry as a slave and how he faced obstacles to overcome them and create a better lifestyle for himself. Henry was determined to gain his freedom after losing his family twice due to slavery. There were not any non-English words within the text.
There were no signs of stereotyping or derogatory remarks within the text. Henry is displayed as a young, hard-working African American male who fights consistently to achieve his goal, fight for a better life for himself and end the cycle of losing his family. There is no evidence of stereotyping within the characters or illustrations, but rather focusing on slavery. The minority in the text is not displayed as equal due to the factor of the time period and the focus on slavery. We learn about the obstacles Henry faces, how he overcomes them and perseveres through the hardships in his life. This story should be shared in class, without being embarrassing to any children. The story focuses on the biography of a former slave and the steps he took to gain his freedom.
This book is written by Ellen Levine, who writes it from an outsiders perspective. Levine wrote the book to inform people of the Underground Railroad and bring awareness to the number of people who were considered and kept as slaves. Ellen Levine focuses her children’s literature on non-fiction text to provide information about history and real world situations. The language and dialect throughout the text are appropriately used and used in a respectful manner. Henry’s lifestyle and relationships with the characters are genuinely portrayed from the beginning of the story. Henry’s Freedom Box discusses and brings awareness to the Underground Railroad and slaves were treated. Henry was portrayed as his own hero and a role model for others, as he fought for his dreams and his freedom.
This book does not reflect current dynamics of today’s society. It does reflect a time of American history where slavery was the focus as well as the Underground Railroad. The book was focused during an era where slavery was intense and the fight to end it was ongoing. The book would be good to use in a classroom to teach students about the history of slaves, what they endured during slavery and the different ways it was overcome. The book was published in 2007, so approximately ten years ago.
Recommendations
When Marian Sang would be an ideal text to use in fourth grade classroom, focusing on the Georgia Standards of Excellence Social Studies standard SS4H4: Examine the main ideas of the abolitionist and suffrage movements (Discuss the contributions of and challenges faced by Susan B. Anthony, Fredrick Douglass, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman). I would use this book to discuss the different struggle Marian faced and how her story relates to abolitionist and suffrage movements. For this topic, I would use this book and have the students take the perspective of Marian and write a letter to the President and First Lady. Before assigning the students their writing prompt, I would begin the students brainstorming by asking them, “how would you feel if you fought your whole life to sing for the President and it took many years, but you finally got too? What would you say to the President if you got to speak with him?” I would have the students address the struggles they had to overcome and the obstacles they face to get to sing for the President and the First Lady, but I would also have the students address the solutions to propose to the President. The students will also be using the Georgia Standard of Excellence English standard ELAGSE4RI1: Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says and when drawing inferences from the text. When writing a letter to the President and the First Lady, the students will be referring to details and examples from the text to explain to the President the different obstacles they have been facing. The students will infer from the text different ways in which they think a solution can be created and implemented into society to create equality for all. I would then provide the students brown paper which has been weathered, by the teacher, for the purpose of this assignment. I would then have the students read their letters to the class to promote reading skills. The students will work independently on this assignment, but will have access to refer back to the text to reference any ideas for examples. This will provide students with the ability to address obstacles, while viewing from the perspective of life without freedom.
Martin’s Big Words would be in ideal text to use to discuss for a history lesson focusing on Georgia Standard of Excellence Math standard MGSE3.G.1 Understand that shapes in different categories (e.g., rhombuses, rectangles and others) may share attributes (e.g., having four sides), and that the shared attributes can define a larger category (e.g., quadrilaterals). Recognize rhombuses, rectangles and squares as examples of quadrilaterals and draw examples of quadrilaterals that do not belong to any of these subcategories. For this topic, I would discuss with the students the types of shapes used throughout the book and how we identify them. I would give the students manipulatives so they were able to identify the shapes. After reviewing the shapes with them and the properties which create them, I would read through the book again and have the students identify the different shapes seen on the pages. I would then incorporate an English standard into my lesson which would be Georgia Standard of Excellence English standard ELAGSE5RI7: Use information gained from illustrations (e.g., maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, when, why and how key events occur). I would use this English standard and use the math standard to incorporate it to have the students write their own story about shapes and how we use them. I will have the students identify the shapes and their properties which create them. The students will also use relevant information from the text to write their story and focus on main ideas. The students will use pattern blocks to tell their story to the class and demonstrate understanding of the text and knowledge of the shapes.
Henry’s Freedom Box is an exemplar text to focus on a science lesson, as well as history and English. I will use the Georgia Standard of Excellence Science standard S5L2. Obtain, evaluate and communicate information showing that some characteristics of organisms are inherited and other characteristics are acquired, A: ask questions to compare and contrast instincts and learning behaviors. I would use this book to focus on the instincts and learned behaviors which Henry possesses. Before reading the book, I would discuss with the students the difference between instincts and learned behaviors and how we distinguish them. I would have the students create a t-chart in their science journals with the subheadings “instincts” and “learned behavior”. I would then introduce the book to the class and talk about how we are going to read the book and determine which traits are instinct and which traits are learned behaviors. As we read the book, the students will chart down the traits they notice within their respective box. This will promote higher level thinking and have the students deeply connect the information and apply it. I will also incorporate Georgia Standard of Excellence English standard, ELAGSERI9: Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably. The students will use the information from their science journals and the information they obtained from Henry’s Freedom Box to discuss the instinctive and learned behaviors which Henry possesses. The students will write a paragraph discussing the different traits Henry possesses and why they classified them as either instincts or learned behaviors. This would provide students with the opportunity of higher level thinking and give them the ability to connect the text with different content areas.