Step Into The Circle

A Teaching Practice That I Found Effective: 



I work for a program at the University of Tampa (UT) that takes a small group of incoming, first-generation students camping, for two nights, before the start of the fall semester. These students participate in traditional camp activities, like canoeing, but also learn about UT culture and tips for being successful in college. This blog is about one of the activities we do with the students called "Step Into The Circle". This year at Camp Spartan we had 32 participants along with our 16 peer mentors.

Students sit in a large circle and are given a sheet of paper face down. The size of your group is going to determine how much space you need for this activity. After the last student receives the paper they are asked to flip it over and answer each question in silence. This paper contains an anonymous survey of about twenty different questions pertaining to race, religion, gender, and several other identities. After an allotted time the facilitators collect each form, shuffle them, then pass them back out. Next, the facilitators read each question aloud and the students are to "step up" silently if the person who completed the survey selected that identity. This round of the game allows students to get a visual of the number of participants who have the same identities that they do. However, because the forms were shuffled they cannot associate any of the identities to a specific person. In the second round of the game the students are asked to put the paper down. This is because they will now be stepping up for their own identities when the same questions are asked again. This activity is always an emotional one because the questions are intentionally personal. For example, "please step up if you were raised by someone other than your biological parents". After the second round the facilitators ask students for feedback on their feelings before and after the activity. The feedback we receive from students is always positive and encouraging. We use this activity because we want students to know that in college they are surrounded by so many diverse people, yet that does not mean they are not alike. Additionally, this activity teaches students not to be judgmental because we all come from different walks of life.

Media Outtake #4: The Blind Side

In the short story, “Battle Royal” there is a young black African American trying to find his place in the American society. Instead of the author laying out facts for the readers, he describes a situation that interprets exactly what it was like for young African Americans back in the day. People treated them like pets and didn’t care how much pain they were going through. It was interesting how the rich men were using these young kids as entertainment. They put these black teens into a cage blindfolded and forced them to fight each other. It made the boys feel embarrassed and worthless. He only wanted someone to hear his speech and to acknowledge his greatness. At the end of the story, the black boy was finally able to deliver the speech that he had wanted to do all along. As he delivered the speech, the white men made sure that he knew his place in society, even though he was very intelligent.

            The movie, The Blind Side, is about a black boy that is taken in by a white family. The white family takes care of the black boy by sending him to school, giving him a room and clothes. The white family pays for him to have a tutor in order to raise his GPA so he can play on the football team. The black boy never felt comfortable with the family paying for him. He was always hesitant to take what was offered for him.

            Although this story and movie are completely different, they still reminded me of each other. The black boy in the movie was trying to find his place in society. He didn’t feel comfortable taking what was offered to him. I feel like the boy was hesitant because of his skin color; he was intimidated. The boy in the book was also intimidated due to his color. It was hard for both of these boys to feel comfortable with their surroundings.

http://youtu.be/dJ3kwMq18-8 

Media out take # 4: "Survial Story"

 

In Ralph Ellison’s “Battle Royal,” a young black male has to go through many struggles just to get recognition. The male is invited to make a speech at a gathering of white individuals. It is important to realize that this story takes places during a racial era. At the time, blacks weren’t viewed as intellectuals. However, this young boy is able to break through the boundaries that were set for him and execute a graduation speech that is worthy of being heard by “the town’s leading white citizens.”  This boy is a representative of the black community and the fact that he is receiving recognition from the white community is a great “triumph,” for the black community.  When he arrives to deliver his speech, he soon realizes that he has to take part in a battle against his own race. This idea of battle was conjured by the same white individuals who are to hear his speech. The boy does not wish to participate in the battle; however, he does so because all he cares about is delivering his speech. He literally fights in order to make his speech. After he delivers his speech, he receives a scholarship to attend college. He went through the struggle in order to see success.

             “Battle Royal,” can be compared to the song “Ghetto Story."

 

 "Ghetto Story," deals with growing up in a neighborhood that is looked down upon, then obtaining success. In the music video, a young boy is profiled. He is from a bad neighborhood and battles with some boys in the community. He fights in order to win and he does exactly that. As a youth, he won the fight and was able to grow and become successful. The boy being profiled is actually, the singer of the song. In the video the singer says "This [is] a survival story," and "Battle Royal" is exactly that. This music video shows that even though you come from a bad community or neighborhood, you can still find success, even when things seem bleak. This was the same thing portrayed in “Battle Royal,” and that is where the two connect.

 

Media Outtake #4: The Gladiator's Battle

When reading the short story Battle Royal by Ralph Ellison, I found a connection to the 2000 film Gladiator, starring Russell Crowe. In Battle Royal, the main character is haunted with the last words of his grandfather and attempts to live up to them. He graduates top of his class and is given the honor of presenting his graduation speech in front of the most important white people in the town. However, instead of giving his speech, the protagonist is forced to participant in a “fight to the death” type boxing match against other African American boys. The battle amongst the boys was for entertainment for the men as they also humiliated and taunted them. Not only were they forced to fight but were electrocuted. The teenage boys were essentially slaves to the white men’s amusement. When the narrator finally gives his speech, it is clear that the men do not care at all for what he has to say. The men used these tactics, not only for fun, but also to teach the young African American boys of their place in society because they see black people as threats.
In Gladiator, Russell Crowe’s character, Maximus, captured and turned into a slave to become a gladiator while his family is killed under control of the new Roman emperor who surpassed his father. Maximus is forced to literally fight to the death against other slaves as the Roman people watch for entertainment. Maximus is betrayed by the new emperor because he seen as a threat to his throne due to his high status. Crowe’s character eventually rises through the ranks and avenges the death of his family and former emperor.
The ending of the two stories are not what makes them connected, but rather the sense of enforced power. Both the white men and the Roman emperor abused their power in attempts to minimize the rise of a threat.

http://youtu.be/ol67qo3WhJk

media outtake #4 : Discrimination towards the Indian race

 

                The picture above shows how the native Americans were so violently taken away from their home by the white men, this gives background information on the story " The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven". The reason why the narrator is always being watched and never trusted by the people around him is because at this point in time people thought that Indians were different in the sense that they were monsters and not even human. People are frightened by the native Americans and just wanted their land so there were stripped from their families and homes and forced to walk for many, many days. The Indians were terrified by the white men but did as they were told for the fear that they would be killed. But this action by the white men showed the rest of society that these people, the native Americans, should be contained and cannot be trusted. For example in the short story, when the narrator is in the seven-eleven store he comments on how the cashier is watching his every move and is nervously asking questions to make sure that he is not trying to stir up trouble. Another instance occurs when he is simply driving around in his car to relieve stress but the cops hunt him down to question him because he is frightening the people in the neighborhood. This eventually pushes him to go back home to the reservation to his family. He is then reminded by his family that they told him that he did not belong out there in the world and would come home disappointed. The narrator has the feeling of being an outsider which can is also depicted in the picture above because the Indians did not wrong at all but were brutally punished. Yet as you can see in the photo, the white men did not care and thought that they were doing their country a favor by hurting these people. However, if you look closely at this picture people can see that the native Americans are normally people who have children, pets, and duties they attend to daily. The discrimination of Indians took time to end but somewhere clearly open to the idea on interracial relationships due to the fact the narrator's girlfriend was white. Overall, the picture symbols the ugly truth of how the discrimination towards native Americans began many years ago.

Even When You're A "Winner", You're A "Loser".

Ralph Ellison short story, “Battle Royal”, demonstrates blacks being oppressed by whites and the struggles they go through in order to prove themselves “worthy”. The story is told through a nameless, young African American boy who is having a dream, although he does not know that at the time, of being kidnapped and cage by white men and brought to this ring to fight other young African boys his age. In the story all of the boys are blindfolded and they are the entertainment for the whites who watch them battle one another. The boy having to fight his own race in order to win this game is very symbolic, blacks who want success are going to have to “battle” one another because the whites do not want the Africans as a race to succeed. I related this story to the movie, “Death Race” by Paul Bartel. “Death Race” is about a man is was once a race car driver is set up by the warden of a prison is order to have him serve as more than just an inmate. The warden is having a select few of the inmates race each other and in return the winner gets their freedom. She broadcast it on a website and the more people subscribe the more money she gets. She makes the races very entertaining by making the racetrack deadly. The winner of a race is not only the fastest but is also the only one that physically survived. I related the stories because both are dealing with superior vs. subordinate. In “Battle Royal” the whites are superior to the blacks and in “Death Race” the law enforcement of the prison are superior to the inmates that occupy it. In both stories the subordinates are forced against one another through battling and racing for freedom but also serve as amusement for the superior. Just like in “Death Race” no matter how many races they win the warden has no intention of letting them free and in “Battle Royal” the whites will never consider the winner to be worthy enough to consider them as an equal.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNZojlqhxWk 

Media Outtake #4: The Blues of Life

James Baldwin’s, “Sonny’s Blues” describes the obstacles that surfaced in one man named Sonny’s life and how he relinquished those feelings through his musical playing of the piano. His life is told through the perspective of his older brother, the narrator, who seems to be struggling with the relationship held between him and Sonny which is rather awkward and vacant. This story is set within the streets of Harlem and goes into detail about Sonny’s life in terms of his downfalls which include a time in jail for him.

I made the connection between this story and the song “Life” by K-Ci and Jojo through the description of struggling times and the ultimate result of going to jail within the song. I feel that the ultimate idea of “Sonny’s Blues” was that he struggled all his life and had many obstacles that he needed to overcome along with making some wrong decisions; this connected to the song “Life” because I feel that it shares that similarity as well.

The verse of “Life” reads, “just like a birdie I just wanna fly free and own a piece of land somewhere, somewhere off in the country” which I related to the story in the way that I think Sonny felt the same way; he wanted to fly free and find his own by figuring out what he wanted to do with his life and who he was going to be which would then set him free within his self. “Shouldn’t have gone down this way, what happened to my master plan.” I related this verse to the story because I think Sonny always asked himself this question; he wondered why and how he made his way down the wrong road and how his “master plan” got off track so abruptly. “Tell me how did I get life.. life.. life.” This chorus relates to Sonny because he too went to jail and asked himself how it happened. I feel that while he was in jail he finally realized that he needed to get his life together. The overall relation I made was between the title, “Sonny’s Blues”, and the overall meaning of the song “Life”; the title makes the statement that the story will describe melancholy with someone in some way and the song describes a thinking and somewhat depressive thinking about the choices made in a melancholy way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKv1Dop1rVQ