Homework Due Thurs 9/22 Read in Black Boy, an autobiography by Richard Wright to pg. 17 to the line, “Don’t you come in here.” my mother warned me. See this link for more info on Richard Wright. You must use a post it note on every page. (Bring the book with the post it notes inside to class daily).
Reference: click on 5 ways to Use Post It Notes.
Watch this video of me to learn how to write your Post Its.
Once you have written your post it notes, log back into our class blog. At the bottom of this assignment, you must post a comment. If you don’t log in(to edublogs, you can’t comment on a post. This helps keep our site private. You must log in.
To get credit for your homework, you must post in the comment section one of your post it notes. Do that by:
1. citing the page
2. then the category (judgment, prediction, vocabulary, connection, comment) of Post It
3. then make your note.
If you aren’t sure how to set up your comment you can copy and paste (and fill in) this as you get used to the format:
pg#: Category: My Post It referred to the quote: My comment was:
You must read the comments ahead of you. You can not repeat a comment, so read carefully.
If you wish to add to a previous person’s comment, you must acknowledge their comment, then build on it. If you have a comment that contradicts a previous comment, acknowledge their comment, then disagree. Obviously, the earlier you do your homework, the easier it is, because no one has made your comment yet.
Example Post It Comment (no one has made a similar comment yet): On pg 7 I had a judgment. I’m disgusted to learn that Richard was whipped-almost to death- and a doctor treated him, but the doctor did nothing for his safety. Today, the doctor would have probably had Richard removed from his home.
Example Post It Comment Agreement or Addition: Like Luis who had a prediction on pg 3, I too predicted that the fire will burn the house down, but I am also predicting that the fire will kill his grandmother. If he kills his grandmother, I wonder if he’ll run away.
Example Post It Disagreement: Unlike Rosa, who had a judgment on pg. 6 that this kid (Richard) seems like he needs a beating (because he threatens his brother, he sets fires, and now he disobeys his dad when he pulls away from his father’s reach and refuses to come out) I feel that it seems like Richard has been beaten too much. He is more afraid of getting hit than he is of the fire, or even of his family members dying. I can’t imagine a single good reason a 4 year old would have already been beaten that badly. Maybe he acts like this because he is abused. If his parents are beating him like that they are bad parents.
And remember not to make wack comments. See Yo Comments are Wack.
74 Comments
I wrote this judgment at the end of the chapter. Richard Wright’s writing style is confusing. After he wrote about the fire, I did not understand that there had been a transition when he started his long list of impressions of things. For a little while I thought he was writing about a hallucination or dream he had after he was whipped. It would have been easier to read if he put a star in the middle of the page or started a new chapter.
my question is after Richard Wright kills the kitten what happens to his grandmother after the family moves to Memphis after the fire he never really specifies what happens to her.
Dajuan: What page was that question from? Thanks.
Pg#:4 Category:Judgement I can’t believe he started a fire, he seems like a trouble maker! Maybe that’s why his mom is so strict and scolds him, she has to put up with that!
Pg#14-15Category:Judgement/comment I can’t believe Richard actually killed a cat only because his dad wanted it to be silent. His dad didn’t mean it literally. I bet that is why Richards dad left his family because of all the bad things that Richard was do it and he couldn’t take it anymore. Fisrt it was the house on fire then he killed the cat whi knows what other bad thing Richard would do.
I agree!
I also agree with you kevin and my comment on this same topic was that why would Richard take his dads words so seriously? Too prove a point he had to take another bwings life away like why in the world would you do that ?
whats is bwings?
Theresa, please put up the page number and the sentence you found your word in.
I think Juan meant to write BEINGS, not bwings. Typo?
I’m not sure if it was specifically because of Richard that he left his family. I think it was because he turned out to be a weak man and he couldn’t work hard to support his family through hard times so he just gave up at that point.
Excellent judgement. You are generating lots of replies!
pg#: 1 Category: Question My Post It referred to the quote: ” I was dreaming of running and playing and shouting, but the vivid image of Granny’s old, white, wrinkled grim face, framed by a halo of tumbling black hair, lying upon a huge feather pillow, made me afraid. ” My comment was: I don’t know if it’s just me but OK i get that she is old and stuff but the author never really described what is the Grandma sick of ? How did she get sick in the first place and when ? The author never really described more about her .
I agree with Kevin. He would have to live with the guilt of. killing a innocent cat. If I was ever in Richard’s place, I wouldn’t care if my dad coudn’t, that’s a personal issue.
Page #3 Category: Judgement. Richard is crazy and really scared of his parents. He was willing to stay under a burning house and risking death because he didn’t want to get whipped by his mom.
Theresa, thanks for posting the page number and category and for writing a complete, spelling edited, correctly punctuated, sentence.
Page#: 4-5 Category: Judgement My comment was: Richard’s parents are really harsh on him. From the beginning of the book, I have been noticing how they are always beating him or forcing him to do things against his will-such as burying the cat or standing up to the gang in order to get groceries.I would just become crazy living with these parents. Richard will be going through many more harsh days to come.
Shabnama, Outstanding! Thank you for formatting correctly with page number and post it category, for writing a clear judgment spelled and punctuated correctly, and even for adding a bonus prediction at the end. Bravo!
Page #17- My question is, when richard told his mother about the gang that would beat him up, while going to buy the groceries, why didn’t richard’s mother do anything about the problem he was having ?
Jasmine, thanks for formatting correctly with page number and category and writing a professional looking, punctuated, question.
I Agree With Theresa Because I Also Think Its True That He Wants to Risk His Life To Not Get Whipped By His Mom , But At The Same Time Hes CRAZY!? His Sick Grandma Was Also In There && He Forgot About What would Happen To His Family .
I agree with yasmin because he was just being self fish because he didnt think about others only himself.
I think in the first couple of pages demonstrates that Richard is intimidated by his parents. He can’t even talk loud otherwize his mom would go in the room to scream at him. His parents probably don’t let him go outside to chill with his friends so he is so boared and he decides to play with the fire place. He is unexpirienced about life because alot of kids if not all the kids i know will know that burning a curtain could burn your house.
Page 1. Category: question. i was curious about how he remembers everythiong in such vivid detail when he was ojnly four years old. i don’t remember anything from when i was that age..
Brittany, are you curious or suspicious?
I’m just curious. I know some people have great memory, but I can’t even remember that far back.
pg#: 5 Category: comment My comment was:After he finds a safe place to hide, He thinks about everyone burning in the house, and didn’t have the time to scream for help when the fire started.
Hi Katrina, is this a judgment?How would you judge his actions?
Page- 4. Category- Judgement: So, on page 4 Richard was having trouble sleeping and was bored out of his mind. And it occurred to me that I’m so lucky that i live in this century, because now i can watch Tv or do something else to keep my-self busy. Back then all they could do when they were bored was, look at` the walls. But anyways to basically summer it up, I’m happy i live in this century <3
Hi Dariel! I think your post it is a connection because you connected how we handle boredom now to then. Thanks for doing your homework and for writing the page number.
Page:4-5 category:judgement.I don’t care how old Richard is he’s stupid.What kind of choice was it to throw a curtain into a fire.No wonder why his parents are so hard on him.Just one dumb move led to a house on fire.At least this will teach him to not play with fire.
Ahhhh Christian! I like a STRONG judgment. I can feel how critical you are. Nice job. Thanks for posting your pages and writing in complete sentences.
Like Christian who had a judgement on pg 4-5, I also thought Richard was just plain stupid.He put himself and his whole family in danger just because he wanted to know what would happen if he lit curtains on fire. Then he was still ignorant enough to actually walk outside the house and then go under it like what kind of idea is that!
I also agree with Christian’s judgment and Javier’s judgment as well that were based of pages 4-5 of how stupid Richard is to burn a curtain on fire for his entertainment. Then he was dumb enough to run out the house knowing he was going to get hit by his mom but did he not think she would’ve died in that fire. Then instead of running he goes under the house on fire! What kind of bright idea is that?
Page 11- Category: Judgement. If I was living in that kind of family, I would just be confused because the father said “Kill that damn thing!” “Do anything, but get it away from here!” Even though Richard didn’t really know what the father meant & he got in trouble for it, that would just be confusing to handle.
Pg#:17 Category:question. My question was why would his mother make him go back to get groceries after he just got robbed? what is the whole point? clearly now that his father left, there isn’t anyone to teach him how to defend himself, so why make it so hard on the kid?
page#12-13 judgment.i believe that Richard was trying to show his dad how he felt when he killed the cat.I agree on what he is doing but i do feel bad for the poor cat.
I agree with you but i also feel he shouldn’t have gone that far.
PG.Num.4-Category- judgement i think that richard sometimes is really mean and rude to his brother because everytime he does something stupid his brother tries to tell him not to do it because it’s not good but richard dosn’t listen and just tell’s him to either hush or shutup.
I agree with Cathy! His brother always seems to be right and why doesn’t Richard realize it. Richard is suppose to be a role model and he is not being one for his little brother. His brother seems more mature than him.
– Pge.6 catergory: Question Why would Richard stay under a burning building? Also,why would he risk his life just so he didnt have to get beaten.
I think the reason why he risk his life is because he knows how it feel to get beaten up but he does not know how it feels to die so he mostly fear the beating than dying.
ooohh I like how you said that Nguyen. It’s like he only “gets” one kind of pain. Interesting.
Pg#4-Category-Judgement: I think that Richard wasn’t really thinking when he lit the curtains on fire. Even though the book is through his P.O.V, I still don’t understand WHY he did it. Was he just bored? Did he know the danger of experimenting with fire? Also, Richard’s mom should’ve kept an eye on her children, she left them in a room that had a fireplace!
pg#4-category-agreement-I agree with Kouther, that Richard wasn’t really thinking when he lit the curtains on fire. However why did he do it? Was he really that bored that he would burn the house down?
P.G 5- ” my mother must not find me and whip me for what i had done. anyway it was all an accident; i had not really intended to set the house afire. i had just wanted to see how the curtain would look when they burned. and neither did it occur to me that i was hiding under a burning house.” i can infer from this that he didn’t even tryed to out the fire before it spread because he was only worried about him getting a beatening for the fire he created, so he decided to run into hiding and left his family into the burming house and they had no clue wat was going on and he was kindof stupid to be hiding under the same burning house, knowing that if the fire spreads all over he would probably get hurt too. THIS IS MY OPINION.
JUDGMENT- he should think before he decides to do things like that next time. and he should ask himself some question like….. if i do this how is it going to affect others around me.
I agree with Abicia that Richard was stupid for not trying to stop the fire and also for hiding under the burning house but was he that dumb not to know that the curtain would catch fire?
Pg#17 Category:Judgment- I think Richard mother was being too harsh on him. Even though she is trying to help him I don’t think by her making him go fight the gang is the right thing to do!
i think that what Richard did was just crazy why would he play with fire and then when he gets his house on fire just run away and hide under the building not thinking it could probably fall on him and kill him
I think Richard doesn’t really pay attention around him and his surroundings. I think he is scared of his parents because of the harsh punishments in the past(whipping). Like when the house was on fire Richard decided to hide under the burning house for only one reason, because he thought his mother and father would whip him. On page 6 , when his mother calls out for him, Richard says “The distress I sense in her voice was as sharp and painful as the lash of a whip on my flesh”. I think Richard is scared of his parents so he try’s to not make any mistakes in his life.
Page:7 Category:judgement. Richard acts like his little brother is suppose and when Richard is doing something wrong his little brother tells him he is wrong. Richard needs to listen to his brother because maybe that’s why Richard gets beat because of the things he does.
Page#:11 Category:question and judgment,prediction,first of this kid is not really smart about planing out stuff I got proof because he burned down the house on pg.4 then killed a cat on pg.11 and my question is why doesn’t he think about his actions before he does it that’s going to get him in bad positions later in the book and Im going to make a prediction, I think that he is going to mess up his life later on in the book
Pg. 6 – Vocabulary : What does the word taut mean?
“…her taut face peering under the edge of the house.”
Excellent word choice Juliss. Taut is a tough word. Any smarty out there want to take a guess? A taut face….
pg#:8 Category: Question.In page 8, 3rd paragraph, what does “melancholy” mean?
Good word Manuel, can you post the sentence you found it in so that others can guess without looking it up? Maybe a mart cookie will take a shot at it…
sorry…. “Smart” cookie I meant to say.
I thought it was wrong of Richard to kill the cat because the father did not literally mean to kill the cat. His father just wanted it to be quiet, and i think it will affect his actions later in the story.
Interesting Michael, how do you think it will affect him?
I think it will affect him by whenever he sees a cat or remembers the cat he will become sort of scared or depressed.
On page 13, when he kills the kitten/buries it, I’m not sure but how old is Richard to do something awful as that?????
Richard is six, and he was just following commands.
On page 27, why didn’t Richards mother bring his father to court for child support sooner?
I think the cat and the burning house are part of the reason as to why Richard’s dad left.
why did Richards family wait so long to take the father to court for child support?
why doesn’t the mother ever believe in his own son then his husband?
Pg.7 Category: question
What happend to him ? Why is he so sick ?
i think that the boys are pratically raising thierselves because the mother is always working and when she gets home she don’t even have time to make them dinner. and thats why i think the four year old boy know how to do the things he does at such a young age.
page #4 Catergory: Question
Why was there burning coal in a little boys room?
On page 20, Category Question: Why did the man take Richard into the Saloon if he is just 6?
Page: 4 Category: Question
If Richard knew he would be beat for burning a book, why think about burning the curtains?
page 20 qustion why did the man try to shove the cigarin Richards mouth\
page 21 qustion ehat did the author mean by ‘the mean were not willing to give up there sport