Building off the previous units, especially the core concepts of visual culture, this unit examines the way images reflect, construct, and change our concept of race. If there is the myth of photographic truth, what does that mean as we deconstruct images that represent African Americans, Asian Americans, and under-represented peoples? If our ideologies inform the way we see images, then can images ever affect social change? Can we ever move beyond what our own ideologies see? What is the tension between the ability of an image to liberate us from one way of seeing and/or limiting our seeing?
Essential Questions
- How do images reflect, construct, and change our concept of belonging and citizenship?
- How do images simultaneously liberate and limit?
- Can the circulation and distribution of images bring about social change?
- Do our ideologies promote, prevent and/or limit the ways of looking at an image in a variety of ways?
- If there is the myth of photographic truth, what does that mean as we deconstruct images?
- How can we promote civil and democratic discourse about sensitive and controversial topics?
Final Assignment
Create an assemblage/multi-modal piece of writing that makes an arguable claim about one or more of the essential questions by assembling a combination of visual and textual evidence to explore and support claim. You will draw on the resources (films, texts, images) used in this unit in addition to your own independent research. In this piece of composition, you will demonstrate an understanding of how the history of visual representation impacts our contemporary cultural ideas about race and individual ideologies.
Other Assignments
- Writer’s reflections
- Viewer’s notebook responses
- Presentation on 13th or I Am Not Your Negro
- Film review for Do the Right Thing
Mon 1/27
Introduction to Vision & Justice unit
Tues 1/28
Drop
Wed 1/29
Gone with the Wind
- What representations are present?
- What idea of the “Old South” does this representation create?
HW: Sarah Lewis “Vision and Justice” and Henry Louis Gates Jr. “Frederick Douglass’s Camera Obscura”
Thurs 1/30
Working with ideas in Lewis and Gates pieces and applying to images
Sarah Lewis Questions
1. What is her purpose with the vision & justice project?
2. What does she believe images can do?
Henry Louis Gates Jr.
1. How does Gates propose Douglass “flips” images?
HW: Reading and annotating Wexler “A More Perfect Likeness”
Fri 1/31
Reading and annotating Wexler “A More Perfect Likeness”
Mon 2/3
Unpacking “A More Perfect Likeness”
- Working with a partner on assigned pages
Tues 2/54
Working through the packet – main ideas discussion
Wed 2/5
Finish with the packet and applying to The Carters viewing
HW: Starting the response to The Carters video
Thurs 2/6
“They Gotta Have Us” Episode 1
- What are some of the historical representations on film that the director reviews?
- What stands out to you about some of these representations?
HW: Submit The Carters response by 2.05 tomorrow
Mon 2/10
Finish “The Gotta Have Us” and
1989 and Do the Right Thing
HW: “Asian-American Actors Are Fighting for Visibility” and”Love/Hate: New York, Race, and 1989”
Tues 2/11
Do the Right Thing
- What is the ‘right thing’?
HW: response
Wed 2/12
Do the Right Thing
HW: classroom response
Thurs 2/13
retake of “Love/Hate”
finish. Do the Right Thing
HW: Preparing for the Socratic Seminar by creating 6 discussion questions about the film and responding to 3 of the viewing questions. Your questions should not only address the film but also consider the essential questions of this unit and the readings and other texts we have examined as part of this unit.
Mon 2/24 & Tues 2/25
Making sense of Do the Right Thing
Socratic Seminar
Wed 2/26
Dubois’s “Strivings of the Negro People”
and the concept of Double Consciousness
Fri 2/28
Intro to Blackkklansman
Mon 3/2-Wed 3/4
Blackkklansman
- First half response
- Second half response before the end
- End response – Did your attitude or idea about the film change given the epilogue? How did it shift? Or why do you think it didn’t change?
- Discussion
Thurs 3/5-Fri 3/6
Blackkklansman follow up discussion
Digital Publication Assignment Overview
- Planning with groups for the site
- Individual proposals and revising the proposals
Mon 3/9 – Friday 3/13
Review of research expectations
- 2 research responses due should be complete for writing next week (3/16) completely due with final assignment
- Sharing research with group
- How does the research inform your composition?
Revising proposals and individual conferences
Begin drafting individual compositions
Mon 3/16 – Friday 3/20
Drafting and revising indvidual compositions
- Required conference with Ms. Weeks
- Peer feedback Friday 3/20
Finalizing pages
- Images and image citations
- Each page should have a Works Cited
- What other pages does your site need to fully address your question and establish your purpose?
- What from the 1619 Project and Visionandjustice.org sites did you want to try to include? Are there group members that can contribute to that?
Mon 3/24 & Tues 3/25
Editing the site
- Read each other’s pages. Suggest edits as necessary.
- Publish and share by 2.05pm on Tues 3/25
Arri Weeks 