Identity Through Creative Writing

Essential Question

How is identity expressed through writing?
How do our various group identities shape us as individuals?
How do our intersecting identities shape our perspectives and the way we experience the world?

Texts

Informational

Always Running

In this excerpt from his memoir, Rodriguez provides a stirring recollection from his adolescence: the first time he experienced racism as a result of being an immigrant in America. As he says, the experience "stays with [him] like a foul odor."

Luis J. Rodriguez

Grade Level

6-8 9-12

Topic

Class Immigration

July 2, 2014

Literature

Saffron Dreams

Although her husband died in the September 11 attack, Arissa is targeted for being Muslim. In this excerpt, she is held up by a group of men who berate her and threaten to kill her until they realize she is pregnant.

Shaila Abdullah

Grade Level

9-12

Subject

Civics

History

Geography

Topic

Religion

July 7, 2014

Multimedia

Knock Knock

Until Daniel Beaty was 3 years old, his father would "knock knock" on his door every morning. This performance explores the shaping of personal identity in an incarcerated parent's absence.

Daniel Beaty

Grade Level

6-8 9-12

Topic

Class Gender & Sexual Identity

October 30, 2014

Informational

Tough Guise: By playing a role, I discovered myself

In this essay, Melvin Pichardo, a young aspiring actor, becomes so immersed in becoming a character for a role that he begins to question who he is as a person and what he feels and thinks.

Melvin Pichardo

Grade Level

9-12

Topic

Gender & Sexual Identity

December 22, 2015

Teaching Strategies

Close and Critical Reading

Reading Against the Grain

In reading against the grain students analyze the dominant reading of a text and engage in alternative or "resistant" readings. Resistant readings scrutinize the beliefs and attitudes that typically go unexamined in a text, drawing attention to the gaps, silences and contradictions.

Grade Level

6-8 9-12

CCSS

RL.6-12.1, RL.6-12.2, RL.6-12.6, RI.6-12.1, RI.6-12.2, RI.6-12.6

July 19, 2014

Close and Critical Reading

Text Graffiti

This strategy exposes students to multiple short pieces of a text before they read it in its entirety. Students read selected quotes out of context and comment on both the selection and the comments of other students. The activity ends with students reflecting on their reactions to and predictions about the text.

Grade Level

6-8 9-12

CCSS

RL.6-12.1, RI.6-12.1

July 19, 2014

Student Tasks

Write to the Source

Are You Convinced?

Are You Convinced? asks students to demonstrate their argumentative and evaluative writing skills.

Grade Level

6-8 9-12

CCSS

W.6-12.1, W.6-12.4, W.6-12.9

July 19, 2014

Write to the Source

Break It Down

Break it Down asks students to demonstrate their explanatory and descriptive writing skills.

Grade Level

6-8 9-12

CCSS

W.6-12.2, W.6-12.4, W.6-12.9

July 19, 2014

Write to the Source

I'll Be the Judge

I’ll be the Judge asks students to demonstrate their argumentative and comparative writing skills.

Grade Level

6-8 9-12

CCSS

W.6-12.1, W.6-12.4, W.6-12.9

July 19, 2014

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Identity Through Creative Writing

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