TeachRock

Motivational Activity:

1. Ask students:
   • Have you ever heard the phrase “at a crossroads?” What might the phrase mean?
   • Can you provide a situation in which someone might use the phrase “I was at a crossroads?”
   • What is a crossroads, literally? Why might the geography of a crossroads be a powerful or useful symbol?
   • Have you ever encountered a song, story, or other written work that has used the imagery or symbol of a crossroads? If so, how was the crossroads used?
2. Create three columns on the board, labeling one “positive,” one “negative,” and one “neutral.” Ask students:
   • What kinds of events might happen to you as a traveler at a crossroads?
   • What kind of emotions might you experience at a crossroads, either literally or figuratively?
3. When an emotion or event is named, ask the class which column it would be best positioned, and write the emotion or event in the particular column. (Alternatively, the teacher could hand each student a few sticky notes, allowing them to write the emotions and events they come up with and posting it in the appropriate column themselves.)

Procedure:

1. Tell students that in this lesson, they will be examining the way the symbol of the crossroads appears in creative expression throughout the African Diaspora. Ask students:
   • Have you heard the term “diaspora” before? Where have you heard it? What might it mean?
2. Show students Image 1, Diaspora Definition. Ask students:
   • Can you think of any groups of people that might constitute a diaspora?
   • What kinds of things might people within a diaspora share in common? (for instance, people might share similar music, food, dance, names, style, language, slang, tales, and stories.)
   • What sorts of things might people in the African diaspora have in common? What kind of history might they share?
   • Why might the location of the crossroads be a common symbol among the African Diaspora, or any diaspora?
3. Tell students that they will be splitting into groups to examine works of literature by writers of African ancestry that use the symbol of the crossroads. As they read, ask students to pay attention to how each writer uses the symbol of the crossroads in their work.
4. Split students into groups, and assign each group one of the following stations/handouts:
   • Station 1: Handout – Yoruba Folk Legend, “Two Friends”
   • Station 2: Handout – Robert Johnson, “Cross Road Blues”
   • Station 3: Handout – August Wilson, “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” Excerpt 1
5. Ask students to respond as a group to the discussion questions in the handout. Pending time, ask students to rotate to new stations and handouts.
6. Pass out Handout – August Wilson, “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” Excerpt 2. Ask students to read the excerpt individually, or stage a dramatic reading as a class. Then ask students:
   • How might this excerpt invoke the symbol of the crossroads? Is the crossroads in this excerpt more literal or metaphorical?
   • What might this excerpt say about what life was like for Black people in the early 1900s?

Summary Activity:

1. Return to the chart the class created during the motivational activity. Discuss with students where the various written accounts of the crossroads they read might best be positioned on the chart. Add each author’s account of the crossroads to the chart.
2. Once filled out, review the chart together as a class. Ask students:
   • What similarities and differences do you see between each account of the crossroads?
   • What do these similarities and differences reveal about a literary symbol? Would you say symbols are flexible, or more rigid? Why?
   • Why might a writer choose to use a symbol of the crossroads in their work?
3. Show students Image 2, “Empress of the Blues” by Romare Bearden. Tell students that Bearden was an artist, composer, and author who was one of August Wilson’s biggest inspirations. Ask students use the image presented as inspiration to write a short story, poem, or song that draws upon the symbol of the crossroads.

Extension Activities:

1. Ask students to keep a reading log, and make notes of any symbols they encounter when reading on their own. Ask students to share what they noted after a week of reading.
2. Perform a scene from one of August Wilson Wilson’s plays. Record it and send to teachrock.org.

Handout – August Wilson, “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” Excerpt 1 Handout – August Wilson, “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” Excerpt 2 Handout – Robert Johnson, “Cross Road Blues” Handout – Yoruba Folk Legend, “Two Friends”

Common Core State Standards

College and Career Readiness Reading Anchor Standards for English Language Arts

• Reading 1: Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
• Reading 2: Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.
• Craft and Structure 4: Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
• Integration of Knowledge and Ideas 9: Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.

College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Writing

• Text Types and Purposes 3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details and well-structured event sequences.

College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Speaking and Listening

• Comprehension & Collaboration 1: Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
• Comprehension & Collaboration 3: Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric.
• Presentation of Knowledge 4: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Language for Grades 6-12

• Language 1: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
• Language 2: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
• Vocabulary Acquisition and Use 5:  Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in a word meaning.
• Vocabulary Acquisition and Use 6: Acquire and use accurately a range of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when encountering an unknown term important to comprehension or expression.

Social Studies – National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS)

• Theme 1: Culture
• Theme 2: Time, Continuity, and Change
• Theme 3: People, Place, and Environments
• Theme 9 : Global Connections