CULTURE CLASHFixing the stereotypes among race, religion, and ethnicity…

Get ready, this might be!

Books

Persepolis: A Story of a Childhood

Setting: Iraq during Islamic Revolution.

Tells story of a young girl who is growing up during this revolution. Does not know about government or political views Ignorant of her families involvement, as time passes

she becomes more aware of her family’s viewpoints. Attempts to learn and form her own opinions on the

matter and eventually becomes involved with her parents in the protests.

She is sent to Vienna to live with her Aunt to be safe from the harm of the Revolution

Does My Head Look Big in This?

Setting: Australia… I know, Interesting….

A young woman decides that she wants to “go full time” in the Hijrab. A HUGE religious decision. Depicts her struggle as a young woman As a Muslim (full time) in front of her peers Deals with boys (ugh…) Cultural and personal growth an realization.

Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian

Setting: Eastern Washington state on the Spokane Indian Reservation and Reardon High School.

Struggles growing up as an American Indian

Dealing with pressure from not only an opposing race but also from his own

Growing up in poverty

Being an outcast in your own society as well as in another. (smarter than the average bear and doesn’t look like the average bear either).

Dante and Aristotle Discover the Secrets of

the UniverseSetting: El Paso Texas.

Coming of age

Mexican American. NOT PROUD OF IT!

Two young men, completely opposite but drawn together.

Sruggles through individualism, coming of age, coming out of the closet, and family issues.

Literary pairs

Movie Option Smoke Signals (American Indian) House of Sand and Fog (Muslim American) Real Women Have Curves (Mexican)

Pair any of these movies or scenes from them with the text to better understand the culture of the group you are discussing.

Assignment: Write a review on the IMBD or Amazon websites about the film and how it helps your understanding of the new culture. Perhaps form a class blog to post discussion questions.

Assignment: Form a chart that compares dominant society to that of the new culture. Choose a scene from the one of the films that illustrates on or more of these differences

Other Activities

Investigate well known American Indians of today. Group presentation to the class about their impact on

the native or dominant societies in today’s culture.

Make a bumper sticker geared toward American Indians ie) America: Love it or give it back

Of course you can’t trust the government! Just ask an Indian!

Explore the Patriot Act and ask students to create a poster or a T-shirt with their viewpoint on it to present to the class.

Teacher ResourcesMiddles East Links

www.aaiusa.org/about_arab_americans.htm http://www.mideastweb.org/Middle-East-Encycl

opedia/hijab.htm

Mexican American Links http://www.ufw.org/ http://www.lared-latina.com/huerta.html

American Indian Links http://www.ewebtribe.com/NACulture/lang.htm http://www.500nations.com/500_Tribes.asp

BibliographyAbdel-Fattah, R. (2005). Does my head look big in this. New York: Scholastic.

Alexie, S. (2007). The absolutely true diary of a part time indian. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

Saenz, B. (2012). Dante and aristotle discover the secrets of the universe. New York: Simon and Schuster BFYR.

ADD PERSEPOLIS!