"Crossing" - Brian Komei Dempster

                                           

 
                  Brian Komei Dempster 

More links: 

Personal site

Topaz book
readings from topaz

                                     Crossing

No turning back. Deep in the Utah desert now, having left one home to return to the temple of my grandfather. I press the pedal hard. Long behind me, civilization’s last sign—a bent post
 and a wooden board: No food or gas for 200 miles. The tank needling below half-full, I smoke Camels to soothe my worry. Is this where it happened? What’s left out there of

Topaz in the simmering heat? On quartzed asphalt I rush

       past salt beds, squint at the horizon for the desert’s edge:  a lone
                   tower, a flattened barrack, some sign of Topaz—the camp
                              where my mother, her family, were imprisoned. As I speed
                                         by shrub cactus, the thought of it feels too near,

                              too close. The engine steams. The radiator
                   hisses. Gusts gather, wind pushes my Civic side
       to side, and I grip the steering wheel, strain to see

through a windshield smeared with yellowjacket wings, blood
       of mosquitoes. If I can find it, how much can
                   I really know? Were sandstorms soft as dreams or stinging
                              like nettles? Who held my mother when the wind whipped

                                       beige handfuls at her baby cheeks? Was the sand tinged
                              with beige or orange from oxidized mesas? I don’t remember                
                       my mother’s answer to everything. High on coffee

        and nicotine, I half-dream in waves of heat: summon ghosts
                   from the canyon beyond thin lines of barbed wire. Our name
                              Ishida. Ishi means stone, da the field. We were gemstones
                                         strewn in the wasteland. Only three days

                              and one thousand miles to go before I reach
                   San Francisco, the church where my mother was born
        and torn away. Maybe Topaz in the desert was long

gone, but it lingered in letters, photos, fragments
        of stories. My mother’s room now mine, the bed pulled blank
                   with ironed sheets, a desk set with pen and paper. Here
                              I would come to understand.  

Analasys:

I chose this piece as part of my anthology to let students glimpse into what it is like hearing about topaz from a first and second hand experience of what it was like in the Topaz internment camp in Southern Utah. This was a sad part of our history, but it brought so many more people to Utah when those of Japanese decent were relocated to the internment camp.

"That Damned Fence" - Topaz Internment Camp

THAT DAMNED FENCE

They’ve sunk the posts deep into the ground
They’ve strung out wires all the way around.
With machine gun nests just over there,
And sentries and soldiers everywhere.
We’re trapped like rats in a wired cage,
To fret and fume with impotent rage;
Yonder whispers the lure of the night,
But that DAMNED FENCE assails our sight.

We seek the softness of the midnight air,
But that DAMNED FENCE in the floodlight glare
Awakens unrest in our nocturnal quest,
And mockingly laughs with vicious jest.

With nowhere to go and nothing to do,
We feed terrible, lonesome, and blue:
That DAMNED FENCE is driving us crazy,
Destroying our youth and making us lazy.

Imprisoned in here for a long, long time,
We know we’re punished–though we’ve committed no crime,
Our thoughts are gloomy and enthusiasm damp,
To be locked up in a concentration camp.

Loyalty we know, and patriotism we feel,
To sacrifice our utmost was our ideal,
To fight for our country, and die, perhaps;
But we’re here because we happen to be Japs.

We all love life, and our country best,
Our misfortune to be here in the west,
To keep us penned behind that DAMNED FENCE,
Is someone’s notion of NATIONAL DEFENCE!

Analysis/reasoning:

"Song of the Canyon Wren" - Rob Rowley

Song of the Canyon Wren

As I go through my life in this work-a-day world
There's a sound that I'm longing to hear
It opens my mind to my memories of
All the beautiful places that I hold so dear
My heart and my soul are made up of the things
That abound in the places I mean
Ponderosa and slick rock and streams of bright water
That bring to the desert the cool shades of green

Just what is this sound that can take me away
To this ideal grotto or glen
That can bring me to tears when I think of the years
It may be 'till I get back and hear it again
If you've heard it, you'll know. If you haven't, you can't
But give ear, and I'll tell you my friend
The wonderous sound that can do all of this
Is the song of the Canyon Wren

(It's the tiny, petite...that bird-song so sweet...it's the song of the Canyon Wren)

The joy in the voice of this non-descript bird
Is the joy that I feel in my heart
When  I'm wading along in my boots and my pack
In the sweet, cool air and the best of God's art
This is Heaven...Utopia...Shangri-La too.
(Or if not, it's a pretty good start)
And this little brown bird with the twittering throat
Is in charge...He's the King of the musical part

In this region of canyons, of slots and defiles
And the streams and the floods that bring life
There exists such a palette of colorful sounds
That many won't know in the length of their lives
Like the roar of the flash-flood after a downpour
The howls from the coyote's den
But the one little sound that can put them to shame
Is the song of the Canyon Wren

(It's the little, the pretty...not heard in the city...it's the song of the Canyon Wren)


Analysis/reasoning:

"Kindness" by Naomi Shihab nye

Kindness   

           Naomi Shihab Nye

Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things,
feel the future dissolve in a moment
like salt in a weakened broth.
What you held in your hand,
what you counted and carefully saved,
all this must go so you know
how desolate the landscape can be
between the regions of kindness.
How you ride and ride
thinking the bus will never stop,
the passengers eating maize and chicken
will stare out the window forever.


Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness,
you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho
lies dead by the side of the road.
You must see how this could be you,
how he too was someone
who journeyed through the night with plans
and the simple breath that kept him alive.

Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,
you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.
You must wake up with sorrow.
You must speak to it till your voice
catches the thread of all sorrows
and you see the size of the cloth.

Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,
only kindness that ties your shoes
and sends you out into the day to mail letters and
 purchase bread,
only kindness that raises its head
from the crowd of the world to say
it is I you have been looking for,
and then goes with you every where
like a shadow or a friend.

Analysis/Reasoning:

I chose this piece for my anthology because of multiple reasons. First is because students could relate it to what the pioneers went through before making it to the Salt Lake valley and having to leave everything behind. Second, it is a piece written by someone who has seen what it would be like to move around and lose things as well as receive kindness in different ways. Lastly I want my students to understand how important it is to be kind to each other and to accept each others differences. I want students to think of all the things pioneers lost or left behind before coming to Utah, as well as many other immigrants. I want students to then list all the things that those same people/groups gained or had kindness shown to them on their way to Utah, and once they arrived.

Common Core Standards:
 One of the overall standards that students are supposed to learn/observe through out the class is a well lived life. This story helps students begin to evaluate how they are living their life.

Social Studies standards: 
      Standard 1: Students will understand the relationship between the physical geography in Utah and human life.
      -Objective 3: Analyze how human actions modify the physical environment.

Reading: 
craft and structure- standard 4: determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including those that allude to significant characters found in mythology.
         Standard 5: explain major differences  between poems, drama, and prose, and refer to the structural elements of poems and drama when writing or speaking about a text.

integration of knowledge and ideas- 
        Standard 9: compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes and topics and patterns of events in stories, myths, and traditional literature from different cultures.


More about the author:
 poetry foundation
Wikipedia 
What inspires her poetry

"Private Property" - Leslie Marmon Silko

Private Property 
       Leslie Marmon Silko

Summary:

Juanita is the main character who takes care of the elderly in her village because she does not have anyone to care for.  Everyday Jaunita visits her two aunts, Etta and Reyna. Etta spent more of her time growing up learning about plants instead of learning the traditional tribal knowledge. Etta left the reservation and went to school in Winslow, Arizona where she became more apart of the outside world and left her history at the reservation. When Etta returns to the village she has new social ideas and norms that she wants to follow. The first thing she wants to "fix" is the fence in between her house and Reyna's. She and Reyna are sister in-laws, but the distance between them would not have let you onto that fact. Etta learned in the "white school" in Winslow that fences are built by people to protect things from being stolen or lost, where as  in the village fences show where you stand. Jaunita agrees with her Aunt Reyna that the village shares things, and that there is no private property. one night Reyna goes with Juanita, and her sister Ruthie into their cornfield to see what Ruthie's husband is up to. The cornfield was left to Juanita and Ruthie by their mother, everything is passed down through the women in the family. The women find Ruthie's husband having an affair in the cornfield. The three women are not angry that they were having an affair, but it was in the cornfield. Because Juanita and Ruthie share the field they are mourning over the fact that they believe the corn is now sickly and that the plants will no longer grow.

        The entire story is about private property, which is a different term for how their village works. The aunts fight over a small section of land between their houses, and Ruthie is fighting to keep what is hers and to keep it clean no less.  The entire works theme is about fighting for their property, which they want to keep private and traditional. Silko used the different characters experiences to contrast with Etta because she went to a "white man's Indian school". Her ideas about community have changed and now she wants to keep herself and her property secluded from the rest of the community.  She builds the fence to separate herself from the world she left behind and to keep others from getting to her.

Analysis/ Reasoning:
I chose this piece for my anthology because it discusses how different cultures and groups of people within the united states are governed, and how they affect the land and visa versa. I want the students in my class to understand how their actions affect their fellow students and not just themselves. this story discusses how different people view property, whether it is shared between two people or  whole class, or personal property. I want students to research native american tribes to see how each tribe is governed. One thing I would not share with the students would be the affair in the cornfield. I would either not read that portion of the story, or change it to be something more age appropriate. I would have students then write what they consider their private property and what is shared and how it should be treated. I would want to discuss governments/ discipline with my students using the layout that students are responsible to each other, and then discipline will be followed through by myself.

Common core standards:

Social studies core:
       Standard 1: "Students will understand the relation ship between the physical geography in Utah and human life."
        - objective 2: "Analyze how physical geography affects human life in Utah."
        - objective 3: "Analyze how human actions modify the physical environment."
     Standard 2: "Students will understand how Utah's history has been shaped by many diverse people, events, and ideas."
        -objective 1: "Describe the historical and current impact of various cultural groups on Utah."
    Standard 3: "Students will understand the roles of civic life, politics, and government in the lives of Utah citizens."
        -objective 2: "Analyze the different ways people have organized governments in Utah to meet community needs."

Reading core:
    Key ideas and details- standard 1: "Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text."
            Standard 2: "Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text."
    Integration of knowledge and ideas- Standard 9: "Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes and topics and patterns of events in stories, myths, and traditional literature from different cultures."
     Craft and structure- Standard 6: "Compare and contrast the point of view from which different stories are narrated, including the difference between first- and third-person narrations."

Writing core:
   Text type and purpose- standard 2: "Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly."

"Tahotahontanekentseratkerontakwenhakie" - Salli Benedict

 TAHOTAHONTANEKENTSERATKERONTAKWENHAKIE

Sally Benedict  (click here for even more about the author)

 Deep in the woods, there lived a man and his wife, and their newborn baby boy. The baby was so young that his parents had not yet given him a name. Hunting was very bad that winter and they had very little to eat. They were very poor. One day around suppertime, a little old man came to their door. He was selling rabbits.

 "Do you wish to buy a rabbit for your supper?" he asked.

 The woman who met him at the door replied that they were very poor and had no money to buy anything. It was growing dark and the man looked very tired. The woman knew that he had travelled very far just to see if they would buy a rabbit from him. She invited him to stay for supper and share what little they had to eat.

 "What is your name?" the husband asked as he got up to meet the old man.

 "I have no name," the little man replied. "My parents were lost before they could name me. People just call me Tahotahontanekentseratkerontakwenhakie which means, 'He came and sold rabbits.' "

 The husband laughed. "My son has not been named yet either. We just call him The Baby."

 The old man said, "You should name him so that he will know who he is. There is great importance in a name." The old man continued, "I will give you this last rabbit of mine for a good supper, so that we may feast in honor of the birth of your new son."

In the morning, the old man left. The parents of the baby still pondered over a name for the baby.

 "We shall name the baby after the generous old man who gave him a feast in honor of his birth. But he has no name," the mother said.

 "Still, we must honor his gift to our son," the husband replied. "We will name our son after what people call the old man, Tahotahontanekentseratkerontakwenhakie which means, 'He came and sold rabbits.'"

"What a long name that is," the mother said. "Still, we must honor the old man' s wish for a name for our son and his feast for our son."   

       So the baby's name became Tahotahontanekentseratkerontakwenhakie which means, "He came and sold rabbits," in honor of the old man. The baby boy grew older and became very smart, He had to be, to be able to remember his own name. Like all other children he was always trying to avoid work. He discovered that by the time his mother had finished calling his name for chores, he could be far, far away. Sometimes his mother would begin telling him some thing to do, "Tahotahontanekentseratkerontakwenhakie . . . hmmmm . . ." She would forget what she wanted to have him do, so she would smile and tell him to go and play.

    Having such a long important name had its disadvantages too. When his family travelled to other settlements to visit friends and other children, the other children would leave him out of games. They would not call him to play or catch ball. They said that it took more energy to say his name than it did to play the games.

 News of this long, strange name travelled to the ears of the old man, Tahotahontanekentserakerontakwenhakie. "What a burden this name must be for a child," the old man thought. "This name came in gratitude for my feast for the birth of the boy. I must return to visit them."

   The old man travelled far to the family of his namesake, Tahotahontanekentseratkerontakwenhakie. The parents met the old man at the door and invited him in. He brought with him food for another fine meal.

    "You are very gracious to honor me with this namesake," he said. "But we should not have two people wandering this world, at the same time, with the same name. People will get us confused, and it may spoil my business. Let us call your son Oiasosonaion which means, 'He has another name.' If people wish to know his other name, then he can tell them."

 Oiasosonaion smiled and said, "I will now have to call you Tahotahontanekentseratkerontakwenhakie tanon Oiasahosonnon which means, 'He came and sold rabbits and gave the boy another name.'"

       Everyone laughed.

Analysis/reasoning:
   I choose this story for my anthology because it shows historically how native americans received their names as well what they mean. In Utah's 4th grade Social Studies core the second standard is "student's will understand how Utah's history has been shaped by many diverse people, events, and ideas." This short story fulfills this standard because it gives students a glimpse into how naming takes place in a native american tribe. Utah got it's name because of the Ute tribe that occupied the original territory. I want my future students to discover how Utah was named, the tribes that occupied the territory, how each large city/area in Utah was named, and also find out how they got their name. This story shows how names change so that you can identify one person from another who has the same name, I would have students find a native american name with it's meaning and bring it in to share with the class. Along with students bringing in a native american name I would have students create their own name and a story to go with it similar to this.

Core Standards:

Social Studies Core:
      Standard 2: "student's will understand how Utah's history has been shaped by many diverse people, events, and ideas." 
          -objective 1: "Describe the historical and current impact of various cultural groups on Utah."
          -objective 2: "describe ways that Utah has changed over time."

Reading Core:
   Craft and Structure- Standard 4: "Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including those that allude to significant characters found in mythology."
   Phonics and word recognition- Standard 3: "Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words."
            Sub-standard A: "use combined knowledge of all letter-sound correspondences, syllabication patterns, and morphology to read accurately unfamiliar multisyllabic words in context and out of context."

Writing Core:
     Text type and purpose- Standard 3: "Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

Table of Contents

"Private Property"          by Leslie Marmon Silko 

"Heritage"           by Linda Hogan 

"Digging for Roots"          by Margarita M. Engle 

"Tahotahontanekentseratkerontakwenhakie"           by Salli Benedict

"Foreign Language"          by Ricardo Pau-Llosa 

"Pink and Say"           by Patricia Polacco

"That Damned Fence"          by a Japanese Topaz camp Internee

"Crossing"              by Brian Komei Dempster

"Kindness"              by Naomi Shihab Nye

"Song of Canyon Wren"            by Rob Rowley

Common Core Standards

Social studies core:
       Standard 1: "Students will understand the relation ship between the physical geography in Utah and human life."
        - Objective 1: "Classify major physical geographic attributes of Utah."
        - objective 2: "Analyze how physical geography affects human life in Utah."
        - objective 3: "Analyze how human actions modify the physical environment."
     Standard 2: "Students will understand how Utah's history has been shaped by many diverse people, events, and ideas."
        -objective 1: "Describe the historical and current impact of various cultural groups on Utah."
        - objective 2: "Describe ways that Utah has changed over time."
        - objective 3: "Investigate the development of the economy in Utah."
    Standard 3: "Students will understand the roles of civic life, politics, and government in the lives of Utah citizens."
        -objective 1: "Describe the responsibilities and rights of individuals in a representative government as well as in the school and community."
        -objective 2: "Analyze the different ways people have organized governments in Utah to meet community needs."

Reading core:
 Key ideas and details-
            Standard 1: "Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text."
            Standard 2: "Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text."
            Standard 3A: "Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story, or drama, drawing on specific details in the text."
            Standard 3B: "Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text."
 
Craft and structure-
            Standard 4A: "Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including those that allude to significant characters found in mythology."
           Standard 4B: "Determine the meaning of general academic and domain specific words or phrases in a text relevant to grade 4 topic or subject area."
            Standard 5A: "Explain major differences between poems, drama, and prose, and refer to the structural elements of poems and drama when writing or speaking about a text."
            Standard 5B: "Describe the overall structure of events, ideas, concepts, or information in a text or part of a text."
            Standard 6A: "Compare and contrast the point of view from which different stories are narrated, including the difference between first- and third-person narrations."
            Standard 6B: "Compare and contrast a firsthand and second hand account of the same event or topic; describe the differences in focus and the information provided."

 Integration of knowledge and ideas-
            Standard 7A: "make connections between the text of a story or drama and a visual or oral presentation of the text, identifying where each version reflects specific descriptions and directions in the text."
            Standard 7B: "Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively and explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the text in which it appears."
            Standard 8: "Explain how the author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text."
             Standard 9A: "Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes and topics and patterns of events in stories, myths, and traditional literature from different cultures."
             Standard 9B: "Integrate information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably."

Foundational Skills-
      Standard 3: "Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words."
      Standard 4:  "Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension."

Writing core:
Text type and purpose-
         Standard 1: "Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information."
      Standard 2: "Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly."
    Standard 3: "Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective techniques, descriptive details, and clear event sequences."

Research to build and present knowledge-
  Standard 7: "Conduct short research projects that build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic."
   Standard 8: "Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; take notes and categorize information, and provide a list of sources.
   Standard 9: "Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research."

Preface- The Meanings and Why

Hello dear readers,
           My name is Melly. I am starting out on my journey to become an Elementary school teacher and one of the resources I have begun collecting are poems, short stories, essays, novels, and other literary works. This blog will become my anthology, and I hope it will benefit others who are searching for different pieces to use in their classroom. My dream is to teach at a fourth grade level, mainly for my love of history, as well as children are in the transition of learning more factual knowledge and they need someone to help guide them gently into the world of knowledge.
        The Utah State Common Core has some specific language arts standards that can cross over into the social studies section. I want to have a small compilation of works to use in my future classroom. Every piece I list on this blog will correspond to common core and the lessons taught in fourth grade. I will give background on the author of the piece and also list links to the piece. I hope this anthology will be helpful to others and not only me. Enjoy reading and discovering new works through my blog.


Here are the links to the common core standards for fourth grade classes in Utah:

Language arts-
http://www.uen.org/core/core.do?courseNum=4240

Social studies-
http://www.uen.org/core/core.do?courseNum=6040