NCTE book

I think this book has some great suggestions on how to teach the works of Hughes to students. The lesson where students identify "the folks" (24)in the essay The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain and then write down how they identify "the folk" in their lives seems it would teach character development and audience really well. The writing down characteristics of someone they perceive as "the folk" in their lives on index cards,then sharing in small groups to come up with a group descriptin of the "folk" would certainly be engaging. This would make them think and discover their peers in different ways. Many of my students move around a lot.The reasons vary but lack of money have a lot to do with it. This lesson also builds community in the classroom. This would be a great lesson for our final project but it may be too long.Instead of having them write an essay they could have a discusiion?(our class)I added an excerpt from the essay that gives a vivid description of Hughes'"folk".

But then there are the low-down folks, the so-called common element, and they are the majority--may the Lord be praised! The people who have their nip of gin on Saturday nights and are not too important to themselves or the community, or too well fed, or too learned to watch the lazy world go round. They live on Seventh Street in Washington or State Street in Chicago and they do not particularly care whether they are like white folks or anybody else. Their joy runs, bang! into ecstasy. Their religion soars to a shout. Work maybe a little today, rest a little tomorrow. Play awhile. Sing awhile. O, let's dance! These common people are not afraid of spirituals, as for a long time their more intellectual brethren were, and jazz is their child. They furnish a wealth of colorful, distinctive material for any artist because they still hold their own individuality in the face of American standardization. And perhaps these common people will give to the world its truly great Negro artist, the one who is not afraid to be himself.