Shawn Smith

SLIS 5960.001

Maymester 2002

 

MULTICULTURAL LITERATURE ACTIVITY

 

Young Adult activity

Suitable for grades 8-11

(While this book is a picture book, the content and length are better suited to older students.)

 

Tremonisha   

By Angela Shelf Medearis; illustrated by Michael Bryant

 

About the book:

This book is based on the opera Tremonisha by Scott Joplin.  Scott Joplin was an African-American who lived during the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the United States.  He was the leading composer of ragtime, a lively, rhythmic kind of music written chiefly for the piano.  Joplin was also a well-known ragtime pianist.  Joplin was the son of a former slave.  (Information on the author should be kept sketchy, since after reading activity involves research on Joplin).

 

In the story, Tremonisha has just returned from college to her hometown of Liberty.  While she has been away, an evil man named Zodzetrick has come to town, selling useless medicines and cures, and taking advantage of people’s ignorance.  Tremonisha, who has returned to share what she has learned, sees that Zodzetrick is using magic and lies to influence people. Tremonisha’s struggles with Zodzetrick represents the struggle between knowledge and ignorance.

 

About the Author: 

Angela Shelf Medearis was born in Virginia. Her family moved often, though, because her father was in the Air Force. She says that at each new place, "I knew there would always be a library, a friendly librarian, and my favorite books there to greet me. It made a new school and new friends much easier to deal with."

In grade school, Angela Shelf Medearis's teachers told her that she wrote well. She was thirty years old, however, before she decided to try to earn a living as a writer. She enjoys history, and spends a lot of time researching African-American history for her books. Her research often leads to ideas for new books.

 

 

About the Illustrator: 

Michael Bryant is a relatively new illustrator of children's books with many distinguished picture books to his name.   In 1991, Michael Bryant won one of twenty scholarships to attend the Multicolored Mirror Institute for Writers and Artists in Madison, Wisconsin. Soon after, he received his first contract as a children's book illustrator. His work has received the Jane Addams Peace Award Honor, Parenting Magazine's Reading Magic Award, and the Parent's Choice Award. Michael Bryant lives in Pennsylvania with his wife, Gina, and their two daughters, Kristen and Allison. (http://www.soemadison.wisc.edu/ccbc/friends/bryant.htm, 21 May 2002)

Before reading activity:

          Music:

-        Listen to some of Scott Joplin’s music. (Preferably some of his better known songs such as Maple Leaf Rag or The Entertainer).  Discuss the tempo of the music.  Do you think it was used as dance music?  Have you ever heard this music before? 

-        What is different about it from the music of today?  Do you think music was used in a different manner to entertain in 1911 than it is today?  Why or why not?

History:

-        The preface to this story starts out in 1866 in Arkansas.  What was happening with African-Americans during this time period? 

 

After reading activity:

-        Divide class into 2 groups.  Using the list of questions from the handout “Scott Joplin and His Music” (below), assign each group a separate list of questions. Have each group research the questions through internet and/or book sources.

-        Have each group share their answers aloud. 

-        Construct a biography of Scott Joplin from the answered questions.

-        Discuss why Joplin would have written a story like Tremonisha.

-        Do you see any similarities in the story of Tremonisha to Scott Joplin’s life? 

-        How is this story reflective of the time period in which it was written?

-        Why do you think this opera was not successful when it debuted?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scott Joplin and His Music (Handout questions)

 

1.  Where and when was Scott Joplin born?  (Probably born in Texas in 1867-1868 – no accurate records are available)

 

2.  How did Scott Joplin learn to play piano?  (His mother worked in a white-owned home and he taught himself the basics, then his talent was noticed by a local German-born music teacher named Julius Weiss, who gave him formal musical instruction, with special emphasis on European music, including opera.

 

3.  How did Scott Joplin get started on his musical career – what were some of his musical jobs?  (Played with a minstrel troupe; led a band and played cornet; established the Queen City Cornet Band; sang with the Texas Medley Quartette; worked as an intinerant pianist in the Maple Leaf Club and the Black 400 Club;

 

4.  Name 5 of Scott Joplin’s songs.  (Maple Leaf Rag; The Entertainer; Sunflower Slow Drag; Peacherine Rag; Ragtime Dance; Easy Winners; Cleopha, Heliotrope Rag, and many more….)

 

5.  What nickname has Scott Joplin been given?  (King of Ragtime)

 

6.  What is ragtime music?  What are its origins and its characteristics? (A style of jazz characterized by elaborately syncopated rhythm in the melody and a steadily accented accompaniment. – American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language 2000)

 

7.  What “famous first” is significant to the opera Tremonisha?  (First grand opera written by an African-American)

 

8.  When, where and how did Scott Joplin die?  (Became mentally ill; died in 1917, probably from a form of syphilis, which caused his mental illness).