Ann Marie Willer
SLIS 5960
May 22, 2002
From the Notebooks of
Melanin Sun
By Jacqueline Woodson
About
the book:
Melanin Sun, an African American, is 13 years old and lives with his mother in a racially mixed area of Brooklyn. School is out, so he hangs with his friends and thinks about Angie, the girl he likes but can’t get up the courage to call. He has a loving relationship with his mother, but things become strained after his mother reveals she is lesbian and introduces her girlfriend, who is white. Melanin writes in his notebooks to work out his feelings. He learns to see beyond the issues of sexual orientation and race and to accept his mom and her girlfriend.
About
the author:
After working as a drama therapist, Jacqueline Woodson became a full-time writer. Her books for young adults include characters from a range of races and economic circumstances and address themes of racial and gender discrimination and sexuality. She has received The Kenyon Review Award for Literary Excellence in Fiction, and her books The Notebooks of Melanin Sun, I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This, and Miracle Boys are Coretta Scott King Honor Books. She has also received three American Library Association Awards and two Jane Addams Peace Award Honors.
Before
reading activities:
Ask students to list prejudicial language they hear at school or in the media. (For example, “cotton pickin’,” “faggot,” “That’s retarded.”) Write the words and phrases on the board.
Either in a group discussion or individually on paper, have students identify stereotypes about gay people and African Americans. Then do the related “after reading” activity.
After
reading activities:
Have students discuss how the book reinforced or challenged the stereotypes they wrote down earlier. Do they feel any differently about African Americans or gay people after reading the book? What did they learn about these groups of people?
Journal Writing
Melanin Sun writes in his notebooks to sort out his feelings. Have students respond to one of the following stimuli as if writing in their own notebook or journal. The topics are sensitive, and to preserve student confidentiality the teacher may not want to require that they be turned in (instead do a visual check for completeness). Provide an opportunity for students to share what they have written with the class, if they want to.
When Sean calls Melanin Sun’s mother a “dyke,” Mel hits him. Was this the best way for him to respond? As a group, discuss ways students can respond to people who use prejudicial language. (For example, responding immediately by saying “I don’t find that joke funny” or “Please don’t use that word around me,” responding later by taking the person aside and expressing the same feelings, or not responding directly but instead using appropriate language and modeling respectful behavior.)
Although we can discuss responses, in the moment it can be hard to think of what to say. Practice helps. Have students divide into pairs and practice some of the responses the class discussed. One student can say or pretend to say something objectionable, and the other student will respond.