The Non-Fiction Project Description and Example— The Non-Fiction Project is centered in illustrating the connections and reflections we make as we read a text. In order to illustrate these connections, students will create “artifacts”. Artifacts may consist of a variety of information and may be created in a variety of ways, but at their core artifacts show / discuss the link between the non-fiction text and another work / experience. At least 12 artifacts are needed. 51% of the artifacts should illustrate external connections. Artifacts should be approximately 1 page long and should appear, when possible, double-spaced. They may be handwritten as necessary. (I’ve included 8 examples.) If the non-fiction text is being connected to a novel, dramatic production, television show, or other created work then the artifact / connection is classified as being external. In contrast, if the item being connected to is an experience then the artifact is considered internal. The project’s cover page must include a graphic that illustrates the connections being made. Topics and subtopics need to be designated. The graphic can be created in Pages or OmniGraffle. (The one I’ve included was created in OmniGraffle.) The grayed locations indicate the topic while the other boxes give the titles of the included artifacts. I’ve used asterisks to indicate which artifacts are internal. My original intent was to ask students to create a reflection essay, but after creating the artifacts, I’m certain that an adequate amount of reflection is occurring within the creation of the artifacts. Any additional reflection work will occur in class as directed.

Jeremy Young Mr. Young English IV Example 5 January 2011

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Bill Maher’s Real Time & Ayyan Hirsi Ali’s Infidel Every week Bill Maher’s show Real Time ends with a segment that he calls “New Rules.” The first few are always short and funny and designed to get a laugh. They almost always do so. They are often based in politics and recent news, but often drift into pop culture and discuss Lindsey Lohan and Britney Spears and their latest public gaffs. The last new rule is a small essay and often a Dennis Miller style rant in which Maher shows his true feelings about a subject that has gotten his attention. On his November 5th show, in a new rule dealing with the Jon Stewart rally, Maher said something that got my attention. After taking Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert to task for having a rally about nothing he states, “the big mistake of the modern media has been this notion balance for balance’s sake.” This statement struck me as odd. We do seem to value debate in our country and should strive for our media to look at all sides of an issue. I didn’t trust Maher’s assertion until he added “Two opposing sides don’t necessarily have two compelling arguments. Martin Luther King … didn’t say ‘remember folks those Southern Sherrifs with the firehoses and the German Shepherds they have a point too.’ No. He said, ‘I have a dream; they have a nightmare.’” Then I understood. Ayaan Hirsi Ali has a similar argument in Infidel. She sees that the Muslim refugee culture is not integrating into society and feels that it will threaten the future of Dutch values as the population increases. The Netherlands is a country of tolerance and free-thinking and personal rights (i.e. Amsterdam) and, according to Ali, Islam does not hold any of those values. Ali describes that the tolerant nature of the Netherlands was being overly-tolerant and accepting to the intolerance that Islam espouses. She found flaws in the ability of Muslims to have schools centered around the principles of Islam since “all humans are not equal in a Muslim school” and because they “fail to develop creativity—art, drama, music—and they suppress the critical faculties that can lead children to question their beliefs” (280). In my mind, as in hers, there is not a world where this can be a good thing. There should be no ability for this type of education to be given to children. In many issues we can afford to have opposing sides. Debate is possible and necessary, but in others we must remember as Maher states, “This isn’t team Edward and team Jacob.”

Education One of the lessons I’ve taken from Infidel is one I’ve long known: education equals freedom. My lesson isn’t as profound as Fredrick Douglas’, Helen Keller’s or Malcolm X’s, but being mine it is far more important (to me at least). After my parent’s divorced I lived with my mother who worked very hard to provide for us. It wasn’t easy. With only a high school diploma many of the jobs she could get consisted of factory work and working piecemeal. The shoe shop work my mother did prior to the divorce made her feel inadequate and low. She wanted more for herself and her children. She wanted to set a better example. I didn’t know any of this then. I was seven, eight and nine. My mom wasn’t home much. She had to work a few jobs to cover her tuition and when she wasn’t working she was attending school and studying. This is over-dramatic hyperbole, but the only way to relay the point: when my mother graduated, my world changed. Things weren’t simple and easy, but they were finally stable. I knew the lights would be on. The tv wouldn’t be static. When I came home from school, I could call my mom and tell her I was home. Things were reliable. Education made life better. This experience contributed greatly to my decision to become a teacher. Ali’s educational awakening is vastly different than mine, but hers cost a great deal more. Mine meant that there was a period of time I had to rely on babysitters and myself. Ali’s cost her family ties and her safety. She became more than someone’s slave, but lost all that she knew in the process. I know my awakening has been worth it, but I wonder if there are times when she considers that hers is not.

Strangers in Strange Lands During her “awakening”, Ali is a character similar to Meursault from The Stranger. At its simplest, Ali does not believe what those around her do. Her system of belief, one of equality that values all people, is antithetical to the Islamic culture she describes. According to Ali’s characterization of the core values of the Muslim faith—a faith of submission—it is heretical to question Allah and Muhammad, which means that the thoughts she allows herself to have—she does not continue her submission—others around her are not having. This freeing of the self is what sets Ali apart. She questions and the result puts her at odds with her cultural surroundings and ethnic / cultural / religious group. Similarly, Meursault’s ultimate freedom causes him his isolation and his imprisonment. By being free from the oppressions of Islam, Ali finds her life threatened, which coupled with her public remarks often requires that she is in the company of armed guards. She is even swept from the Netherlands to the United States secretly in order to protect her life. She is then confined, for her protection, to small hotel rooms where she can have little to no contact with the outside world. Meursault’s action (in shooting the Arab) certainly warrants the world in which he lives to take action, but the values he lives by do not allow him to understand why. Why does a human life matter? And if it does then why does taking one require a punishment that deprives the offending party of life if taking life is wrong? Ali moved away from Islam and spoke her mind about the customs she once espoused. She has trouble understanding why anyone would care about her world view nevertheless, wish to kill her for it. Theo Van Gogh, a filmmaker and collaborator with Ali, was killed due to his association with Ali. A note decrying Ali’s existence was “pinned” to Van Gogh’s chest with a kitchen knife and all because she became a stranger in what became for her a very strange land.

World History and Geography I’d like to know why I was never taught about the continent of Africa, the Middle East and the cultures and religions found there. My education of the “world” was centered around “white” European nations repeatedly. In 7th grade we had to memorize their locations and their capitals. In 8th grade we dealt with WWI and WWII and in high school we stayed with the United States generally and how we can to be. We discussed India (I suppose) in relation to the East India company (perhaps) and Japan (briefly) in discussions of WWII. I recall discussing Mexico, but only in regards to California and Texas. Why? Is this what my teachers were taught? Is this a symptom or a cause? I was a 5th and 6th grader (if I remember correctly) during the Desert Storm Conflict (war?) and remember discussions of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq and, of course, Saddam Hussein. I recall going to BIA to welcome home the soldiers, but it was never discussed in class. I would guess my teachers were told not to deviate from their stated curriculum to discuss such a “hot” / current issue. (I don’t recall ever even discussing Vietnam or the creation of Israel.) It seems to me that if 9/11 had never occurred I would have never had a reason / impetus to learn about the Middle East at all, which is just sad. I wonder if my experience is exclusive to my school district. I expect it is not, which causes me to wonder if this lack of interest / understanding of a region of the world by a culture has contributed to the difficulties we’re having today. Before Infidel I was unable to express how different many of the countries are from one another. I thought all Islamic countries were ruled under Islamic Law, which isn’t so. I thought most were poor, which is also incorrect. I also had no idea about the clan organization in Somalia. I’m sure I’ve made a fool out of myself a few times due to my ignorance. I have a

long way to go until I’m well versed. It would’ve been nice to have been guided through this education rather than self-taught.

Truthiness In the same way I wish that “On the Rainy River” was factually true instead of just emotionally, I wish Infidel was not factually true at all. I admit that I want and at times need Elroy Berdahl, a wise older man who is kind, gentle, intelligent and encouraging, to exist. But he doesn’t. He is a creation of fiction. A smoke screen. An intangible. No matter how badly I’d like to believe that Elroy helped a young Tim O’Brien in his time of need, it just didn’t happen. And while the story does communicate an emotional truth, as O’Brien describes in his speech to Brown, the work seems diminished by the fact that it is not fully a work of truth. Infidel hurts. The book was an emotionally taxing read. As a person who values life, freedom and equality, I had a great deal of trouble reading the text and at times would’ve liked to walk away from it. I think I’m better for reading the book but found the fact that the text is factually true to be unsettling. I would’ve preferred this text to exist in a world of fiction instead, but it just isn’t so. Ali relates the most horrendous personal events and I’d like to believe that the world I live in doesn’t include such things in the same way I’d like to believe that I live in a world that includes Elroy Berdahl. I feel like sometimes I can’t win, but truthiness is like that.