"The first day" by Edward p. jones
about Edward p. jones
![Picture](/uploads/2/2/8/7/22879198/906450_orig.jpg)
•Full name is Edward Paul Jones.
•Born in 1951 in Washington; still currently alive but current works are unknown
•Very famous for writing the book "The Known World"
•Grew up with mother being a dishwasher and hotel maid, couldn't read or write but encouraged her son to
•Sometimes considered an "overnight success"
Author's perspective=African American in real life and main character in book too.
•Born in 1951 in Washington; still currently alive but current works are unknown
•Very famous for writing the book "The Known World"
•Grew up with mother being a dishwasher and hotel maid, couldn't read or write but encouraged her son to
•Sometimes considered an "overnight success"
Author's perspective=African American in real life and main character in book too.
Pre-reading activity
What do you remember about your first day of school?
•I remember about my first day of school that my classmates and I got homework.
What feelings or images come to mind when you picture it?
•When I picture my first day of school, feelings or images that come to mind are how nervous I felt and seeing all my friends there.
What is your earliest memory of your mother or father?
•The earliest memory of my mom is when she was holding me before I was going to get baptized while my dad took pictures of us, I was about one or two. The earliest memory of my dad is when we first went to Chuck-E-Cheese, I was about four or five.
What feelings come to mind when you recall this memory?
•When I recall the memory of my mom, I remember the smell of her perfume and the soft feel of the red suit she was wearing and sometimes wish I could go back to that day and give her a big hug. When I recall the memory of my dad, I remember my dad paying for 100 tokens and giving a coupon to get a great deal!
How does the memory compare with the way you relate to your mother or father now?
•The memory compares with the way I relate to my mom and dad now because I don't see them as a little girl anymore, but now I see them more attentively.
•I remember about my first day of school that my classmates and I got homework.
What feelings or images come to mind when you picture it?
•When I picture my first day of school, feelings or images that come to mind are how nervous I felt and seeing all my friends there.
What is your earliest memory of your mother or father?
•The earliest memory of my mom is when she was holding me before I was going to get baptized while my dad took pictures of us, I was about one or two. The earliest memory of my dad is when we first went to Chuck-E-Cheese, I was about four or five.
What feelings come to mind when you recall this memory?
•When I recall the memory of my mom, I remember the smell of her perfume and the soft feel of the red suit she was wearing and sometimes wish I could go back to that day and give her a big hug. When I recall the memory of my dad, I remember my dad paying for 100 tokens and giving a coupon to get a great deal!
How does the memory compare with the way you relate to your mother or father now?
•The memory compares with the way I relate to my mom and dad now because I don't see them as a little girl anymore, but now I see them more attentively.
vocabulary
Vigorously: to do something furiously
"My mother shakes her head vigorously" (Page 25).
Liable: to be apt to doing something
"The higher up on the scale of respectability a person is--and teachers are rather high up in her eyes--the less she is liable to let them push her around" (Page 25).
Absently: to do something automatically without thinking
"But it is not across the street from my mother's church, her rock, one of her connections to God, and I sense her doubts as she absently rubs her thumb over the back of her hand" (Page 26).
Strewn: to be scattered
"Strewn about the floor are dozens and dozens of pieces of white paper, and people are walking over them without any thought of picking them up" (Page 26).
Possessively: showing ownership
"On the table beside the woman's pocketbook is a large notebook, worthy of someone in high school, and looking at me looking at the notebook, the girl places her hand possessively on it" (Page 26).
Enunciates: to pronounce slowly
"My mother slowly enunciates each word of my name" (Page 27).
Immunization: vaccination
"Indeed, she takes out more papers than I have ever seen her do in other places: my birth certificate, my baptismal record, a doctor's letter concerning my bout with chicken pox, rent receipts, records of immunization, a letter about our public assistance payments, even her marriage license--every single paper that has anything even remotely to do with my five-year-old life" (Page 27).
"My mother shakes her head vigorously" (Page 25).
Liable: to be apt to doing something
"The higher up on the scale of respectability a person is--and teachers are rather high up in her eyes--the less she is liable to let them push her around" (Page 25).
Absently: to do something automatically without thinking
"But it is not across the street from my mother's church, her rock, one of her connections to God, and I sense her doubts as she absently rubs her thumb over the back of her hand" (Page 26).
Strewn: to be scattered
"Strewn about the floor are dozens and dozens of pieces of white paper, and people are walking over them without any thought of picking them up" (Page 26).
Possessively: showing ownership
"On the table beside the woman's pocketbook is a large notebook, worthy of someone in high school, and looking at me looking at the notebook, the girl places her hand possessively on it" (Page 26).
Enunciates: to pronounce slowly
"My mother slowly enunciates each word of my name" (Page 27).
Immunization: vaccination
"Indeed, she takes out more papers than I have ever seen her do in other places: my birth certificate, my baptismal record, a doctor's letter concerning my bout with chicken pox, rent receipts, records of immunization, a letter about our public assistance payments, even her marriage license--every single paper that has anything even remotely to do with my five-year-old life" (Page 27).
contrasting ideas
Confident•A character seems confident when she talks about her hair and and how special her mom did it.
•A character seems confident when the mother is trying to have her daughter go to Walker-Jones. •A character seems confident when the mother tells her daughter that she is going to Walker-Jones and is going to learn about the whole world there. •A character seems confident when the mother asks for help, she doesn't try to deny reading or writing because she isn't embarrassed. |
nervous•A character seems nervous when the narrator doesn't get into Walker-Jones.
•A character seems nervous when the mother sees papers all over the floor and wonders how they will handle her child if they are that lazy and irresponsible. •A character seems nervous when she is hesitant about what she is supposed to do while her mother signs papers. •A character seems nervous when the mother is afraid to leave her child at school. |