Week 2: Short Stories
10th Grade
Task List
At the beginning of each week, you will receive a list of tasks, or objectives, which must be completed by
Friday. When you receive this list, put it into your 3-ring binder ("portfolio"). When you complete a
task, place it behind the appropriate task list. You must keep your "portfolio” in order. I will take up
portfolios on Fridays to check for completion.
EQ: What is the Apartheid movement in South Africa? How does Apartheid movement relate to the
American Civil Rights Movement? What does the short story "Marriage is a Private Affair" tell us about
South African culture? What role does Nelson Mandela play in the Anti- Apartheid Movement?
1. Research: Topic Introduction
Research the following topics using the provided iPads. We are looking to gather information
and understanding about each of the topics listed. On a separate sheet of notebook paper, find
information about each of the three topics. Be detailed with your information. Each topic has
questions to help guide you in your research. Be sure to cite your sources at the bottom of the
page. We will have access to the iPads for Monday and Tuesday.
a. Nelson Mandela/Martin Luther King Jr.
-Biographical information, major accomplishments, important information
-What role does Nelson Mandela play in ending Apartheid? What role did he play in the
Anti- Apartheid movement?
-What role does Martin Luther King Jr. play in the civil rights movement?
b. Apartheid
-Background information-What is Apartheid? How did it begin? In what part of the world? What people did it
oppress? How and Why? How was Apartheid overturned? What laws were enacted?
-What is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights? What organization passed it?
Why?
c. Civil Rights Movement
-Background information-What is the Civil Rights Movement?
What are Jim Crow Laws? How did it begin? In what part of the world? What people did
it oppress? How and why? What is segregation? Find 1 example from history.
2. Marriage is a Private Affair
-Read the short story by Chinua Achebe. Each group member must participate in reading the
story.
3. Marriage is a Private Affair-Notes
-On a separate sheet of paper, identify and discuss the following based on the story. At the top,
label the page: "Marriage is a Private Affair- notes." You may work on this assignment as a
team, but each member should have a complete list in there notebook. Be sure to discuss each
item. Use quotes from the text to support your answers.
1. Main Characters: Identify the main characters of the story. How are each describe?
2. Theme: What is the overall meaning of the story? What evidence from the text supports your
conclusion.
3. Conflict: What is the main problem in the story? Which characters are in conflict?
4. Villagers: How do the villagers react to the major conflict. How does this relate to the theme?
5. How does Okeke change? Why
4. Long walk to freedom--Chapter 2
-Read the excerpt from the autobiography of Nelson Mandela. Each group member must
participate in reading the text. On a Separate sheet of paper, Answer the following questions in
complete sentences. Be detailed and support your answers with quotes from the text. Keep in
mind what the research information on Mandela.
1. Tribal rivalries and Mandel’s statement: “I did not witness or even suspect the violent tribal
rivalries that would subsequently be promoted by the rules of South Africa.” What does this
foreshadow?
2. Discuss the irony about the last sentence of the excerpt: “I thought little if at all about the
white man in general or relations between my own people and these curious and remote
figures.”
3. Discuss the lesson he learned from the donkey? “Even though it was a donkey that unseated
me, I learned that to humiliate another person is to make him suffer an unnecessarily cruel
fate. Even as a boy, I defeated my opponents without dishonoring them.” What does this
tell us about Mandela?
4. Describe the village in which Mandela grew up.
5. What are some cultural traditions that he was expected to follow?
5. Vocabulary List 1
-Complete Unit 1 (Pg. 21-27) on a separate sheet of paper. Be sure to pay attention to
pronunciation, parts of speech, synonyms, and antonyms.
-Vocabulary quiz: Thursday
6. Video 2