Ritsumeikan Elective Class–American Culture and Society
Welcome to the blog site for our elective class!
handout = an assignment
the book = The USA
pp. = pages
Here are the assignments:
For Thursday, March 6:
1) Group reports (3 groups)–on aspects of American culture/society
2) In The USA: Read pp. 45-48.
For Tuesday, March 4:
1) Think about our visit to the Isabella Gardner Museum, and answer the question(s) on the handout (photocopy) about your favorite art work there.
You can refer to this website if you wish.
2) In The USA: Read pp. 49-56.
For Thursday, Feb. 27:
1) Watch the second and third videos about the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
Look at the vocabulary and at the content questions.
2) , Read pp. 28-33, and pp.36-44 in The USA.
For Tuesday, Feb. 25:
A) Read Unit 11 in The USA — pp. 34-35.
B) Study for a quiz:
— Units 6, 7, 8, and 11 in The USA: pp. 14-23, and 34-35.
Here is what you need to study and know for the quiz–the answers to these questions below:
Unit 6–“Native Americans”
1) When the Europeans came to what is now the U.S., what did they do to a lot of Native Americans? (p. 14, paragraph 1)
2) What animal did many Native Americans use for food, clothes, and other purposes? ((p. 15, paragraph 1)
3) Who was one of the great Native American chiefs? (p. 15, paragraph 2)
4) Where do about one third of Native Americans still live in the U.S.? (p. 15, paragraph 3)
5) What do some Native American groups build to bring in money for their groups? (p. 15, paragraph 3)
6) Where in the U.S. do many Native Americans live on big reservations? (p. 14, paragraph 4)
7) What types of arts and crafts do the Hopi and the Zuni make? (p. 15, paragraph 3)
8) What beautiful items do Navajos make? (p. 15, paragraph 3, and p. 16).
Unit 7–“New Americans”
1) Millions of immigrants left parts of Europe to become U.S. immigrants between 1840 and 1930.
Name three (3) countries that they left to find a new life in the U.S. (p. 17)
2) For many years, immigrants from Europe first had to make a stop on an island in New York before they were officially allowed to enter the U.S. What is the name of that place? (p. 18, paragraph 1)
3) What were those immigrants checked for on that island? (p. 18, paragraph 1)
4) From what country did many immigrants arrive in the West starting from 1848 on? (p. 18, paragraph 2)
5) What problem did most Chinese immigrants, African Americans, and Native Americans find in the U.S.? (p. 18, paragraph 2)
6) Where do most immigrants to the U.S. come from today? (p. 18, paragraph 3)
7) What is now like the second language of the U.S.? (p. 18, paragraph 3)
8) What is one American city where many Irish celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? (p. 18, paragraph 4)
9) What is one U.S. city that has a major celebration of Chinese New Year? (p. 18, paragraph 4)
Unit 8–“Black Americans”
1) Harriet Beecher Stowe’s famous book Uncle Tom’s Cabin showed how wrong slavery was and showed how some slaves escaped using the “Underground Railway.” What was the “Underground Railway”? (p. 20, paragraph 1)
2) After Frederick Douglass escaped slavery, what did he work for? (p. 20, paragraph 2)
3) Harriet Tubman also escaped slavery. What is she famous for doing in the 1850s? (p. 20, paragraph 3)
4) In the South, after slavery ended, black people still did not have equal civil rights, especially in the South. They had to live separately from whites in most of the North and the South. What else did they have to do separately from white (Caucasian) people in the South?
(p. 21, paragraph 2)
5) What woman became famous because she refused to move to the back of the bus in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955?
6) What well-known black religious leader helped fight for black people’s civil rights–like equality– in the 1950s and 1960s?
7) What two important events in black history in the U.S. happened in 1964? (p. 22, paragraph 2, and p. 23, paragraph 1)
8) When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, who were most of the people who lost their homes and had to wait a long time for the government’s help? (p. 23, paragraph 2)
9) More and more blacks have become political leaders in the North and the South in the U.S. in the past 50 years.
However, most people did not expect that a black person would be elected U.S. president in 2008. Then what surprising thing happened?
(not in the book)
Unit 11–“Eating and drinking the American way”
) What types of American food are sold in restaurants around the world? (p. 34, paragraph 1)
2) Why are many Americans obese (very fat)? (p. 34, paragraph 1)
3) What business helped to make coffee more available in the USA and abroad since the 1990s? (p. 34, paragraph 2)
4) What state in the U.S. is especially known for making fine wine? (p. 35, paragraph 1)
5) When was it prohibited (illegal) in the U.S. to drink alcohol in the USA?
6) What are two examples of ethnic foods that immigrants from different countries or traditions made popular in the USA? (p. 35, paragraph 2)
— The 54th Regiment Memorial and the Museum of African American History
(Black American = African-American)
http://maah.org/boston_campus.htm
Black Heritage Trail — #1, #13, and #14
1) Who made the sculpture of the 54th Regiment?
2) Who was the leader of that regiment in the Civil War?
3)) Why is the regiment famous?
4) What is the name of a well-known movie about the 54th Regiment, with Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, and Matthew Broderick?
Answer: Glory — Trailer for the movie Glory
The Abiel Smith School
4) Why is the Abiel Smith School famous in Black American history?
The African Meeting House
5) Why is the African Meeting House important in African-American history?
The USA — p. 62
Chapter 6 only (top)
Answers:
3 d
4 b
5 e
6 c
Vocabulary:
Native American reservations (p. 15, paragraphs 2 and 3)
The USA (pp. 58-59)
alcohol (noun)
equal (adjective)
freedom (noun)
immigrant (noun)
prejudice (noun)
a right (noun)
separate (adjective)
[separately (adverb)]
_________________________________________________________
B) Watch this:
The trailer for Dances with Wolves
C) Choose a well-known African-American, non-black immigrant, or Native American, read a little about the person, and be ready to tell the class the name, field (area of work), and one or two achievements of that person.
some famous Black Americans/African Americans
Some well-known Native Americans
For Thursday, Feb. 20
1) Read pp. 14-19 in the book–Chapters 6 and 7: “Native Americans” and “New Americans.”
Some of the new vocabulary words may be on pp. 58-59.
2) Answer the questions for Chapters 7 and 8 on p. 62 in the book.
3) Check out these websites to learn about Native American and U.S. immigrants.
http://listverse.com/2007/11/20/top-15-most-famous-native-americans/ — some famous Native Americans
http://nativetreasuresonline.com/rugs-pottery-art/ — Native American arts
http://www.biography.com/people/groups/immigration/us-immigrant/all — some famous U.S. immigrants
For Tuesday, Feb. 18:
1) Read Chapter 8–pp. 20-23: “Black Americans.”
2) Use your white and your green homework papers to find out information, with your group, about parts of the Black Heritage Trail, which includes the Museum of African American History.
White handout: Each student should be ready to tell the class at least one fact during the class trip today about the place that you read about.