Module/Unit Five Integrative Assignment – Due April 10
Part A
Instructions – Choose one of the following assignments to show your knowledge of Walter Mosley’s Devil in a Blue Dress
and the material on Post-Reading strategies.
Please read Devil in a Blue Dress
closely and pay attention to characterization, setting, how the action flows and the story line moves forward.
Use the resources of this module/unit, journal assignment, PowerPoint presentation, reading comprehension information, and perhaps do a bit of research to help you achieve success on this assignment.
1 – Create a presentation of events that occur in Mosley’s novel, including when events happened and how the events show that the novel is a mystery, meant to show how people and events must be figured out to solve a puzzle. Include a paragraph at the end of the assignment that discusses what you’ve learned about the different kinds of culture and values in Black Betty and discuss Mosley’s highly stylized writing technique. Length 4 – 6 pages. Please include a title.
2 – Using the ideas of the Post-Reading Strategies material and doing some research of your own write about the different strategies you would include if you were teaching Black Betty
to mature students (ages 16 and above) , so a minimum of six detailed post-reading and/or writing activities, paired or individual assignments you would create to help students comprehend what they have read or written . Length 6 – 8 pages. Please include a title and be sure to reference all resources accurately including primary (The Primary) and secondary (critical or pedagogical) resources.
3 – Create a PowerPoint Presentation for someone who has never read Walter Mosley’s Devil in a Blue Dress. Include many aspects such as Mosley’s unique writing style, how concern for Easy’s community is displayed, characterization, Dubois’ idea of double consciousness, the meaning of symbolism, and point of view as applicable. Include a post reading strategy in the pp presentation as well. Length 10 – 20 slides. Please include a title, and be sure to reference all resources accurately including primary (The Primary) and secondary (critical or pedagogical) resources.
4 – Write a mystery, a story with many inserted clues that the reader must interpret that points out something specifically about two different kinds of cultures, your choice. Try to do what Mosley does so well in how he contrasts people, communities, events, ideas, language and creates flashbacks that give the reader more information and serve to allow the reader to understand the novel more fully. Try to not write about time creatively, perhaps not strictly linearly (beginning to end, but more circuitously (flashbacks and or flash forwards). In all of his writings, Mosley both wants to specify aspects about the black community while elevating the humanity of this same community. Remember Mosley is less a moralist than a writer who shows that individuals have many choices and his characters are less predicable as a result of the reality that people decide their fate. Some of his characters change or grow and others do not. side of life. The story or narrative should be a minimum of twelve pages long, include dialogue, and first person subjective point of view (not yours but your protagonist’s) and definitely be about a character who is working at solving a mystery, a problem, or a crime. Length 12 – 18 double spaced pages. Please include a title.
5 – Watch a movie that has similar themes to Walter Mosley’s Devil in a Blue Dress
and compare and contrast the alike (categorical) features found in Mosley’s novel to it. Writing a comparative paper would mean writing in depth about the plots, themes, moments, characters in ways that bring the highlights of both mediums out fully. Length 3 – 5 pages. Include a references or works cited entry. Please include a title, and be sure to reference all resources accurately including primary (The Primary) and secondary (critical or pedagogical) resources.
6 – Write a persuasive essay on Walter Mosley’s Devil in a Blue Dress,
discussing something you believe is very important that Mosley is trying to express about community, race, friendship, family, law enforcement, corruption, cultural conflict, symbolism or another theme you believe is a prominent organizing feature, or how the shifting settings of the story accentuate its meaning. The paper should be 4 to 6 pages in length, double-spaced, titled, one inch margins, times new roman 12pt font. When using critical sources, (works cited or references required) they must be cited accurately, and integrated in your writing with parenthetical citations according to MLA or APA style.
Part B
After reading Walter Mosley’s Devil in a Blue Dress
and going over the Writing Strategies material, Module Six Powerpoint, the Reading Quiz, and after completing this module’s integrative assignment, please answer the following questions for us, classmates and instructor. – Due April 9
How do you like the Detective Genre in general and this first Mosley offering specifically?
What integrative assignment did you pursue, complete? Copy a section of your favorite part of your project that you wrote (not the assignment sheet)
If you wrote fiction, share your creative process with us (how, what, when, where, why kinds of things)? If you wrote nonfiction (everything else) share your creative process with us and let us know how you chose the details you chose and what general ideas you hoped to relate.
Share with the class what skill or skills you think you improved as a result of this project? Explain please.
If you were to recommend this novel to someone to read, what is the most compelling reason for this nod? Please discuss.
This assignment is worth 30 points if you complete your integrative project and answer completely answer these questions and respond to two of your classmates responses in both a positive and insightful way.
