Islam in America:Muslims in NovelsLesson Plan

Subject: American Literature (10th Grade) or higher

Grade: An advanced 9th grade or higher level.

Introduction: This lesson should take place over at least a three week period. The students will be divided into five groups and each group will read and report on a novel assigned to them. This lesson assumes that they had a brief introduction to Islam in a World Studies class. If this is not the case, a few days might be necessary to introduce concepts such as: Shariah, Jihad, Justice (Adil), etc. to them. This lesson should encourage the students to realize that Muslims contributed to the building of this nation linguistically, through the Civil Rights arena, and in other fashions. The students will read short historical pieces from newspapers and magazines to go along with their novels so they can discuss the way historic figures and shown in the novels selected.

Objectives:1) Students will be able to analyze characters,

plots, and style of the works read.2) Students will be able to prepare journals,

book reviews, and character sketches dealing with the novels under discussion.3) Students will be able to discuss the novels

orally and take a written essay exam on the novels prepared by the teacher after consultation with the students.

Materials/Resources:Novels: Ishmael Reed Mumbo Jumbo (Atheneum,

1972), Kent Smith Future X (Halloway House, 1990), Sterling Hobbs Black Angels (Halloway House, 1993), Claude McKay Harlem Glory (Charles H. Kerr, 1990), and Hezekiah Butterworth In the Days of Jefferson (D. Appleton, 1905).

Articles: Claude McKay, Nation Vol. 140 (April 3, 1935),

pp. 382-83; William Meade, “Selim the Algerine” Graham’s Illustrated Magazine 51, (1857), pp. 433-437: and selected readings from The Autobiography of Malcolm X. These can be found in the main branch of the Chicago public library or from the Newberry Research Center Library. I have copies of each if the teacher has no other resource.

Summaries of Novels:

Black Angels: Here we see a re-analysis of the facts revolving around the death of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. In Black Angels he was assassinated by the secret agent Pisces and the Nation of Islam was actually ran by four lieutenants of the secretive Master Farrad (the teacher of Elijah Muhammad) and not by Elijah Muhammad.

Future X: The great-grandson of Malcolm X (Ashford Henderson) travels through time and replaces his grandfather after him being assassinated after a return from Hajj in an airport restroom. In the future drugs are legal and skinheads have divided the nation into cantons according to race. Ashford Henderson attempts travel through time to insure the skinheads will not take power. The plan fails in the end and Ashford dies on Feb. 21, 1965 in the Audubon Ballroom. This novel is 384 pages long and a wise teacher might suggest chapters to read to ensure a student finishes it.

Harlem Glory: A fictional account of the rhetorical fight between Sufi Abdul Hamid and Father Divine. A quick read of 122 pages. An ambitious student might track-down Claude McKay Harlem: The Black Metropolis to read a historical account of this conflict.

In the Days of Jefferson: A juvenile novelization of the life of Thomas Jefferson. It contains the life story of Selim and Jefferson’s meetings with the Cherokee nation. This work shows that Jefferson’s ideals of the brotherhood of man might have been derived from his meetings with the Cherokees and with Salim. I would suggest focusing on the four or five chapters that deal directly with Selim. This book is out of print but available easily through inter-library loan.

Mumbo Jumbo: A portrayal of Harlem during the Depression. Main characters are Sufi Abdul Hamid, Black Herman (a magician), and Papa LaBas (a Voodoo priest). The novel revolves around the exploits of an art theft ring that steals native works of art to return them to where they were created and the hex placed on the United States after the U.S. Marines invade Haiti. Sufi Abdul Hamid tracks down the long lost sacred book of Osiris. The novel spans time from the Nixon presidency, to the Harlem of the 1920s, to Egypt of Moses’ time, to the 1970s. The novel presents history through the eyes of an Neo-hoodoo Afro-centric Vision. It is also important for its fictional portrayal of the figure Sufi Abdul Hamid -- he is important to the study of the African American Labor Movement, Harlem history, and Islam in America.

Congruence to Illinois Standards and Goals:

State Goal 1: Read with Understanding and Fluency

CAS A: Construct and extend meaning from text by synthesizing the content and ideas from literary works dealing with a specific issue or subject.

CFS 3: Recall, paraphrase, and summarize. 4: Explain and verify answers to questions

about reading materials. 5: Maps, graphs, and charts to gain

information. 7: Analyze and synthesize information to

form opinions. 9: Formulate questions and make

predictions.

State Goal 3: Write to communicate for a variety of Purposes.

CAS A: Produce documents and other written works that adhere to standard English conventions.

CFS 1: Use Standard English conventions of grammar, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation.

2: Use precise nouns, vivid verbs, and modifiers, and the active/passive voice appropriately.

CAS B: Write with focus, clarity, organization, elaboration, and coherence in a manner that conveys to the reader a clear understanding and interpretation of ideas and information.

CFS 2: Employ appropriate pre-writing strategies to generate ideas and promote fluency.

5: Write an outline to organize ideas in a clear, coherent, cohesive, and logical manner.

6: Take notes from appropriate sources and cite references.

8: Edit, revise, and proofread all written work.

9: Write about and/or respond to fiction and nonfiction.

10: Keep a journal.

State Goal 4: Listen and Speak Effectively in a Variety of Situations.

CAS A: Listen and respond to formal and informal oral presentations or interactions using active, analytical, and critical listening strategies.

CFS 1: Paraphrase the speakerÕs purpose and viewpoint and ask and answer relevant questions.

3: Evaluate oral presentations according to an established rubric.

Vocabulary and Concepts:

Selim the Algerine: A lower level son of a nobleman from Algiers, North Africa that was taken into slavery by a Spanish slave ship in the Mediterranean after his return from school in Istanbul. He was a slave in New Orleans and escaped from slavery and lived among Native American Nations along the Mississippi. Eventually he made it to Philadelphia where he became known as the Òwildman of ShenandoahÓ. Selim converted to be a Christian and attended the First Continental Congress.

Sufi Abdul Hamid: An African-American leader of the Don’t Buy Where You Cannot Work labor boycotts in Chicago (1928-1930) and Harlem (1930-1938). These events led to many cashiers, janitors, and stock people being hired to work in Woolworth’s and many similar stores. He was also the founder of a labor union (the Negro Clerical League) and the religious groups the Temple of Divine Tranquility (Harlem) and the Ahamidab Church (Chicago).

Malcolm X: A petty criminal from Detroit that joined the Nation Of Islam in the 1940Õs while in prison. This uplifting Black Nationalist organization grew when the self taught Malcolm Smalls X started its newspaper Muhammad Speaks and helped found numerous temples around the United States. He was responsible from bringing the Calypso singer Louis Walcott (later Louis Farrakhan) and the boxer Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali) into the Nation of Islam. After making Hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca in 1964, he converted to Orthodox Sunni Islam. The author Alex Haley set Malcolm life into print after many interviews in the Autobiography of Malcolm X which was published posthumously by Grove Press. Malcolm was assassinated in the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem in Feb.21, 1965

Activities:

Day One: Teacher assigns novels and pass out historical articles to read along with novels. Students preview book. Read cover summary, table of contents, first and last page, and authorÕs biographical sketch (if available). Formulate questions that predict characters actions and plot direction. Group appoints spokesman to present their findings.

Week One to Three:This reading circle will extend over a three week

period. Each student will summarize the historical article, write a paragraph summary of each chapter assigned and keep a reading journal. They will also prepare a book review which will: summarize the novel in one page, list personal highlights and disappointments with novel, and will present character sketches of major characters. The report will also compare the author’s portrayal of characters with their coverage in historical articles read.

Week One:Teacher models journal writings and how to

write article summaries using articles students are not reading but that deal with similar topics. Class works daily in groups or has silent reading time for their articles and novels. Oral presentations on Friday of week’s readings. One minute per student. Turn in daily journals for the week. Historical article summary due.

Week Two: Students discuss novel as a group with a

different group leader, note taker, and questioners each day.

Week Three:Same as week two, but by Wednesday the

groups should be winding down discussion and discussing potential essay questions for a final on Friday. Individual book reviews due the following Monday. Teacher will present rubric to class on Thursday.

Student evaluation:1) Oral presentation on the book.2) Teacher developed test. A different test on

each book. It will be an essay test to allow each student to stress their individuality and to stress the importance of writing. Three to four essay questions. One of the questions will compare an article to the presentation of a figure in one of the novels.

3) Writing assignments. Character sketches. Article summaries.

4) Journal assignments. Daily 12-15 total. These will vary from discussion of a characters action to summaries of chapters. Derived by teacher after the teacher reads each novel.

5) Book reviews as described above.