Kaczur 1 Sarah Kaczur L408 Dr. Carter Book Rationale ... - Oncourse

Kaczur 17oversimplification.* Minority characters are shown as leaders within their community able to solve their ownproblems. Cultural minorities do not play a supporting or subservient role while whites are seenas possessing all the power.Substantiating cultural authenticityCultural authenticity--the accuracy of the language, customs, values, and history of the culture--can be difficult, if not impossible, to determine if one is not familiar with the culture depicted.For instance, I do not know enough about the cultural differences among Native Americanpeoples to determine if a writer is accurately depicting a specific group, or if there areinaccuracies that someone more knowledgeable would recognize. Therefore, it is important tohave a means of substantiating a book's cultural authenticity.Determining the author's credentials to write from the perspective of a culture is one way toascertain a book's cultural authenticity. The question to ask is "What qualifies the author to writeabout this culture?" If the author is not a member of the culture being depicted, does the authorhave a background to qualify as an accepted representative? There is debate over whether onlyauthors from a culture are qualified to write about that culture. This question is deceptivelysimple, with responses too complex and full of nuances to address here. As a general rule, a bookwritten by an author with an emic--insider--perspective is likely to be culturally authentic; a bookwritten from an etic--outsider--perspective may or may not be culturally authentic. JacquelineWoodson, an award-winning African American writer, addressed this topic of people writingoutside of their experiences, by stating,My hope is that those who write about the tears and the laughter and the language in mygrandmother's house have first sat down at the table with us and dipped the bread of their ownexperiences into our stew. (1998, p. 38)When I am unsure of the cultural authenticity of a book, there are two important categories ofvaluable information that I search: (1) specific cultural awards, and (2) websites devoted toindividual cultures.When looking for appropriate books that feature a specific culture, a good place to look are theawards for books from that culture. If a book received an award or is on the list of honor booksfor the award, there is little doubt that it is culturally authentic. Following are major awards witha few award-winning examples specifically appropriate for middle school students.* Coretta Scott King Award (African American)* Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis (2000)* Forged by Fire by Sharon Draper (1998)* Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson (2003)* The Pura Belpr Award (Latino/Latina)* Esperanza Rising by Pam Mu oz Ryan (2002)* Cuba 15 by Nancy Osa (2003)* Tom s Rivera Award (Mexican American)* My Land Sings: Stories from the Rio Grande by Rudolfo Anaya (1999)* Breaking Through by Francisco Jimenez (2001)* Sydney Taylor Award (Jewish)* The Night Journey by Kathryn Lasky (1981)* Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli (2003)