DCPS ELA 7, Unit II: Warriors Don’t Cry
In Unit II, students read Warriors Don’t Cry, Melba Pattillo Beals’s memoir of her experience as one of the Little Rock Nine, the students who integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957. Students analyze how Beals brings real people to life through vivid details, dialogue, actions, and her own diary entries, and how she, her family, and her classmates are shaped by the courage and hostility they encounter. They examine how Beals’s firsthand perspective and purpose influence which events she includes, how she describes them, and how readers come to understand the people involved, and they compare her account with secondhand sources such as news coverage and historical texts. Through close reading, discussion, and regular writing practice, students apply these techniques in their own personal narratives, presenting real experiences with a clear perspective, meaningful reflection, and well-developed portrayals of the people in their lives.