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Lesson 1 (from Letters from Prison, On Becoming)

Objective

Eldridge Cleaver was eighteen-years-old in 1954 when the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed segregation. On June 18 of that year, he began a sentence in Folsom Prison for possession of marijuana. Cleaver says it was an important year for him in many ways. Not only did he begin the prison sentence, he became aware of his position as a "black in white America."

The aim of this lesson is to examine how prison changes Cleaver.

Lesson

1) Class discussion. How does prison change Cleaver? What kind of person was he before he was imprisoned? How do the students think prison has helped Cleaver to see life differently? Do the students think that Cleaver has made the most of his time in prison? How much do the students think the change is to do with the Sixties political environment?

2) Ask the students to write two 300-word essays revolving around the...

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