Close Reading, Allusion and Blissful Ignorance

The media depictions of Dunn and Davis can be very
interesting and revealing of point of view.

I had somehow remained ignorant of the story of the death of Jordan Davis until I saw this brief article by Ta-Nehisi Coates on The Atlantic's website: "On the Killing of Jordan Davis by Michael Dunn". Coates' first person response to the verdict in the trial of Davis' killer is powerful, poetic and was for me impenetrable -- until I did some research.  It's a great example of the power of allusion.

The more research I did the more I appreciated Coates' writing. 10 years ago I would have turned the page and moved on. This morning I started Googling.  Reading has changed.

This is a great resource for teaching our students persistence and close reading skills.

Overview of the case from The Christian Science Monitor website: "The Loud Music Murder Case"