1. JOY CASTRO’S THE TRUTH TRUTHBOOK The Common Reading Initiative The Common Reading Initiative at Mississippi University for Women Fall Semester - 2011

2. The Common Reading Initiative This year M.U.W. is proud to select Joy Castro’s The Truth Book: Escaping a Childhood of Abuse Among Jehovah's Witnesses for the Common Reading Initiative. Ms. Castro will come to campus in October as the CRI author, as a writer-in-residence for the Ina E. Gordy Honors College, and as a guest author for the annual Eudora Welty Writers’ Symposium. The entire MUW campus is encouraged to read and discuss this important book.

3. The Common Reading Initiative What is the Common Reading Initiative? The Common Reading Initiative (CRI) at Mississippi University for Women draws on our rich literary heritage and builds on MUW’s tradition of excellence in teaching to:  Develop intellectual community among students, staff, and faculty outside the traditional classroom,  Foster intellectual curiosity, inquiry, and responsibility among all groups,  Deepen understanding of issues raised in significant books, and  Provide opportunities for faculty, staff, and students to engage socially in meaningful ways.

4. The Common Reading Initiative Joy Castro Dr. Joy Castro Dr. Joy Castro is Associate Professor of English and Ethnic Studies at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. She has a BA from Trinity University, and an MA and PhD from Texas A & M University. Her teaching and writing specialties are in the Memoir, Fiction, U.S. Ethnic Literatures, Women’s Literatures, and Modernism.

5. “[Before I wrote about my life] I had wanted to be an attentive lens, transparent. Perhaps I’d overdone it, becoming invisible altogether. Become colorless, when I’d meant to be clear” (7-8). “Sometimes there may be reasons that a person is reserved. She may be dreaming, for example, of Marrakech, of the riyad, or of intricate prayer towers made by hand…opening to reveal a tiny scroll. We roll things up to protect them. The words rustle against the inner curls of parchment. When forcibly unrolled, they recoil” (10). “I have always known precisely what my barriers kept at bay. But now I wonder what I may have walled in. I see that my silence has kept me safe, but it has kept me lonely. Sometimes you want to leave the jeweled perfection of your privacy, to walk out into the world, among people, with your history on your sleeve. Come what may” (227). Why Castro wrote about her painful childhood in The Truth Book

6. WHAT IS A MEMOIR? “A memoir is a piece of autobiographical writing, usually shorter in nature than a comprehensive autobiography. The memoir…often tries to capture certain highlights or meaningful moments in one's past, often including a contemplation of the meaning of that event at the time of the writing of the memoir. The memoir may be more emotional and concerned with capturing particular scenes, or a series of events, rather than documenting every fact of a person's life” (from Nancy Zuwiyya, “Inkspell”). The Truth Book: a Memoir by Joy Castro

7. WHAT ARE SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MEMOIR? WHAT ARE SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MEMOIR?  It focuses on a short time span or on connected events.  It has a narrative structure, including setting, plot development…, characterization, foreshadowing and flashback.  The writer attempts to understand the purpose of part of her or his life in retrospect.  It can be fictionalized, even though the majority of the story is true.  It has more casual or undocumented reconstruction of history than in autobiography.  It is therapeutic for the memoirist, especially when the memoir is about a childhood crisis or survival. (list paraphrased from Nancy Zuwiyya, “Inkspell”) The Truth Book: a Memoir by Joy Castro

8. A “CULTURE OF CARING” FIRST STEP: Write down the first four or five words or phrases that come to your mind when you hear the phrase “cultural heritage.” For example, some people have written: 1. “FAMILY RECIPES” 2. “BEING PROUD OF WHO I AM” 3. “CONFUSION” Exercises in Thinking, Writing and Sharing

9. A “CULTURE OF CARING” SECOND STEP: When everyone has finished writing, read and explain your notes to your group members. Are there similarities about what makes up one’s “cultural heritage”? Do you share cultural heritages with any of your group members? Describe to your group some other characteristics of your cultural heritage, such as ethnic background, religious beliefs, artistic influences or geographical location. Exercises in Thinking, Writing and Sharing

10. A “CULTURE OF CARING” THIRD STEP: This step is just for yourself, not for sharing. Write down (to keep) for your UN 101 journal:  Two characteristics of your personal cultural heritage which are most important for you to keep strong during your first year;  Two things you will do to help build a “culture of caring” among your peers during your first year, and  Two personal goals you will accomplish by the end of your first year at MUW. Exercises in Thinking, Writing and Sharing

11. PURPOSE: The purpose of the essay contest is to provide MUW students with an opportunity to deepen their understanding of issues raised in Joy Castro’s The Truth Book, to foster intellectual inquiry in written form, and (with the publication of the winning essays on the CRI web site) to develop intellectual community among students, faculty, and staff. See the CRI website or your UN 101 instructor for specific guidelines and deadlines. Common Reading Initiative Essay Contest

12. ESSAY CONTEST TOPICS: 1. At the center of her book are Castro’s relationships with multiple parents. How has either a mother or a father figure profoundly affected your life, for better or for worse? 2. Joy Castro’s personal story is about persistence and achievement against all odds. How do the forces of poverty, race, or family life hinder achievement, and why is it nevertheless important to persist, especially in the pursuit of higher education, despite those challenges? 3. Joy Castro begins and ends her book with a reminder that most people have a story to tell, whether we realize it or not. Is it important to tell our stories, to others, even if they are painful? Why or why not? Common Reading Initiative Essay Contest Common Reading Initiative Essay Contest

13. Common Reading Initiative Essay Contest 2011Judging & Prizes The top THREE essays will be selected by a faculty and staff committee using these criteria:  adherence to contest requirements and essay topics The Truth Book;  connection to Joy Castro’s themes in The Truth Book;  clarity, organization, grammar and mechanics, and  specific details and thoughtfulness. The contest deadline is October 10, 2011, 10 p.m.

14. Common Reading Initiative Essay Contest 2011 Judging & Prizes PRIZES and RECOGNITION: The author of the FIRST PLACE ESSAY will receive a $100 gift certificate from the Bookend The author of the SECOND PLACE ESSAY will receive a $50 gift certificate from Books-A- Million. The author of the THIRD PLACE ESSAY will receive a $25 gift certificate from Books-A- Million. All three award winners will meet with Joy Castro personally, attend the October 20 st “Supper With the Symposium Authors” as special guests, will be recognized during the Eudora Welty Writers’ Symposium and will have their essays published on the CRI website and in other appropriate venues, if available.