Tales of the City Research; The 1970's

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The Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco
Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City takes place (setting) in the 1970's in San Francisco. Since we live in Rochester, NY in the 21st century, let's learn a little about the good ol' turbulent 1970's. Start off our tour with an idea of the Russian Hill area of San Francisco. After glimpsing some of this, please take a few minutes to visit a self-guided tour of San Francisco with pictures/details about where the characters lived and how Maupin uses reality and real locations in which to set his story.

Use this website and research key ideas/events in the 1970's. Be ready to share what you researched at the end of Period One. You may select any of the topics from the website (you don't have to research all of them as others will fill you in!)
Use this link: http://www.cnn.com/shows/the-seventies

When you're done with that website, please read/learn about the following topics/links:
Timeline of the Modern Gay Movement:
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0761909.html

Just before Armistead Maupin began publishing his "tales" in the San Francisco Chronicle, Harvey Milk was the first openly gay supervisor. Many people saw him as a pioneer and a symbol of San Francisco as a liberal place to live. After he was elected he was assassinated (like MLK or Gandhi and other symbols of peace and progressive social movements) by a fellow supervisor. Learn about Harvey Milk at the link and also here: http://www.biography.com/people/harvey-milk-9408170

Other important infamous figures at the time were The Zodiac Killer and Jim Jones. Learn about Jones and the tragedy at Jonestown here: http://www.biography.com/people/jim-jones-10367607

After researching these topics, please complete the following task for other key events in the 1970's:

TASK: Surf the internet and find key and/or important cultural and historical events (apart from those listed above) that occurred during the 1970's. For example: what's going on in politics, religion, education, technology, fashion, food trends, films & music, social movements (feminism, civil rights, etc.)

  • Be prepared to discuss some of these things together either at the end of class or next class.
  • Use what you learn to set a short story here in the 70's or a script, a scene, a vignette, a poem, or any other kind of writing.
  • Or continue working on your portfolio pieces. The portfolio will be due January 21. 

HOMEWORK: Read Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City. Complete the character directory (see handout). Upcoming events include: various writing contests and the Playwrights' Festival--24 'hour' Play Festival. Save the date: Jan. 19-22 (right after MLK Jr. Day). 

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