Xala Lesson Plan

What is implied by the sentence, “Yay Bineta, the Badyen, kept discreetly out of sight, all the better to direct events”? What about being invisible makes the Badyen’s work more effective? Where else in today’s reading does Sembène deal with the invisible? Can you think of any systems, structures, or circumstances in the U.S. today in which keeping out of sight furthers one’s goals?

Students might begin by locating the excerpt in the text (paragraph 65) and noting the sentence, later in the paragraph, “Nothing was omitted in the careful process of conditioning the man.” They might pay particular attention to the use of the word “conditioning” and connect this particular...