Contemporary American Authors: From Style to Theme By Jill Suskind English Language Arts/Grade 11 Note: This unit is designed for Honors level English 11, but can be modified for other levels.
To enhance students’ ability to identify, articulate, and analyze theme as a function of style, students will develop analytical skills to explore, recognize, and understand the unique characteristics of American literature and the effect of author’s craft on content. This unit will teach students the elements of style and provide opportunity to explore prevalent themes of American literature. This unit is estimated to take approximately 4-6 weeks. This unit is designed for use with supplementary texts from the bookroom.
Stage 1 Desired Results ESTABLISHED GOALS
G
G1: RL2: Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text. G2: RL1: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain. G3: SL1: Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 11–12 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively. a. Come to discussions prepared, having read and researched material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence from texts and other research on the topic or issue to stimulate a thoughtful, wellreasoned exchange of ideas.
Transfer T Students will be able to independently use their learning to… T1. Read and comprehend a range of increasingly complex texts and media written for various purposes and audiences T2. Identify theme of a variety of texts through guided peer-led discussions and textual analysis of style, context, and plot. T3. Identify what the text says explicitly and implicitly. T4. Make inferences about a text. Meaning UNDERSTANDINGS U U ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS Q Students will understand that… Q1. How do style, context, and plot shape the U1. Writers and speakers use rhetorical message/theme? tools to convey theme. Q2. How does textual analysis provoke thinking U2. Every skilled writer uses style and response? intentionally. Q3. What do American authors say about the U3. Style analysis can reveal theme. search for identity? U4. American authors write from many different perspectives that share thematic commonalities. U5. Literature helps us to understand the human condition.
Q4. What do American authors say about the human condition/spirit? Q5. What do American authors say about the American Dream?
b. Work with peers to promote civil, democratic discussions and decision-making, set clear goals and deadlines, and establish individual roles as needed. c. Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that probe reasoning and evidence; ensure a hearing for a full range of positions on a topic or issue; clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions; and promote divergent and creative perspectives. d. Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives; synthesize comments, claims, and evidence made on all sides of an issue; resolve contradictions when possible; and determine what additional information or research is required to deepen the investigation or complete the task. G4: RI. 11-12.6: Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is particularly effective, analyzing how style and content contribute to the power, persuasiveness, or beauty of the text.
Q6. What do American authors say about freedom and responsibility? Q7. What do American authors say about evil and where it is found? Acquisition Students will know… K K Students will be skilled at… S S1. Reading actively and annotating a text. K1. The four elements of style: diction, S2. Connecting author’s choices in syntax, imagery, syntax, and figurative language. diction, imagery, and figurative language to tone and theme. K2. Predominant themes in American literature. S3. Accurately citing author and page number. (MLA formatting) S4. Writing a mimic paragraph on an original topic following the author’s syntax. S5.Analyzing how character analysis reveals theme. S6. Asking and answering clarifying and openended questions S7. Conducting and participating in small and large group discussions based on literature and non-fiction according to agreed-upon rules. S8. Preparing for productive discussion using notes and reader’s notebook
S9. Keeping conversations moving; finding answers without the teacher; using specific passages as starting place for discussion
Stage 2 - Evidence Evaluative Criteria • A facilitating remark that moves the discussion forward • An insightful question that makes the group think more deeply • A comment that extends or supports (with evidence) an idea being discussed • A comment that connects the previous contribution to a big idea • A comment that takes the group in a new, productive direction • A comment that respectfully disagrees or challenges a point • A comment that shows insightful thinking about the text • A comment that brings the group back to the text
Assessment Evidence I. CURRICULUM EMBEDDED PERFOMANCE ASSESSMENT (PERFORMANCE TASKS)PT Literary Cultural Anthropologists Convention (Student-led Discussion) Is America experiencing in a mid-life crisis, or are we clear about our identity? Goal: Using the literary works you have read in your groups and as a class, interpret our books’ authors’ characters and how they represent American values. Through student-led discussion, identify the American identity as a combination (synthesis) of the predominant features of the characters in these books, as portrayed by the authors. Situation: Many people in American and around the world have stereotypical impressions of Americans today. As a group of literary cultural anthropologists at the annual Literary Cultural Anthropologists Convention, your expertise is in gathering evidence and drawing conclusions about groups and their cultural development. Product Performance and Purpose: At this convention, your task is to use American literature to confirm or dispel these stereotypes by discussing the characters in the literary works you have read in your book groups and as a class. Through this discussion, some common characteristics and values of Americans will begin to emerge. As a group, your task is to compose 2-3 sentences that describe the American identity today more accurately than the stereotypes, using the literary works you have studied. The purpose of these sentences is to be able to share your conclusions with other literary anthropologists who were not able to attend the convention. Standards and Criteria for Success: All convention members must participate in the discussion at least three times. In Step 3, all comments must be based on the literary works at hand. Only the Secretary needs to turn in a set of notes for the group. Every group member must turn in a Student-Led Discussion Contribution Rubric completed by a partner. Step 1: With your group, discuss, identify, and list in the space below the positive and negative stereotypes of Americans
that people around the world hold. Draw on your personal experience to participate in this part of the discussion. Be sure the whole group agrees with each item on the list. Step 2: Discuss this list and consider each item. Share with the group the qualities, priorities, values, practices of the main characters of your books. Then evaluate the accuracy of the list, item by item, in consideration of the literary works you have read for this task. Be sure to leave your own views and experiences OUT of this part of the discussion. Step 3: With the group, compose 2-3 sentences that describe Americans today more accurately than the stereotype. As synthesis of the characters of the books we have studied—their values, priorities, choices, and practices, we can say that these authors together express the predominant features the American identity
Journal: Sustained writing for 20 minutes on the topic. Poster: Complete work, visual appeal, creative images from a variety of sources that portray Americans and our values, practices, and desires.
OTHER EVIDENCE: II. •
OE
Hook Activity: Journal Writing Assignment and Poster
Sustained, Timed Writing Assignment—20 minutes Choose one of the themes from the list. Write your thoughts about this theme.
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Project: Who is an American? Create a poster that portrays Americans. Who are we? What do we do? What is important to us? Who are our heroes? What do we look like? What do we desire? What do we admire?
III.
Three Main Activities to be Used for Every Book: Analyzing Style and Rhetorical Appeal to Reveal Theme *These activities will be used with every book, divided into thirds. MHS ELA rubric: Marking up the text MHS Rubric: Open Response
**These activities can also be used as teacher-directed lessons with core texts and other supplementary texts, including poetry, speeches, articles, and plays. Activity #1: Applying What You’ve Learned: Diction and Imagery Excerpt chosen by students from their Book Group Book (1 st third of the book)
With their book groups, students will • Select and annotate passage meaningfully for diction and imagery. • Write three paragraphs that connect context, diction, and imagery to meaning. • Discuss predominant themes of American literature and speculate on the author’s purpose related to these themes. Activity #2: Applying What You’ve Learned: Figurative Language and Syntax Excerpt chosen by students from their Book Group Book (2nd third of the book) With their book groups, students will • Select and annotate passage meaningfully for figurative language and syntax. • Write three paragraphs that connect context, figurative language and syntax to meaning. • Discuss predominant themes of American literature and speculate on the author’s purpose related to these themes. Activity #3: Applying What You’ve Learned: Theme and Rhetorical Appeal Excerpt chosen by students from their Book Group Book (3rd third of the book)
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Check for criteria-based performance (self-, partner-, teacher-assessed) Informal quizzes to check for understanding
With their book groups, students will • Write a theme statement about their book • Write a well-developed paragraph explaining the predominant rhetorical appeal of the book.
IV.
The unit is further supported with a directed, planned Do Now program based on syntax structures (definitions and models) and mimic sentence composition.
Do Now’s: Introducing Elements of Syntax
V. These activities are varied and include a wide-range of evaluative criteria, primarily:
The unit also includes a variety of mini-lessons designed to support skill-development in textual analysis, thematic analysis, and style analysis. These activities support the ongoing development of skills and academic growth during the course of the year.
Mini-Lessons: Teacher-directed skill-development lessons
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Tests: accuracy Paragraphs: Openresponse Rubric Student-led discussion: SLD Rubric
Connecting Rhetorical Choices to Meaning: Diction and Imagery Mini-Lesson #1: Excerpt from By the Waters of Babylon by Stephen Vincent Benet
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(Timed writing) Write a well-developed paragraph analyzing how diction and imagery illustrate a speaker’s tone. Mini-Lesson #2: Excerpt from The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
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Compose an organized, well-developed paragraph that uses given examples to illustrate one controlling idea that connects diction to tone.
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Compose an organized, well-developed paragraph that uses the given examples to illustrate one controlling idea that connects imagery to tone. Mini-Lesson #3: Excerpt from The Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher by Lewis Thomas • Compose an organized, well-developed paragraph that uses given examples to illustrate one controlling idea that connects diction to tone.
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Compose an organized, well-developed paragraph that uses the given examples to illustrate one controlling idea that connects imagery to tone. Connecting Figurative Language and Syntax to Meaning Mini-lesson #4: Figurative Language Terms, Definitions, and Examples Part 1: Figurative Language Internet Treasure Hunt Part 2: Figurative Language Group Competition Mini-lesson #5: Excerpt from By the Waters of Babylon by Stephen Vincent Benet Revisit lesson, complete activities related to figurative language Mini-lesson #6: Laying the Foundation Lesson Identifying and Writing Loose and Periodic Sentences Mini-lesson #7: Excerpt from The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver Modeling Connecting Figurative Language and Syntax to Meaning
Practice writing analysis paragraphs Mini-Lesson #8: Excerpt from The Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher by Lewis Thomas Modeling Connecting Figurative Language and Syntax to Meaning Practice writing analysis paragraphs Mini-Lesson #9: Syntax Notes and Directions for Analysis Applying What You’ve Learned: Independent Reading Assignment #2
Stage 3 Learning Plan Summary of Key Learning Events and Instruction Overview: This UbD unit is designed for 11th grade Honors students, and it can be modified for College Prep, as well. The intention is that it will be repeated several times during the year, allowing for students’ increased mastery of the skills and understandings with each cycle. Texts: The unit is to be used with literary works by American authors. The unit can be used with books, speeches, poems, and articles. (In this explanation, “book” will be used with this understanding. •
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas by Frederick Douglas •
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
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Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
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A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Husseini
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Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
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The Kitchen God’s Wife by Amy Tan
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Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Alexie Sherman
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Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons
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Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
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Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier (We watch the movie.)
Procedure: Students are set up in small learning groups of 3-5 members. For the first cycle, each group is given a book, and each group is reading a different book than the other groups. When the class completes a cycle, books are rotated through the groups and the unit is repeated. By the end of the year, all students have read several books, and some groups have read the same books. This allows for class discussions to be infused with comments and insights from a wider variety of books than any one student has read. Skills and Competencies: Each cycle covers four areas of skill development: 1. Grammar and Sentence Variety 2. Analyzing Author’s Style (Diction, Syntax, Figurative Language, and Imagery) 3. Analyzing Rhetorical Appeals 4. Analyzing Themes (predominant in American literature) Lesson Types: There are four types of lessons repeated during each cycle. 1. Do Now’s: Provide opportunity for students to learn grammar terms, see examples, practice employing these grammatical structures (mimic sentences), and gain independence with these skills through informal quizzes.
2. Mini-lessons: Provide opportunities for students to develop skills in teacher-directed lessons 3. Book Group lessons: Provide opportunities for students to practice skills with the support of their group 4. Socratic Seminar: Provide opportunities for students to apply skills independently in a larger context through participation in a large group discussion.
Lesson Descriptions: 1.
Hook Activity:
Introduction to themes of American Literature with journal writing task
Introduction to the unit (beginning of the year)
Project: Make a found-image poster that illustrates Americans-Who are we? What do we admire? What are our values? What are our ideals? What are our habits and practices? This set of Do Now activities introduces the following sentence structures and provides opportunities for students to identify, mimic, and analyze their effect on meaning and tone. • Telegraphic sentences • Simple, compound, complex, compound-complex sentences • Loose, periodic sentences • Polysyndeton, asyndeton Connecting Rhetorical Choices to Meaning: Introduction to analysis of diction and imagery More Practice: Analysis of diction and imagery
2. Cycle 1
Do Now’s
3.
Mini-lesson #1
4.
Mini-lesson #2:
5.
Book Group Activity #1
6.
Mini-Lesson #3
Independent Reading: Applying What You’ve Learned Book Group Book Work Assignment #1: Connecting Rhetorical Choices to Meaning: Diction and Imagery Mini-Lesson #3: Figurative Language and Syntax
7.
Mini-lesson #4
Part 1: Figurative Language Internet Treasure Hunt Part 2: Group Competition Connecting Rhetorical Choices to Meaning: Analyzing Figurative Language and Syntax
8.
Mini-lesson #5
Introduction to Loose and Periodic Sentences
9.
Mini-lesson #6
Practice Analyzing Figurative Language and Syntax
10.
Mini-lesson #7
Syntax Notes and Directions for Analysis
11.
Book Group Activity #2
12.
Book Group Activity #3
13.
Socratic Seminar: Performance Task
14.Cycle 2
Do Now’s
Independent Reading: Applying What You’ve Learned Book Group Book Work Assignment #2: Connecting Rhetorical Choices to Meaning: Figurative Language and Syntax Independent Reading: Assignment #3 Theme and Rhetorical Appeal Independent Reading Performance Task Literary Cultural Anthropologists Convention (Student-led Discussion) Is America experiencing in a mid-life crisis, or are we clear about our identity? Focus: Group A: Identity and Group B: Human Condition/Spirit This set of Do Now activities introduces the following sentence structures and provides opportunities for students to identify, mimic, and analyze their effect on meaning and tone.
15.
Mini-lesson #100
16.
Book Group Activity #1
• absolute • participle • prepositional Practice Analysis of Diction and Imagery Independent Reading: Applying What You’ve Learned Book Group Book Work
17.
Mini-Lesson #3
Assignment #1: Connecting Rhetorical Choices to Meaning: Diction and Imagery Practice Analysis of Figurative Language and Syntax
18.
Mini-lesson #4
Syntax Notes and Directions for Analysis
19.
Book Group Activity #2
20.
Book Group Activity #3
21.
Socratic Seminar: Performance Task
Independent Reading: Applying What You’ve Learned Book Group Book Work Assignment #2: Connecting Rhetorical Choices to Meaning: Figurative Language and Syntax Independent Reading: Assignment #3 Theme and Rhetorical Appeal Independent Reading Performance Task Literary Cultural Anthropologists Convention (Student-led Discussion) Is America experiencing in a mid-life crisis, or are we clear about our identity? Focus: The American Dream vs. The American Nightmare
22.Cycle 3
Do Now’s
This set of Do Now activities introduces the following sentence structures and provides opportunities for students to identify, mimic, and analyze their effect on meaning and tone. • •
gerund infinitive
23.
Mini-lesson #1
TBD
24.
Mini-lesson #2:
TBD
25.
Book Group Activity #1
26.
Mini-Lesson #3
Independent Reading: Applying What You’ve Learned Book Group Book Work Assignment #1: Connecting Rhetorical Choices to Meaning: Diction and Imagery TBD
27.
Mini-lesson #4
TBD
28.
Book Group Activity #2
29.
Mini-lesson #5
30.
Book Group Activity #3
31.
Socratic Seminar: Performance Task
32.Cycle 4
Do Now’s
Independent Reading: Applying What You’ve Learned Book Group Book Work Assignment #2: Connecting Rhetorical Choices to Meaning: Figurative Language and Syntax TBD Independent Reading: Assignment #3 Theme and Rhetorical Appeal Independent Reading Performance Task Literary Cultural Anthropologists Convention (Student-led Discussion) Is America experiencing in a mid-life crisis, or are we clear about our identity? Focus: Freedom and Responsibility
This set of Do Now activities introduces the following sentence structures and provides opportunities for students to identify, mimic, and analyze their effect on meaning and tone. • • • •
Rhetorical question Parallel structure Rhetorical fragment Anaphora
33.
Mini-lesson #1
TBD
34.
Mini-lesson #2:
TBD
35.
Book Group Activity #1
36.
Mini-Lesson #3
Independent Reading: Applying What You’ve Learned Book Group Book Work Assignment #1: Connecting Rhetorical Choices to Meaning: Diction and Imagery TBD
37.
Mini-lesson #4
TBD
38.
Book Group Activity #2
39.
Mini-lesson #5
40.
Book Group Activity #3
41.
Socratic Seminar: Performance Task
42.Cycle 5
Do Now’s
Independent Reading: Applying What You’ve Learned Book Group Book Work Assignment #2: Connecting Rhetorical Choices to Meaning: Figurative Language and Syntax TBD Independent Reading: Assignment #3 Theme and Rhetorical Appeal Independent Reading Performance Task Literary Cultural Anthropologists Convention (Student-led Discussion) Is America experiencing in a mid-life crisis, or are we clear about our identity? Focus: Good and Evil
This set of Do Now activities introduces the following sentence structures and provides opportunities for students to identify, mimic, and analyze their effect on meaning and tone. • • • • • •
Ellipses Dash Semicolon Italics Capitalization Exclamation point
43.
Mini-lesson #1
TBD
44.
Mini-lesson #2:
TBD
45.
Book Group Activity #1
46.
Mini-Lesson #3
Independent Reading: Applying What You’ve Learned Book Group Book Work Assignment #1: Connecting Rhetorical Choices to Meaning: Diction and Imagery TBD
47.
Mini-lesson #4
TBD
48.
Book Group Activity #2
49.
Mini-lesson #5
Independent Reading: Applying What You’ve Learned Book Group Book Work Assignment #2: Connecting Rhetorical Choices to Meaning: Figurative Language and Syntax TBD
50.
Book Group Activity #3
51.
Socratic Seminar: Performance Task
Independent Reading: Assignment #3 Theme and Rhetorical Appeal Independent Reading Performance Task Literary Cultural Anthropologists Convention (Student-led Discussion) Is America experiencing in a mid-life crisis, or are we clear about our identity? Focus: The personal message behind it all; How has our study informed us, helped us clarify our own goals and values, and enhanced the value of literature in our personal lives?