NYS Common Core ELA & Literacy Curriculum Grade 12 Literary Criticism Module Lesson 27

Transcription

1 12 LC Lessn 27 Intrductin In this lessn, students read and analyze pages f Myth as Structure in Tni Mrrisn s Sng f Slmn by A. Leslie Harris (frm In Sng f Slmn Tni Mrrisn has faced the tale-spinner s recurring prblem t carry much f the burden f the myth ), in which A. Leslie Harris presents the cncept f mythlgy as a central structural supprt fr Sng f Slmn. Students participate in a discussin f Milkman s jurney in the cntext f ther mythical figures befre independently explring hw the literary criticism relates t prir analysis f existing unanswered questins. Student learning is assessed via a Quick Write at the end f the lessn: Chse a sentence frm pages f Myth as Structure in Tni Mrrisn s Sng f Slmn and analyze hw the sentence relates t the nvel s characters, central ideas, r structure. Fr hmewrk, students read pages f Myth as Structure in Tni Mrrisn s Sng f Slmn and anntate fr hw the article relates t their 12 LC Secnd Interim Assessment respnses. Als, students cnduct a brief search int the flight f Daedalus and Icarus. 1

2 Standards Assessed Standard(s) CCRA.R.9 RI Analyze hw tw r mre texts address similar themes r tpics in rder t build knwledge r t cmpare the appraches the authrs take. Cite strng and thrugh textual evidence t supprt analysis f what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn frm the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain. Addressed Standard(s) W a, b L a, b Draw evidence frm literary r infrmatinal texts t supprt analysis, reflectin, and research. a. Apply grades Reading standards t literature (e.g., Demnstrate knwledge f eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century fundatinal wrks f American literature, including hw tw r mre texts frm the same perid treat similar themes r tpics ). b. Apply grades Reading standards t literary nnfictin (e.g., Delineate and evaluate the reasning in seminal U.S. texts, including the applicatin f cnstitutinal principles and use f legal reasning [e.g., in U.S. Supreme Curt Case majrity pinins and dissents] and the premises, purpses, and arguments in wrks f public advcacy [e.g., The Federalist, presidential addresses] ). Determine r clarify the meaning f unknwn and multiple-meaning wrds and phrases based n grades reading and cntent, chsing flexibly frm a range f strategies. a. Use cntext (e.g., the verall meaning f a sentence, paragraph, r text; a wrd s psitin r functin in a sentence) as a clue t the meaning f a wrd r phrase. b. Identify and crrectly use patterns f wrd changes that indicate different meanings r parts f speech (e.g., cnceive, cnceptin, cnceivable). Assessment 2

3 Assessment(s) Student learning is assessed via a Quick Write at the end f the lessn. Students respnd t the fllwing prmpt, citing textual evidence t supprt analysis and inferences drawn frm the text. Chse a sentence frm pages f Myth as Structure in Tni Mrrisn s Sng f Slmn and analyze hw the sentence relates t the nvel s characters, central ideas, r structure. High Perfrmance Respnse(s) A High Perfrmance Respnse shuld: Identify a sentence frm pages f Myth as Structure in Tni Mrrisn s Sng f Slmn (e.g., If we fllw Mrrisn s lead and cncentrate n the grwth f Macn Dead, knwn as Milkman because his mther nursed him t lng, we find that her nvel is chesive, fllwing the clear pattern f birth and yuth, alienatin, quest, cnfrntatin, and reintegratin cmmn t mythic heres as disparate as Mses, Achilles, and Bewulf. (Harris, p. 70)). Analyze hw this sentence relates t the nvel s characters, central ideas, r structure (e.g., In this sentence, Harris presents Milkman s stry as a her s jurney frm birth and yuth, alienatin, quest, cnfrntatin, and reintegratin (Harris, p. 70). As Milkman s character develps ver the curse f the text, he passes thrugh each stage f the her s jurney. Thrughut his yuth and yung adulthd, Milkman is alienated frm all thse arund him as evidenced by Guitar s cmment, Yu dn t live nwhere. Nt Nt Dctr Street r Suthside (Mrrisn, p. 103). Milkman embarks n his quest, a jurney that he wanted t d n his wn with n input frm anybdy (Mrrisn, p. 220), which further emphasizes his heric alienatin. Finally, Milkman is reintegrate[ed] (Harris, p. 70) with his cmmunity f ancestrs by deciphering the sng that tells the histry f his family, which makes him as eager and happy as he had ever been in his life (Mrrisn, p. 304). Thrughut the nvel, Mrrisn develps Milkman s character accrding t the her s jurney as Harris defines it in Myth as Structure in Tni Mrrisn s Sng f Slmn. ). Vcabulary 3

4 Vcabulary t prvide directly (will nt include extended instructin) perceptual (adj.) f, relating t, r invlving apprehending by means f the senses r f the mind mythpesis (n.) the cmpsitin r making f myths pervasive (adj.) spread thrughut assimilatin (n.) the act f adpting (smething) as part f a larger thing Vcabulary t teach (may include direct wrd wrk and/r questins) inexplicable (adj.) incapable f being accunted fr r explained Additinal vcabulary t supprt English Language Learners (t prvide directly) myth (n.) a stry that was tld in an ancient culture t explain a practice, belief, r natural ccurrence presuppses (v.) t be based n the idea that smething is true r will happen cmmended (v.) praised (smene r smething) in a serius and ften public way chrnlgy (n.) the sequential rder in which past events ccur apprximatin (n.) smething that is similar t smething else litering (v.) remaining in an area when yu d nt have a particular reasn t be there genealgy (n.) the study f family histry Lessn Agenda/Overview 4

5 Student-Facing Agenda % f Lessn Standards & Text: Standards: CCRA.R.9, RI , W a, b, L a, b Text: Myth as Structure in Tni Mrrisn s Sng f Slmn by A. Leslie Harris, pages Learning Sequence: 1. Intrductin f Lessn Agenda 2. Hmewrk Accuntability 3. Reading and Discussin 4. Quick Write 5. Clsing 1. 5% 2. 10% 3. 55% 4. 25% 5. 5% Materials Student cpies f the Shrt Respnse Rubric and Checklist (refer t 12 LC Lessn 1) (ptinal) Learning Sequence Hw t Use the Learning Sequence Symb l Type f Text & Interpretatin f the Symbl 10% Percentage indicates the percentage f lessn time each activity shuld take. n symbl Plain text indicates teacher actin. Bld text indicates questins fr the teacher t ask students. Italicized text indicates a vcabulary wrd.! Indicates student actin(s). " Indicates pssible student respnse(s) t teacher questins. # Indicates instructinal ntes fr the teacher. Activity 1: Intrductin f Lessn Agenda 5% 5

6 Begin by reviewing the agenda and the assessed standards fr this lessn: CCRA.R.9 and RI In this lessn, students read pages f Myth as Structure in Tni Mrrisn s Sng f Slmn by A. Leslie Harris, engaging in a discussin f Milkman s jurney in the cntext f ther mythical figures befre independently explring hw the literary criticism relates t prir analysis f existing unanswered questins. Students lk at the agenda. Activity 2: Hmewrk Accuntability 10% Instruct students t take ut their respnses t the first part f the previus lessn s hmewrk assignment. (Respnd briefly in writing t the fllwing prmpt: T what extent is mercy a central idea f Sng f Slmn?) Instruct students t frm pairs and discuss their respnses. Student respnses may include: Mercy appears as a central idea early in the text with the descriptin f N Mercy Hspital (p. 4). The hspital des nt admit African-American patients until Milkman s birth, s the building stands as a reminder f the lack f mercy that African Americans receive thrughut the text. Mrrisn uses Mercy Hspital as backdrp in imprtant mments in the text t reinfrce the merciless sciety that lms ver characters in the text. Fr example, when Macn tells the stry f the gld, Milkman and Macn met in the little public park acrss the street frm Mercy Hspital (p. 164), a setting that emphasizes the desperatin the men have t get the gld and escape their scial status. Mercy appears in the text ften in relatin t trubled characters f the stry. Frequent exclamatins f mercy such as Prter s cry f Gd have mercy. What I m gnna d? (p. 26) reflect the struggles f the characters t find cmpassin and kindness. Pilate exclaims, I want mercy! (p. 317) at Hagar s funeral, asking fr cmpassin fr herself and her granddaughter. Students will be held accuntable fr the anntatins that they made fr hmewrk during Activity 3: Reading and Discussin. Activity 3: Reading and Discussin 55% 6

7 Instruct students t frm small grups. Pst r prject each set f questins belw fr students t discuss. Instruct students t cntinue t anntate the text as they read and discuss (W a, b). Differentiatin Cnsideratin: Cnsider psting r prjecting the fllwing guiding questin t supprt students thrughut this lessn: Hw is Milkman s jurney t the suth similar t jurneys f ther mythic peple? Instruct students t read pages f Myth as Structure in Tni Mrrisn s Sng f Slmn (frm In Sng f Slmn Tni Mrrisn has faced the tale-spinner s recurring prblem t t infrm and cntrl her narrative structure ) and discuss the fllwing questins in grups befre sharing ut with the class. Prvide students with the definitins f perceptual, mythpesis, and pervasive. Students may be familiar with sme f these wrds. Cnsider asking students t vlunteer definitins befre prviding them t the grup. Students write the definitins f perceptual, mythpesis, and pervasive n their cpies f the text r in a vcabulary jurnal. Differentiatin Cnsideratin: Cnsider prviding students with the definitins f myth and presuppses. Students write the definitins f myth and presuppses n their cpies f the text r in a vcabulary jurnal. What challenge des Harris say Mrrisn faced (p. 69)? Hw des Harris say Mrrisn vercame this challenge? Student respnses shuld include: Harris states that Mrrisn faced the tale-spinner s recurring prblem, namely the challenge f making characters universally accessible s that readers understand her characters backgrund r experiences (p. 69). Mrrisn had t prvide enugh infrmatin t readers wh had n knwledge f American racial plitics t ensure the readers culd understand Milkman, r ne black man s struggle fr identity (p. 69). Harris argues that Mrrisn s success is because f her use f myth t shw man s cnstant search fr reassurance in myths (p. 69). Harris suggests that Mrrisn engages readers in Sng f Slmn by placing Milkman in his wn mythic tale. The mythic structure f Milkman s jurney allws readers t better cnnect 7

8 t the stry that Mrrisn tells, because readers are already familiar with hw a myth unflds. What des Harris present as the functin f myth? Harris states that accrding t Mircea Eliade, myth is sacred histry andthe gal f myth is t explain the rigins, destiny, and cultural cncerns f a peple (p. 69). Even in an age f scientific fact, Harris claims that peple depend n myth fr mre than entertainment and that peple are still drawn t myths, heres, and supernatural cnflicts (p. 69). Myths serve as agents f stability that answer the enduring questins f the wrld (p. 69). Peple cnnect t mythic stries in rder t explain the mysteries f the wrld and t give meaning t the struggles f humankind. Differentiatin Cnsideratin: If students struggle, cnsider psing the fllwing scafflding questins: Hw des the idea that peple have always turned t myth t explain the inexplicable (p. 69) clarify the meaning f the wrd inexplicable? (L a) What wrd parts in the wrd inexplicable cnfirm this meaning? (L b) Accrding t Harris, peple use myths t explain what is difficult t explain, s the wrd inexplicable must mean difficult t explain. The wrd parts in-, which means nt, explic-, which lks like explain, and -able, which means capable f, cnfirm that the wrd inexplicable means nt able t be explained. Hw des Harris describe the type f myth structure Mrrisn uses? Harris states that Mrrisn selects ne f the ldest and mst pervasive mythic themes, the her and his quest, t infrm and cntrl her narrative structure (p. 70). In Harris s pinin, Mrrisn structures the nvel twards and arund Milkman s heric jurney and persnal grwth. Lead a brief whle-class discussin f student respnses. Instruct students t read pages f Myth as Structure in Tni Mrrisn s Sng f Slmn (frm In Sng f Slmn Mrrisn creates a wrld bth realistic and dreamlike t carry much f the burden f the myth ) and discuss the fllwing questins in grups befre sharing ut with the class. Prvide students with the definitin f assimilatin. 8

9 Students may be familiar with this wrd. Cnsider asking students t vlunteer a definitin befre prviding ne t the grup. Students write the definitin f assimilatin n their cpies f the text r in a vcabulary jurnal. Differentiatin Cnsideratin: Cnsider prviding students with the definitins f cmmended, chrnlgy, apprximatin, litering, and genealgy. Students write the definitins f fr cmmended, chrnlgy, apprximatin, litering, and genealgy n their cpies f the text r in a vcabulary jurnal. Differentiatin Cnsideratin: Cnsider prviding students with the fllwing infrmatin n Mses, Achilles, and Bewulf. Mses the Hebrew prphet wh led the Israelites ut f Egypt and delivered the Law during their years f wandering in the wilderness Achilles the greatest Greek warrir in the Trjan War and her f Hmer's Iliad; He killed Hectr and was killed when Paris wunded him in the heel, his ne vulnerable spt, with an arrw Bewulf a legendary Geatish warrir and her f the Old English pem Bewulf Hw des Milkman s transitin int adulthd cnnect t the idea f a mythic her[] (p. 70)? Student respnses may include: Milkman s final transitin int adulthd ends with Milkman accepting his bligatins t his family and cmmunity. Harris argues that by the end f the nvel [Milkman] knws himself and his bligatins t bth present and past, t himself and his wrld (p. 70). Milkman s final transitin is the reintegratin prtin f the mythic chrnlgy (p. 70) as described by Harris. This acceptance f his cmmunity and his bligatin t the peple arund him cnfirms Milkman as a heric character. Harris argues that the her s quest ends with the her becming an agent f the scial cnsciusness (p. 70), an individual wh is cnnected t the cmmunity. Mrrisn uses Milkman s grwing cnnectin t the peple f Shalimar t illustrate his grwing external cherence (p. 70) r cnnectin t the larger scial cmmunity. By building his cnnectins and relatinships with his cmmunity and family, Milkman fulfills his heric bligatins t bth present and past, t himself and his wrld (p. 70). Hw des the structure f Sng f Slmn cmpare t the structure f myths? 9

10 Harris claims that Mrrisn uses myth t underpin [the] narrative (p. 69) thrughut Sng f Slmn. Milkman s stry [fllws] the clear pattern f birth and yuth, alienatin, quest, cnfrntatin, and reintegratin cmmn t mythic heres (p. 70). Milkman s jurney takes him frm a cmfrtable but litering and wasted life (p. 70) in Part 1 f Sng f Slmn thrugh a quest and cnfrntatin in Part 2. Harris argues that Milkman gains nt nly psychlgical and physical maturatin but an apprximatin f the develpment f a true her (p. 70). Mrrisn makes Milkman s stry understandable and pwerful by structuring it like a her s myth. Hw des Milkman s character develpment thrughut Sng f Slmn relate t the idea f mythic structure? Harris states that Milkman s stry in Sng f Slmn fllws a clear pattern f quest, cnfrntatin, and reintegratin cmmn t mythic heres (p. 70). Like ther mythic heres, Milkman ges n a quest fr gld, cnfrnts himself and Guitar in the wds f Virginia, and is reintegrated int the cmmunity f Shalimar and his family cmmunity in Michigan. Hw des the ending f Sng f Slmn reflect the structure f myth? Harris states that the final scene between Milkman and Guitar is Milkman's emergence as a champin wh understands and will defend his wrld (p. 71). As he cannt return a her until he defeats the enemy (p. 71), Milkman becmes a her by leaping tward Guitar. Milkman s mythic jurney is cmplete even if the reader never discvers his fate, as the final battle is bth a cnfrntatin and a cnfirmatin (p. 71) f Milkman s persnal grwth and heric nature. What des Harris identify as the rt f the Sng f Slmn s textual richness (p. 71)? Hw is this richness cnnected t the idea f myth? Student respnses may include: The textual richness f the Sng f Slmn derives frm a present which spans three generatins and the numerus digressins, explanatins, and expansins (p. 71) that exist within the text. The reflectins and eches f stries frm Milkman, Guitar, Macn, and Pilate expand the wrld f Sng f Slmn. Harris argues that these digressins tgether with Milkman s stry create an interlace, in which the dminant narrative is embellished and enhanced (p. 71). The stries the characters tell abut their past and ancestrs enhance r imprve the text, making it rich and multi-layered. Harris states that the the cnstant themes f myth invlve nt the why? (the causes) but the whence? (the grundwrk f human nature, belief, and 10

11 endeavr) (p. 69). These meticulusly articulated subplts and images (p. 71), stries that the characters tell f their past and ancestrs, wrk tgether t help Milkman and the readers answer questins abut the meaning and purpse f human life. Lead a brief whle-class discussin f student respnses. Differentiatin Cnsideratin: T supprt students in their understanding f the elements f myths, cnsider cmpleting the fllwing anntatin and discussin activity: Instruct student grups t reread pages f Myth as Structure in Tni Mrrisn s Sng f Slmn and identify and anntate fr the elements that Harris presents as cmmn t all myths. Then instruct student grups t examine the prgressin f Milkman thrugh Sng f Slmn in relatin t the identified qualities f myth. Lead a brief whle-class discussin f student respnses. Activity 4: Quick Write 25% Instruct students t respnd briefly in writing t the fllwing prmpt: Chse a sentence frm pages f Myth as Structure in Tni Mrrisn s Sng f Slmn and analyze hw the sentence relates t the nvel s characters, central ideas, r structure. Instruct students t lk at their anntatins t find evidence. Ask students t use this lessn s vcabulary wherever pssible in their written respnses. Students listen and read the Quick Write prmpt. Display the prmpt fr students t see, r prvide the prmpt in hard cpy. Transitin t the independent Quick Write. Students independently answer the prmpt using evidence frm the text. See the High Perfrmance Respnse at the beginning f this lessn. Cnsider using the Shrt Respnse Rubric t assess students writing. Students may use the Shrt Respnse Rubric and Checklist t guide their written respnses. Activity 5: Clsing 5% 11

12 Display and distribute the hmewrk assignment. Fr hmewrk, instruct students t read pages f Myth as Structure in Tni Mrrisn s Sng f Slmn (frm The pening pages gives us the mandrel t the gld his Aunt Pilate and father stumbled acrss in a Pennsylvania cave ) and anntate fr hw the article relates t their 12 LC Secnd Interim Assessment respnses (W b). Als, instruct students t cnduct a brief search int the flight f Daedalus and Icarus. Students fllw alng. Hmewrk Read pages f Myth as Structure in Tni Mrrisn s Sng f Slmn (frm The pening pages gives us the mandrel t the gld his Aunt Pilate and father stumbled acrss in a Pennsylvania cave ) and anntate fr hw the article relates t yur 12 LC Secnd Interim Assessment respnse. Als, cnduct a brief search int the flight f Daedalus and Icarus. 12