Unit: Perspectives on Pocahontas

Carolynn Molleur Chelsea High School Chelsea, MA
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Unit Description

UNIT OVERVIEW: In this unit, students analyze the differences between three perspectives on the interactions between Native Americans and Jamestown settlers, specifically John Smith and Pocahontas. UNIT TEXTS: (1) “General History of Virginia” by John Smith, 1607 (2) Pocahontas, Disney, 1995 (3) “A Statement by the Powhatan Renape Nation” by Chief Roy Crazy Horse, response to Disney’s movie UNIT OBJECTIVES: * use strategies to comprehend difficult texts (reading “A General History of Virginia”) * close read implicit visual messages & craft paragraphs that balance analysis with necessary descriptions (visually racist and sexist message in Pocahontas) * analyze how author’s establish credibility/ethos (Smith’s use of 3rd person, Chief Roy Crazy Horse’s appeal to historical accuracy) * analyze how word choice and sentence structure create tone (Chief Roy Crazy Horse) * analyze how perspective shape a story’s details, purpose, form/genre, point of view, and tone (Smith’s details & point of view chosen for self-glorification & degradation of Native Americans, Disney’s details and animated form chosen to best entertain and gross profit as well as to glorify forefathers and provide “moral education” to children, Chief Roy Crazy Horse’s historical reasoning & critical tone)

Lessons

Day 1: John Smith's 'The General History of Virginia' Resources: 1

Read excerpt from “The General History of Virginia” by John Smith. Analyze Smith’s use of the third person & compare his account of the Native Americans to our understanding of their culture (based on reading the Origin Myths last week.)

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Day 2: John Smith's 'The General History of Virginia Resources: 1

Read excerpt from “The General History of Virginia” by John Smith. Analyze Smith’s use of the third person & compare his account of the Native Americans to our understanding of their culture (based on reading the Origin Myths last week.)

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Day 3: Pocahontas and racism/sexism

View excerpts from the Disney movie Pocahontas and perform “close reading” to detect implicitly racist and sexist messages about Native Americans, women, and race in general.

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Day 4: Analyze 'A Statement by the Powhatan Renape Nation regarding Disney’s Pocahontas' Resources: 1

Compare the end of Pocahontas to “A Statement by the Powhatan Renape Nation regarding Disney’s Pocahontas.” Analyze how the purposes of these two texts affect the rhetorical techniques used and the details included in the stories told.
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Day 5: Compare multiple aspects of texts read Resources: 1

Students will compare multiple aspects of the three texts read this week: Speaker, Audience, Subject, Context, Purpose.

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Day 6: Pocahontas Unit Test Resources: 1

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Unit Resources

Unit Lesson Plans.doc  
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Unit Details:

Subject(s): Literature, Writing, Listening and Speaking, Vocabulary, English / Language Arts

Grade(s): High School

License: CC Attribution 3.0

Created: May 17th, 2010

Visibility: Public

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