Memoir: Evaluating personal narrative as a record of the past (2 of 2)

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Objective

SWBAT cite strong text evidence to support analysis of a short memoir by answering text dependent questions.

Big Idea

The term "text dependent" should help students realize their answers must use the text.

Lesson Author

Lindsay Thompson

Independence, MO

Grade Level

Tenth grade

Subjects

English / Language Arts

Standards

RL.9-10.1

Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

RL.9-10.2

Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.

RL.9-10.4

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).

RL.9-10.5

Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise.

W.9-10.9

Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

Warm Up

5 minutes

During yesterday's lesson, students read and annotated Alice Walker's Beauty: When the Other Dancer Is the Self. Today, students will be answering text dependent questions based on the text.

To get students warmed up, I am going to ask them to complete a Literary 3 x 3. I learned this strategy during an Advanced Placement training years ago. It is a great strategy to develop conceptual thinking of thematic elements in the text (RL.9-10.1, W.9-10.10). This video literary 3x3 explanation explains the 3x3.

Mini Lesson

10 minutes

Today students are answering text dependent questions. For the mini lesson, we will answer one together. I give students the question:

What do the people in the church mean when they say, "That little girl's a mess"?

I go back to the text and read the section where the people say this. I ask them if they literally mean she is messy. They will say no. Next, I will ask them how they know that. That will lead us back into the text to look for proof that they are calling her a mess as a term of endearment.

I want students to understand that text dependent questions require them to go back to the text and use evidence in their answers (W.9-10.9) (RL.9-10.1).

Student Work Time

25 minutes

Answering a complex question

During this time, I distribute the other text dependent questions and ask students to answer them on their own paper using evidence from the text in their analysis (w.9-10.9).

1. Describe how the narrator changes throughout the story? (RL.9-10.3)

2. Which sentence is repeated in the narrative and why is it repeated? (Rl.9-10.4)

3. Explain how the narrative is organized and why did Alice Walker choose to organize it in this way? (RL.9-10.5)

4. What is the conflict of the narrative? (RL.9-10.2)

5. Read the last paragraph. What sentence states the main idea of that paragraph? (RL.9-10.2)

As students work through the text and answer these questions, I read over their shoulders to assure they are using textual support.

As class is ending, students will turn in their assignments.

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