Lessons
On the board write the question: Is school important? After students have been orientated to learning, group, and behavioral procedures, they will read Gwendolyn Brooks' poem, "We Real Cool" Ask students to read aloud, indicating their sense of the poem through the inflections of their voice as they read it. Discuss the meaning of the poem, with the understanding that there is no definitive meaning. What words convey the meaning? Discuss the possibility of different voices, different perspectives.(Note: Gwendolyn Brooks wrote the poem as an ironic depiction of some young men she would pass by at a pool hall. Is everything as "cool" as it seems to be? Presently students say, "I'm just "chillin'." How does their attitude compare with the speakers' attitude in the poem? Is school really important? In an interview Brooks says, "The 'Wes' in "We Real Cool" are tiny, wispy, weakly, argumentative, 'Kilroy-is-here' announcements. The boys have no accented sense of themselves, yet they are aware of a semi-defined personal importance. Say the 'We' softly." Brooks says that her aim is to write poems that "call" all black people in alleys, gutters, schools, offices, prisons, in pulpits, on farms, and on thrones not just to teach but to entertain and to enlighten.) Discuss the following questions: Is this a racist poem? Does this poem speak to only one gender, and does the poem depict a stereotype of that gender? Do only poor people have the attitude of the speakers? Does the poem have a historical context or could it apply during any time period?
Now pass out the story of The Ugly Duckling. Have students read the story in groups of four or five. As a group (not individually), they must discuss the meaning of the story and key concepts, words, phrases, and quotes that support the meaning. After each group shares its interpretation with the class, have the groups converge again to discuss the many perspectives from which the swan's story could be told. Encourage them to let their imaginations fly as they retell the swan's story. Discuss and share the possible perspectives: sociologist, psychologist, environmentalist, hunter, child, editorial writer, mother, father, little sister, teenage brother, developer, scientist, historian, prisoner, war protester, and the head of the NAACP. For homework have students rewrite the nursery rhyme, There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe from a different perspective.
Have students share their adaptations of There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe. After reading The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by A. Wolf, ask students to compare the traditional story with the version from the Wolf's point of view. On the board write a quote from John Lye: "There are no absolutes, no foundational truth, no eternalities." Make a Venn diagram to compare the pigs' and wolf's perspectives. What happened in the story? Who was the victim? Describe him/them. Discuss the connotations of color, class, values, history, and gender from both points of view.
Lesson 2
Ask students to use examples to respond to the above quote. Give students instructions for the following Web Quest (Appendix I) so that they will learn about types of literary theory and related terminology: literature, text, literary criticism, literary theory, class, economic systems- capitalism and socialism, ideology, gender, race, and history. The Web Quest is designed to help students understand and apply some literary terminology and some aspects of literary theory. Students will have to extract the definitions from reading essays, web dictionaries and web encyclopedias.
Students should then complete a concept chart for each term with the characteristics, examples, opposites, and purpose of the term. Although each student will choose one perspective from which to view the text, as students are grouped in fours, it is the responsibility of each student to teach everyone in the group his or her perspective. All students should be knowledgeable about the literary terms related to their perspective. This lesson should take two class periods.
Based on the criteria of the rubric, students should demonstrate knowledge, application, and interpretation of the literary theories. To get an historical viewpoint students should look up the author to find out what was happening when the story was written and/or what experiences and beliefs the author had that might have influenced the writing, and who might have influenced the writer's craft. Students should use the information on the concept chart to look at the text several times through the eyes of gender, race, class, historical context and ideology. Questions as to the author's or the text's purpose and point of view should be posed.
Students should then retell the story from the point of view of a woman or a man, (if not evident) a working class or ruling class character, an African American teenager, the historical content of present day, and from the ideology of egalitarianism- equality of opportunity and everyone starting from the same position.
Lesson 3
On the board write, "Until lions tell their stories, tales of hunting will glorify the hunter." Ask students to bring in artifacts and examples that reflect the popular culture and their personal experiences. The items could be an article from a periodical, an ad, film, a television program, a music video, lyrics from a song or rap, a poem, recruitment ads, or any other artifact. Have students describe the literary theories they have chosen briefly in their own words - historicism, gender, race, class, and ideology. In groups of three to four have each group select one example of popular culture. Have groups discuss which perspective could help students understand the artifact? How does using that lens help students to understand? How does using a perspective help students broaden how they "look" at "things"? Groups should keep these questions in mind as they discuss and share with the whole class. Discuss the quote and its relationship to seeing the world through critical lenses.
Lesson 4
Students should be able to understand how they bring their own beliefs and values to their interpretation of the world and to the text. Have students read the short stories, The Pocketbook Game by Alice Childress and The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant. Students should respond to the stories by completing the Reader Response Chart. (Appendix II) As readers, students interpret the world according to what's normal to them in their social world with the cultural meanings that accompany their social norms. They should ask themselves "Why do I have this opinion?" It is their educational, family, religious, regional, historical moment and cultural context that links them with the text.
What are the students' experiences, morals, social codes and views of the world? Students should describe their own personal qualities or events that connect them to the stories and would influence their responses. Next each student should describe the meaning he or she gets out of both stories. What factors are influencing the responses? The text is symbols on a page. The symbols only have meaning when there is interaction between the reader and the text. The experience (the process of literature) occurs when there is a combining of what the reader already knows, feels, and desires with what the text offers. The reader puts meaning into verbal symbols. Then the text makes a path to get to that meaning through its construction. Next ask the student to list the textual features that help the reader obtain meaning from the text. What did the text do as a work of art to help the reader build and synthesize meaning? What images were formed? What emotions did the text elicit? How did the text guide the active participation of reading? Remind students they may have to read the text more than twice with special looking glasses. For homework assign The Secret Garden. Students should provide the information requested on the reader response sheet.
Students have used visuals, young children's literature, poetry and short texts to scaffold and solidify new information and apply it to reading. Review the new information by comparing the different reactions, meanings and textual features for all three stories. As an assessment of comfort and understanding the five perspectives, have students discuss the application of each literary theory by forming a circle. Use props such as a hat or scarf for gender, clear glasses for historicism, sunglasses for race and a crown for class. The storytelling should reinforce students' knowledge, comprehension, application and some analysis of viewing literature through a critical eye. As each student takes an item (symbol), he must explain that represented perspective with an example from one of the stories by saying, "If I put this ______ lens on, this is what I see: _____. This text is about: ____." Each student should explain a point of view, then pass an item (symbol) to the next storyteller. There should be an assortment of examples.
Now students should be ready for the big questions, the big pictures and the big stories. The goal of this unit is to propel students to read independently and to broaden their reading material and viewpoint. Students are urged to have what Deborah Appleman says is "critical encounters with texts." In this lesson students will critically read the novels: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston, The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah, Fast Sam, Cool Clyde and Stuff by Walter Dean Myers, independently outside of school along with Cinderella and Macbeth in class. They will apply and critique each theory to create multiple interpretations, allowing the literary theories to guide them. Students will have three weeks to read the three novels outside of class. Fast Sam, Cool Clyde and Stuff can be read in two days. From the list each group will decide which book it will read first and how many pages should be read each day (at least 25 pages). Each student is responsible for keeping a daily response journal which includes reader responses-personal reactions, qualities and meanings of the text, other textual connections, and textual features. This response can be directed toward character(s), plot, setting, theme, conflict, mood, or tone of text. The response journal of one typed page is due at the end of the week with the name of the book, the author, date, and the pages that were read. Students will come to class prepared to discuss the book twice a week. To prepare for discussion in her group, each student must bring five questions that stimulate discussion about the big ideas of the book, that discuss interesting or puzzling quotes, phrases or words, that connect to experiences, events or other texts and/or questions the author or a character. To stimulate discussion, put quotes from the text on the board. Students will receive the following points:
- Preparation for book discussion 50
- Participation in book discussion 50
- Reader Response Journal 50
- Reflection of Multiple Perspectives 50
- Total 200
For two days out of the week students in groups of four will consider Macbeth, Cinderella, Fast Sam Cool Clyde and Stuff, Coldest Winter Ever and Their Eyes Were Watching God from five different perspectives: class, gender, race, ideological and historical . There will be five theory stations around the room with questions and reflections. Each group will go to one station for a period. Students should discuss the questions but individually respond to the sheets as the questions and reflection apply to the book or story the group is discussing.
Class Station
Terms to Know
- Stages of History- Marx believed that history moved in stages from communalism to feudalism to capitalism to communism to the classless society under communism.
- Materialism- Each stage was shaped by the economic system. The key to understanding the systems was to focus on the "mode of production." It was necessary to focus on who owned the "means of production." Under capitalism a small class - the bourgeoisies - owned the factories. Under socialism, the workers would own the factories.
- Class Struggle- "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle." Feudalism and capitalism were characterized by the exploitation of one class by another.
- Dialectic- Marx believed that great historical changes followed a pattern whereby any idea or condition (thesis) brought into being its opposite (antithesis). The ruling bourgeoisie under capitalism brought the opposite, the proletariat. The two opposites would conflict until they produced a new higher stage. (synthesis)
- Capitalism- Marx saw capitalism as the cruelest system as a small class of owners exploited the working majority. It was the nature of capitalism for wealth and ownership to be concentrated in an ever-shrinking mega rich group. This internal contradiction would eventually destroy capitalism.
- Working Class Misery- It was the nature of capitalist production to become more and more technologically efficient requiring fewer workers. Capitalism, therefore would be plagued with unemployment. As machines made a worker's skill less important, wages would sink lower and lower. The worker less needed would become more alienated. Under communism Marx saw a system free of exploitation.
Questions:
See Appendix
Gender Station
Students should examine the portrayal of the characters, male and female, the languages of the text, the attitude of the author and the relationship between the characters. What comments is the author making about society relative to the male and female. Is the relationship between the male and female complementary or adversarial?
Questions
See Appendix II
Race Station
Examine the omission or suppression of race along with stereotypical attitudes, behavior, speech patterns and images. Are African Americans portrayed as one- dimensional or in a demeaning manner?
Questions
See Appendix II
Historical Station
Have students examine the historical events and the biographies of the authors from the time the document was written. Provide articles of background and historical context concerning the Brothers Grimm, Walter Dean Myers, Zora Neal Hurston, Sister Souljah (There is an interview and character analysis at the back of her book.) and Shakespeare.
Brothers Grimm - Note that Cinderella is an adaptation of an earlier work from China where it was considered unsightly for women not to have very tiny feet. Most of the stories from that era and area were of emotional turmoil, fear of abandonment and parental abuse. They were not originally for children. Walter Dean Myers - Note that Walter Dean Myers was orphaned at an early age and used writing to compensate for his speech impediment. During the 1940's most African Americans were still feeling the pangs of the Depression. Quote: " I want to bring value to those who have not been valued…" Zora Neal Hurston - Note that Zora Neal Hurston was opposed to the Brown versus Board of Education decision because she thought it was patronizing and condescending. She felt men had no respect for strong, powerful women. They wanted women to be weak. Although she was said to love her blackness, as an anthropologist, she felt there was no such thing as race. Sister Souljah - Note that Sister Souljah was in the middle of a controversy with presidential candidate Bill Clinton for her statement, "If black people could kill black people every day, why not have a week and kill white people." She refused to back down when Clinton condemned her and scolded Jessie Jackson for supporting her. The quote was in this context "The government…were well aware…that black people were dying everyday under gang violence. So if you're a gang member and you would normally be killing somebody, why not kill a white person. Do you think that somebody thinks that white people are better or above and beyond dying, when they would kill their own kind?" Shakespeare - Note that Shakespeare lived during the Elizabethan era with two classes- the upper class or nobility and everyone else. The upper class was well educated, wealthy and associated with royalty and high members of the church. Many members of nobility were involved in conspiracy so were often accused and punished by hanging, torture, decapitation and/or burning. Women were not spared. Single women were frowned upon and were sometimes accused of being witches. Most went into domestic service. The Bubonic Plague, carried by rats, killed millions across Asia during Shakespeare's time.
Questions
See Appendix II
As they write their book reviews, guide students to use a compelling, attention-grabbing introduction. A quote, a rhetorical question, a poem or anecdote are some suggestions. Have students include pertinent information about the author or an historical event for the background. Based on the criteria, prompt students to describe the main qualities of the book. Using notes from their reader response sheets, reflections and journals, students will describe one book in the form of a book review. Use the New York Times Book Review, Barnes & Noble Review, Publishers Weekly, and any other book review periodical as models. Discuss any literary theories that are evident in the reviews. Discuss the criteria for determining literary quality in the reviews. What would be the categories? Guide students to describe their criteria for understanding setting, character, plot, theme conflict, style, mood and tone of the text. Have students list the qualities expected from the different perspectives. Have students qualify the characteristics with ratings from advanced or four-star to not recommended. This student-generated rubric will be used for all books read and reviewed for the twenty-five book-reading requirement. Since students have read Cinderella, Macbeth, The Coldest Winter Ever, Their Eyes Were Watching God and Fast Sam, Cool Clyde and Stuff, they should compare text and show how texts interconnect on thematic issues. Develop students' ability to judge by using evidence from the text. Encourage students to refute the inconsistencies, ambiguities and the controversial results of the multiple perspectives. Each month one group should be responsible for gathering book reviews, interviews, and authors' news to put in the literary newsletter created in Microsoft Publisher. Students should be persuasive, creative and informative with visuals, graphics and invigorating information. Book reviews may become poems, persuasive editorials, or letters to the author or one of the characters. As students choose, read and submit two books per month, each month the presiding group should compile a list of ten favorite books to share with the whole school as encouragement to read. Students must also submit book reviews once a month to on-line book reviews such as: http://www.scholastic.org., http://www.smartgirl.org.,http://www.classiclit.about.com.od/forstudents/ht/aa_litreview.htm, http://www.clpgh.org/teensread/teenlists.html., http://www.speakuppress.org., or http://teenlink.com/submissions
Stage 2
Students will select a book from the recommended list and another book of their choice each month. Armed with the mastery of looking at text with a critical eye students will read independently outside of school and thirty minutes during Sustained Silent Reading in class. They should continue to submit weekly journals.
Stage 3
Thematically students may choose one of the questions from the list of guided discussion questions on multiple perspectives to write a well-organized persuasive essay. Students will take a position and support it with evidence from reading, listening and viewing a variety of genres, fiction, and non-fiction and visual and audio media. First students should gather and select sources that support the view from one of the perspectives - race, gender (male or female), or class. As students critically examine information, they must decide what is relevant and note facts, expert opinions, quotations, and events that clarify and defend the view based on race, gender or class. With logical reasoning students should clearly show the concerns, expectations and beliefs of the stakeholders from the chosen perspective. Using propaganda techniques, students will argue in support of the position from the point of view of the stakeholder.
Once a month the class should synthesize their reading experiences with "book talk", sharing new discoveries, points of view and insights.
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