Appendix
Because they will be most widely applicable to teachers from various parts of the United States, I have listed below the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) that are directly addressed in this unit; Illinois teachers also must align our curricula to the CCSS. Due to the nature of this course as an IB course and because it may be helpful for other teachers of IB Language A: Literature, I also have included the Group 1 and Language A: Literature Aims as well as assessment objectives as they are applied in this unit.
Common Core State Standards
Key Ideas and Details
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text;
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2 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;
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.3 Analyze the impact of the author's choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a drama (e.g., where a story is set).16
Craft and Structure
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.5 Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact;
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4 Analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone.17
Students will use textual evidence to support their analyses (11-12.1) of the presentation of the theme of female subjugation (11-12.2) and Williams’ characterization through mood (11-12.3, 4, 5).
IB Learning Outcomes
Group 1 Aim
Develop in students the ability to engage in close, detailed analysis of individual texts and make relevant connections.18
Students will draw upon prior study of characterization in Anton Chekhov’s short stories to analyze and make connections to Williams’ characterization in the play.
Language A: Literature Aim
Develop the students’ ability to form independent literary judgments and to support those ideas.19
Students will be required to make literary judgments about the play and its reception, using textual evidence for support.
Interdisciplinary Connections to Theory of Knowledge (ToK) Course
What knowledge of literature can be gained by focusing attention on its social, cultural or historical context?
Does familiarity with literature itself provide knowledge and, if so, of what kind—knowledge of facts, of the author, of the conventions of the form or tradition, of psychology or cultural history, of oneself?
What is the proper function of literature—to capture a perception of reality, to teach or uplift the mind, to express emotion, to create beauty, to bind a community together, to praise a spiritual power, to provoke reflection or to promote social change?20
Due to the study of the play through the lens of cultural theorist, students must be able to comment on its cultural context in order to determine how it provides the reader with both cultural history and provokes the reader to promote social change.
Assessment Objectives and Use in Practice of Paper 2
Knowledge and Understanding: show understanding of the two or more works studied in Part 3 and the way in which meaning is conveyed through literary conventions.
Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation: synthesize ideas from at least two works studied in Part 3 and apply that knowledge to a question on conventions used in one literary genre (drama).
Selection and Use of Appropriate Presentation and Language Skills: write a formal essay comparing at least two works in response to one question.21
Ultimately, students will write an essay to compare how social and cultural values are conveyed in two of the four Part 3 works (all post-war dramas).
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