Reading for Writing: Modeling the Modern Essay

Classroom Activities

Part One: Personal Memoirs (1^st Marking Period, September to November)

After establishing a writing routine during the first marking period, introduce students to the term “memoir” and discuss what it is. Challenge students to write their life story in exact six words. After sharing and evaluating each other’s work, encourage students to publish these short memoirs on www.sixwordmemoirs.com. In addition, teachers can conduct the following 5 reading and writing activities on a weekly basis to support students through their writing process of memoirs. I’ve provided excerpts from The Norton Readers, but teacher may want to use non-fiction essays, articles, or passages their ELA, Social Studies, Science and Math curricula.

Activity 1.1: Google Search Meaningful Sentences

Student will be able to use nouns and adjectives to find relevant and meaningful sentences online in order to use these sentences as model texts to write their memoirs. Procedures: In their notebooks, have students write down 3 nouns and 3 adjectives to describe themselves. For instance: leader, dancer, boy, positive, silly, brave. Show students how to google search to get quotes and sentences with one or a combination of these words. Model the procedures with examples such as “brave quote” or “leader, silly, sentence” to find sentences that they may want to use for their memoirs. Have students handwrite at least 3 sentences in their notebooks. Example: “Fortune always favors the brave, and never helps a man who does not help himself.”⁴⁰ Students can use this method to jumpstart ideas, but they must re-shape the sentences to compose their own sentences. Another similar activity is the “Six-Word Memoir Project.” During this activity, it is important to discuss plagiarism and intellectual property.

Activity 1.2: Re-write Model Essay’s Leading and Ending Sentences

Student will be able to close-read the lead and ending sentences of a non-fiction text to reinvent their own lead and ending sentences for their memoirs in order to establish a situation, introduce themselves as the narrators and organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally. Procedures: Select a non-fiction essay from The Norton Reader or your class reading list. In their notebooks, have students copy a lead sentence on the left side of a page and on the opposite side (right side) copy an ending sentence. Review the parts of speech: noun, pronoun, adjective, determiner, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection. Teacher choose a part of speech (ex.: nouns) to investigate. Students use a black marker to “erase” that particular part of speech (ex.: all the nouns). Students re-write the lead and ending sentences by substituting nouns to tell their own life stories. Scaffold students with vocabulary lists, online dictionaries and thesaurus. Below is an example from the essay “Graduation” by Maya Angelou, (45-55).

Lead Sentence: The children in STAMPS trembled visibly with anticipation.

Lead Sentence: The ______ in ______ trembled visibly with ______.

Example Re-write: The students in school trembled visibly with fear.

Ending Sentence: If we were a people much given to revealing secrets, we might raise monuments and sacrifice to the memories of our poets, but slavery cured us of that weakness.

Ending Sentence: If ______ were a ______ much given to revealing ______, ______ might raise ______ and ______ to the ______ of our ______, but ______ cured ______ of that ______.

Example Re-write: If brothers were a nation much given to revealing love, sisters might raise dollars and pennies to the hope of our peace, but rivalry cured siblings of that ending.

Activity 1.3: Deconstructing a Model Essay to Craft an Event Sequence

Student will be able to deconstruct an essay in order to use its sentence structures to craft a sequence of major events for their memoirs. Procedure: Make copies of the following paragraph sentences from Douglass’ essay Learning to Read from The Norton Reader, 404-408. Students will copy one sentence per page in their notebook. In pairs, students will discuss Douglass’ style of writing in terms of sentence structure, and write a new but similar sentence about themselves or their experiences. Students might use these new self-generated sentences for their memoirs. Optional: Have students draw a picture under each sentence to illustrate Douglass’ or their own mental images associated with the sentence. I recommend using the 1^st sentence of each paragraph of Douglass’ essay Learning to Read:

[1^st sentence of paragraph 1] I lived in Master Hugh’s family about seven years.

[1^st sentence of paragraph 2] My mistress was, as I have said, a kind and tender- hearted woman; and in the simplicity of her soul she commenced, when I first went to live with her, to treat me as she supposed one human being ought to treat another.

[1^st sentence of paragraph 3] From this time, I was most narrowly watched.

[1^st sentence of 4] The plan which I adopted, and the one by which I was most successful, was that of making friends of all the little white boys whom I met in the street.

[1^st sentence of paragraph 5] I was now about twelve years old, and the thought of being a slave for life began to bear heavily upon my heart.

[1^st sentence of paragraph 6] In the same book, I met with one of Sheridan’s mighty speeches on and in behalf of Catholic emancipation.

[1^st sentence of paragraph 7] I often found myself regretting my own existence…

[1^st sentence of paragraph 8] The idea as to how I might learn to write was suggested to me by... [Last Sentence] Thus, after a long, tedious effort for years, I finally succeeded in learning how to write.⁴¹

Activity 1.4: Develop the Plot

Students will be able to read and analyze a leading, a middle, and an ending sentence of a model memoir and construct a plot in order to write narratives to develop real experiences using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. Procedures: In a whole group, the teacher read aloud a lead, middle and end sentence of a model memoir such as Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (12-34). Lead: “Like many fathers, mine could occasionally be prevailed on for a spot of ‘airplane.’” Middle: “I grew to resent the way my father treated his furniture like children, and his children like furniture.” End: “But I acted as if he were already gone.” Next, the teacher models a think aloud to complete a plot diagram to imagine the different possibilities of: 1) rising action, 2) climax; 3) falling action, 4) conflict and, 5) resolution. Possible teacher’s plot summary: The narrator’s father used to play games with her (rising action). The narrator “resent” the father for not showing love and care for his children; this sentence foreshadows something terribly wrong is about to happen (climax). The father did something so hateful that the narrator pretends the father longer exists (falling action). The father was absent emotionally (conflict). The narrator pretended she didn’t have a father (unresolved solution).

For guided practice in small groups, the teacher can use the following from Tongue-Tied by Maxine Hong Kingston (461-465). Lead: If I had lived in China, I would have been an outlaw knot-maker. Middle: My silence was thickest— total— during the three years that I covered my school paintings with black paint. End: Not all of the children who were silent at American school found voice at Chinese school. Possible plot summary: The narrator sees her behaviors would have been unacceptable if she was living in China (rising action). The narrator did not talk for 3 years in school; she made black paintings to express herself in silence (climax). The narrator was able to find her voice in Chinese school, but not everybody did (falling action). The narrator was silent in school (conflict), and discovered solace in Chinese school (solution).

Activity 1.5: Read, Cut, Paste and Rewrite the 1^st Paragraph

Students will be able to read the first 150 to 250 words of a variety of personal narratives by model writers in order to orient the reader by establishing a situation, introducing a narrator and characters and organizing an event sequence that unfolds naturally. Procedures: Choose the first paragraph of an essay. Example: On Dumpster Diving by Lars Eighner. Make a handout of the paragraph in large font with double line space. Teacher will read aloud the paragraph with a think aloud. Also have students read aloud at least three more times (in whole groups, small groups and in pairs). In small groups, students cut the paragraph into strips, then cut each strip into word phrases (such as Long before). Put the phrases in a zip-lock bag and scramble them randomly by hand. Let student re-construct the original paragraph to the best of their abilities using the scrambled phrases without looking at the original paragraph. Post students’ works on the chart papers for comparison. Discuss choices and meanings. Recommended text for this activity is the 1^st paragraph of the essay On Dumpster Diving by Lars Eighner:

Long before I began Dumpster diving I was impressed with Dumpsters, enough so that I wrote the Merriam Webster research service to discover what I could about the word Dumpster. I learned from them that it is a proprietary word belonging to the Dempster Dumpster company. Since then I have dutifully capitalized the word, although it was lowercased in almost all the citations Merriam Webster photocopied for me. Dempster’s word is too apt. I have never heard these things called anything but Dumpsters. I do not know anyone who knows the generic name for these objects. From time to time I have heard a wino or hobo give some corrupted credit to the original and call them Dipsy Dumpsters.⁴²

Part Two: Public Arguments (2^nd Marking Period: December to February)

After students have written their memoirs, teacher will use the memoirs as a springboard for a class essay. Allow students time to discuss the public points of their memoirs and present them to each other. Teacher may want to model a think aloud with a graphic organizer to compare and contrast the differences and similarities between their private views and public points. Lead students to define a public point as the most important message the writer wants the readers to react to or do something about. The following classroom activities will help support students through their public arguments and class essay.

Activity 2.1: Forming Debate Teams Based on Public Points

Students will be able to write and present an argument of their public points in order to persuade others to view their public point as the most important issue to write a class essay. Procedures: As a whole group activity, make a list of possible public points. Have students construct the rules, protocols and structure of their debate teams. Ask students to find one person with the similar public point, and collaboratively write a paragraph listing 3 reasons why their point is important. Type all the paragraphs on a sharing platform like Google Docs. Consolidate the public points from 32 to 16. Repeat this process from 16 to 8, from 8 to 4, from 4 to 2, and eventually from 2 to 1 cohesive paragraph. Even though CW is a group effort, the tasks can be divided and conducted in pairs or individually. Allow students time to discuss, practice and research information to support their arguments. It is just important to consolidate different public points as it is to cut out unrelated ideas.

Optional activity: When the class has decided on 4 major public points, have each team stands on one of the four corners of the classroom to start a debate. Each team will present their written argument and figure ways to persuade members of the other teams to agree with them and get them to physically move to their corner. Take time to repeat this process until all the students are standing together at one corner of the room. Possible social issues: Is college a waste of time and money? Why video games matter? Is there a gender gap in school? Is Google making us stupid? Should the 2^nd Amendment be amended with more gun control laws?

Activity 2.2: Read and Identify Claim Statements of Model Essays

Students will be able to read and identify the claim statements as fact, definition, value, cause & effect and/or policy in order to write a claim statement supporting a public point with valid information. Procedures: Discuss what is a claim statement (a disputable statement in an argument to persuade its readers to accept). Define the five different types of claim statements. Use the following questions. Fact claim: Is domestic violence a major problem for children? Definition claim: What is domestic violence? Value claim: How important is it to report domestic violence? Cause & effect claim: What are the causes and effects of domestic violence? Policy claim: What can children do when they witness domestic violence?

Next, have students find evidences to support or refute these questions. Ask students what if they are not able to find evidences, does it mean the claim is false? What is a false claim? What is a true claim? Teach students how to cite their evidences to establish credibility and give credits to the original source. Explain there are different citation styles (MLA, Chicago, APA) and how to use citation websites such as EasyBib and Citation Machine.

Activity 2.3: Read and Identify Text Structures of Arguments

Students will be able to read a paragraph of a model argumentative essay, identify its text structure as description, chronology, comparison, cause & effect, or problem & solution, and then choose the Aristotelian, Rogerian or Toulmin method in order to collaboratively write a public argument. Procedures: Introduce students to the 5 basic text structures: description, chronology, comparison, cause & effect and problem & solution. Review the following signal words as clues in identifying the type of text structures. Signal words for description: “is, are,” Chronology: “first, next, last, date, time, year.” Comparison: “similar, different, same, in contrast.” Cause & effect: “As a result, if & then, since, positive, negative.” Problem & solution: “Because.” Students will write a paragraph for their argument using one or more text structures.

Activity 2.4: Rhetorical Strategies: Pathos, Big Names, Logics, Ethos and Kairos

Students will be able to read excerpts of argument essays to identify sentences that use the following rhetorical strategies: pathos (emotion), big names (expertise), logics (reasons), ethos (trust), Kairos (urgency) in order to collaboratively write a public argument. Procedures: Discuss the 5 basic types of rhetorical strategies as a whole group. Divide class into small groups to read, discuss and categorize sentences into the different rhetorical strategies. Ask students: Why do authors choose a certain strategy and not the other? Which strategy is most effective? Does it depend on when and who is the audience? From The Norton Reader, here are some examples.

Pathos Strategy uses emotional language to draw the reader in and make them feel for you. Argument example: “At first I was rather disappointed that fellow clergymen would see my nonviolent efforts as those of an extremist.”⁴³

Big Names Strategy uses the names of experts or well-known people who support your position. Argument Example: “Isaac Newton, toward the end of the seventeenth century, showed that a massive body would form a sphere under the pull of gravitational forces (exactly as Aristotle had argued), but only if it were not rotating.”⁴⁴

Logos Strategy uses research studies, data, charts, illustrations, and logic to back up position and points. Argument Example: the essay Is Coding the New Literacy by Tasneem Raja, p. 602 uses a chart and map titled “The Pipeline Problem” to show only 20 states count computer science toward graduation requirements in math or science.

Ethos Strategy involves using language that shows that the writer is trustworthy and believable. Argument example: “I sighed a bit, for I knew very few English Lit majors who are equipped to teach me science, but I am very aware of the vast state of my ignorance and I am prepared to learn as much as I can from anyone, so I read on.”⁴⁵

The Kairos Strategy creates a sense of urgency about how this is the right moment to act. Argument example: “When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for a people to advance from that subordination in which they have hitherto remained…”⁴⁶

Activity 2.5: Open Letters and Political Speeches

Students will be able to read letters and watch speeches to identify the rhetorical strategies in order to write a public argument collaboratively. Procedures: Read Langston Hughes letter-poem “Will V-Day Be Me-Day?” and discuss the purpose of a letter. Point out the basic format of a letter. Divide the class into small groups and assign each group an excerpt from an open letter. Examples from The Norton Reader: Letter to President Pierce by Chief Seattle (543-544), and Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr. (806-819). Have students read aloud letters and/or listen to notable speeches. Refer to “Teaching Strategies” on Writer Workshop and the Sound of Your Voice. After reading a variety of letters and speeches, have students revise the class essay into letter format. As a whole group, brainstorm a list of possible people for a letter campaign. Schedule a school-wide public reading, and/or design a public art display. Discuss what further steps would the class want to pursue with their class essay in order to effectively promote appropriate civic actions and social change. Remind students that successful collaborative writing depends highly on group awareness, participation and a clear sense of community identity.