Lesson 1: Literary Analysis: Literary Techniques February 22, 2012

Subject: Fundamentals of Writing (Periods 4 and 8) Unit: Nonfiction Literary Analysis Grade: 10th Grade Time Frame: 1 class period (approximately 45 minutes) Rationale In preparation of the summative assessment of this unit, students will comprehend various literary devices used by an author to establish purpose, theme, and style in a piece of literature. The purpose of this lesson is for students to become familiar with essential literary techniques. This is one of the first major lessons of the nonfiction literary analysis unit. It is essential that students comprehend these techniques in order to perform well on the final essay. Students who write a strong essay with adequate supporting details are considered proficient in this area and will pass the class. A student who is not considered proficient must retake Fundamentals of Writing. Today, students will be introduced to several literary techniques, along with their definitions and how to identify them in literature. Standards to be addressed from Iowa Core RI.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, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain. RI.11-12.3: Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequence of events and explain how specific individuals, ideas or events interact and develop over the course of the text. RI.11-12.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone. RI.11-12.6: Determine an authors point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is particularly effective, analyzing how style and content contribute to the power, persuasiveness, or beauty of the text. Essential Questions 1. 2. 3. 4. What are literary techniques and why are they used in literature? How do we identify literary techniques? How can we derive meaning from the use of literary techniques? How is purpose/theme supported through the use of literary techniques?

Learning Objectives Students will be able to: 1. Identify various literary techniques. 2. Demonstrate knowledge of literary techniques using an excerpt of nonfiction literature. 3. Analyze the meaning of The Chase based on the authors use of literary techniques. 4. Apply knowledge from this lesson to individual nonfiction books and subsequent nonfiction literature samples. Objectives to be addressed from WDM Community Schools: 1. Apply reading strategies to understand and interpret literary texts. 2. Analyze authors use of literary devices in conveying purpose and theme in a literary text. 3. Use standard expectations of content, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions in writing. 4. Apply the writing process to communicate ideas in a literary analysis. Technology/Resources 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Microsoft PowerPoint presentation: Language Terms Elmo and overhead projector The Chase from An American Childhood by Annie Dillard Literary Techniques worksheet Paper Writing utensil

Sequencing *Students will grab a copy of The Chase and the Literary Techniques worksheet upon entering class. Hook: I will begin todays lesson by introducing students to the SIFT method (Symbol, Images, Figures of Speech, and Tone and Theme) for analyzing literature. Students will be encouraged to use this method for interpreting literary language throughout the unit. Short question-and-response discussion: What do we do when we sift flour? (Analogy uses prior knowledge and forms a connection to new concepts) I Do It: I will conduct the first portion of the lesson using a literary language presentation. Students will be instructed to take notes. I will define and provide examples of each literary technique, explaining why these terms are so important in literature. I will elicit a question-response session for a few slides where I will ask the class to identify various literary language devices used in the examples provided. Once the presentation is

finished, I will ask if students have any questions. We will then proceed to the lesson activity using The Chase. We Do It Together: Using the Elmo, I will place the reading sample of The Chase on the overhead. Students should have grabbed a copy of the reading sample on their way in to class. I will read the text aloud to the class. Once Ive finished reading it the first time, I will start again at the first paragraph. Before repeating the first paragraph, I will ask students to now listen carefully and pay attention to fragments of the text where literary techniques will be present. After repeating the first paragraph, we will go over the text sentence by sentence. I will warn students that this may seem a bit tedious on the surface, but that good readers take the time to re-read text when necessary and look for meaningful evidence that will help them better comprehend the big picture. Together we will analyze each sentence and I will help guide them in identifying the literary techniques present, but will ask for student input. You Do It Together/You Do It Alone: Now that I have modeled the first paragraph for the students with active participation, students should be ready to work on the remainder of the activity individually with my help and the help of fellow students if necessary. Students are assigned to complete the green literary techniques worksheet. Every literary technique discussed in class is included in the worksheet, and students are in charge of finding an example of each within The Chase. Students should have the sheet completed by Friday, February 24. Students will be given the remainder of the class period to work on this assignment, and I will be present to answer any inquiries and to provide advice. Students will most likely have to take the rest of the worksheet with them to complete as homework. Assessment Objectives 1. Objective one will be assessed using formative assessments, including the amount of participation during question-and-response, answers given during the presentation, and the level of completion and accuracy of the literary techniques worksheet. 2. Objectives two and three will be assessed using formative assessments, including question-and-answer, observation, walking around the room, working with individual students, and finally evaluating each the accuracy and detail of each students response on the literary techniques assignment 3. Objective four is an ongoing assessment process. The level of proficiency shown today (through the use of multiple formative assessment strategies) will be a good indication of how students will perform throughout the remainder of the unit. I will also be able to assess how well students understood todays material based on the level of accuracy and performance of future assignments and activities. Assessment Tools 1. Observation and inquiry (Formative) 2. Question-and-answer (Formative) 3. The Chase activity with Literary Techniques worksheet (Formativenot graded)