Annotated Bibliography of a Diverse Text 9

Annotated Bibliography of a Diverse Text 9

Annotated Bibliography of a Diverse Text

Katie Salvadore

University of Rhode Island

J. Coiro

EDC 448

2015 March 26

Context for using the text set: This text set is about the story Gulliver’s Travels written by Jonathan Swift in 1726. It is based for a 10th grade English Literature class that includes ESL students of moderate to advanced English capabilities. This text can, however, be difficult to understand fully since it is written in the 18th century and contains language and innuendos not used as often today. The lesson will be focussed on Gulliver’s Travels and the companioned texts will provide understanding with grammatical functions and the use of satire in the literature content.

A. Print Resource

1. Satirical techniques definitions. (2006). Retrieved March 23, 2015, from Read Write Think, National Council of Teachers of English website, http://www.readwritethink.org/files/ resources/lesson_images/lesson936/SatiricalTechniques.pdf

This is a short text that briefly defines various words that will be used in the lesson. The words defined are ones that are distinctively used while discussing satiric literature, which is what Gulliver’s Travels is. The words included are “exaggeration,” “incongruity,” “parody,” “reversal.” This is text blatantly defines the words so they won’t be confused and can be distinguished as separate. I would use this handout for students to reference and would ask them to turn to it when asked how satire functions in the story. The definitions can assist mismatching students as the satiric elements are similar, but very different and can be difficult to distinguish from each other.

2. Suess, Dr. (1984). The butter battle book (1st ed.). New York, NY: Random House Books for Young Readers.

This is a story about the Yooks’ society who strongly believe bread should be eaten with butter side up and the Zooks’ society who believe that the bread should be eaten butter side down. The story is narrated by a grandfather towards his grandson about the two communities and how their increasingly threatening actions occurred. The story is read as a satire about the Cold War which was a “war” about the expanding knowledge of nuclear weapons in the world. The Butter Battle Book will function as a basic example of what satire is and how it works. As a class, we would read this basic English children’s book before the lesson on Gulliver’s Travels is started so the students can solidify their understanding of a satire before we delve into Jonathan Swift’s work, because that is more complicated and it is best to get the basics down first. I would ask the students to refer back to our classroom discussion and notes on this shorter book whenever they have questions or concerns about how the satire is functioning in Gulliver’s Travels. They can use the basic knowledge and transfer the same concepts to the more difficult text. The Dr. Suess book can be helpful for students who have matchup assets, especially, so that they know what a satire is and can match up where they see it in Gulliver’s Travels as they do in this shorter book.

3. Gulliver’s travels. (2015). Retrieved March 23, 2015, from Sparknotes website, http:// www.sparknotes.com/lit/gulliver/section1.rhtml

This text is simply a summary and analysis of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels. It is to be used as an accompaniment in my class, not a sole reference. Spark notes usually is frowned upon using in an English classroom, however, since there are ESL students in the class, this simplified summary companion can be very useful in the long run. It will make sure they actually know what is going on and that they’re not just following along and not getting anything out of the lesson. The analyses after each chapter summary are also a very helpful tool by implementing what the text means, why things are happening in the story, and how different themes are present in the text. I would ideally love for the students to read through this webpage before we read each section in class, so that they know what is happening and can pick on English techniques and grammar functions while listening to the original Jonathan Swift text. This can be beneficial for students with matchup gaps as it is a secondary source that reiterates the text for them.

4. Gulliver’s travels: character map. (2014). Retrieved March 23, 2015, from CliffsNotes website, http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/g/gullivers-travels/character-map

This is a chart about the various characters in Gulliver’s Travels. It simplifies who is who in relation to Gulliver and corresponding characters and what their purpose in the story is. This is an extremely good tool to have on hand and it would be passed out in handout form so that the students can look at it while reading always, especially those mismatching students. There are so many characters in this story and it can be easy to misplace someone or forget who they are. I would ask the students to have this chart out always while reading or researching the text so they can clarify any correlations between characters if they forget their place.

B. Media Resources

5. Gulliver’s travels. Rackham, A. Retrieved March 23, 2015, from Art Passions website, http:// rackham.artpassions.net/gullivergallery.html

This is a collection of illustrations by Arther Rackham that would be printed and handed out to the class as an accompaniment. The drawings are of Gulliver in his different stages and forms as he progresses throughout the story. This would be helpful for visual leaners in the class especially, however, it would be helpful for everyone in this ESL classroom for comprehension purposes. The illustrations are ordered in a series of first to last stages of the novel and can be a great help in putting together what the text is saying essentially to help fit where certain things are going on for mismatch students. The imagery makes everything more clear to everyone studying the text. After reading each section of the text, I would have the pictures either projected on the board or taped up in the front of the walls and ask the students to find the correlating picture to the chapter that it depicts.

6. GridClub Learning Channel (January 23, 2012). Gulliver’s Travels by Grid Club. Retrieved March 23, 2015 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PfNiYtklDc

This youtube video is a short, 4 minute animation. It concisely explains what happens in Jonathan’s Swift’s classic tale in a fun, light kind of way. I would present this video in the very first class upon teaching this lesson so the students with matchup assets or gaps know what is coming. I chose this video because it is-believe it or not- the least childish shortened version of the tale, so I felt it is appropriate for the class age. I would just ask the students to watch this before reading the story as a preface to show it was an adventure tale and display its interesting and fun characteristics.

C. Online Interactive Resources

7. Gulliver’s travels study guide. (2015). Retrieved March 23, 2015, from LitCharts website, http://www.litcharts.com/lit/gulliver-s-travels

This is an interactive website that easily summarizes Gulliver’s travels and displays different literary elements within while showing how they work. It is constructed as a big circle that is color coded according to which themes appear where. Students, particularly with matchup gaps, can scroll over different sections of each chapter, see where the most prominent elements are held and click on different parts to read about them further. This way, they can find where certain element lie in this text visually, so hopefully they can apply that knowledge to different school texts or outside texts that they choose to discover for themselves! Students would be asked to reference this interactive website when searching for certain satirical elements and various other themes or literary elements.

8. TabTale LTD. (2014). Gulliver’s Travels In Lilliput Land Story (1.6( [Apple] Retrieved from https:// itunes.apple.com/us/app/gullivers-travels-in-lilliput/id504560317?mt=8

This is actually an app and is subsequently interactive. It takes the player through the tale of Gulliver’s Travels after completing various levels or challenges while incorporating activities, sound effects, and other features. I chose this because kids are so focussed on their phones and technologies nowadays, so they can use this on their most preferred media to understand the story to a better extent. I would ask the students to play it in their free time, maybe before bed or some convenient time outside of class, and complete the levels at the same pace that they were reading.This is good for all students as reinforcement, but particularly students with mismatching problems, because the “hands on,” visual, and audio components are all incorporated for all sorts of learners and the fact that they are the character progressing in the story, will help overall understanding in the long run.

D. Instructional Resources

9. Marshall, L. (2003).Teacher’s guide to the core classics edition of jonathan swift’s gulper’s travels. Retrieved March 23, 2015 from Core Knowledge website http:// www.coreknowledge.org/mimik/mimik_uploads/documents/55/CCGT.pdf

This is an extensive teacher’s resource that tells the background of the author, Jonathan Swift, and the time period in which he wrote; the 18th century. It describes what Gulliver’s Travels is about and what the satire is commenting on and how. It contains several reading comprehension questions that can be applied in any classroom for high school level kids and can be beneficial for all students to solidify that they are taking away the proper concepts from the reading. This source ha “notes to teachers” for every section of the text to highlight certain aspects of what it being said and why. It also has an extensive vocabulary list that can be distributed out to students for reference when coming across more difficult English words. This is more of a guide for me as a teacher, however, I would probably break the more complicated language down and create an introductory powerpoint to show in the beginning of the lesson to everyone that explains a brief biography of Swift, what satire is, and what Swift was satirizing in the story.

E. Rationale

10. Movie segments to assess grammar goals. (2013). Retrieved March 23, 2015, from Movie Segment website, http://moviesegmentstoassessgrammargoals.blogspot.fr/2013/06/ gullivers-travels-verbs-and-adjectives.html

This source contains different components. It summarizes major grammatical functions like the subjunctive verb form and the passive voice, which are fundamentals necessary for understanding the English language. Expanding on these concepts, this website has exercises that implement the uses of each tense. It contains the movie adaptation of Gulliver’s Travels and breaks it down further to teach word phrase functions by showing small parts of the sentences and presenting fill in the blank activities. I chose this source specifically for ESL students who need assistance with basic English concepts. It functions as a reinforcement tool. We would first read the section and then if students were struggling, I would ask them to refer to this activity. They would watch the short clip from the movie that corresponded to what we read and then fill out the comprehensive grammar activity underneath it.

Objectives:

Students will be able to grasp the basic understanding of Gulliver’s Travels and be able to pick out where satire lies within.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.2

Students will be able to comprehend literary usage of certain words and phrase and pick out where in the text various ideas are developed by particular sentences, paragraphs, or large parts of the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.5

All of the mentioned texts above have a specific purpose for fostering new and continuing knowledge in various types of students. Assuming this is the first satiric work that the students are working with, because usually 10th grade is when this occurs, I would definitely start off with simply reading The Butter Battle Book by Dr. Suess with the all of the students in class. Following this, students will probably be wondering why they are reading a children’s book in a 10th grade classroom. A class discussion would further explore how the childish and seemingly ridiculous topics function as a commentary on a bigger, more importantly relevant topic. After discussing how the book functions as a satire, I would use the core knowledge teacher’s guide to present a brief biography and time lapse of Jonathan Swift, so the students know who wrote what we are about to read, Gulliver’s Travels. At this time, I would ask ESL learners to watch the short GridClub animation at home before coming to class the next day when we start reading actual text. This way, they know generally what the story will be about. Continuing on our discussion on satire, still with the whole class, the handout on satiric definitions would be given and reviewed for homework so they can be in the back of their minds at all times. This will serve as a tool for students who have trouble with mismatching or matchup gaps since the terms are similar. When we start reading the story, the character map chart will be given to all students and will be on hand always while reading in class or outside so that no confusions can be made about character relationships. For students with matchup gap difficulties, I will suggest them to refer to spark notes before classes when we are covering certain material or sections of the story. This way, they have already attained the basic summary or understanding of what is going to happen and what is going on in the story and can apply their knowledge to actively participate in class. As stated earlier, for ESL students, the illustrations will be displayed on or over the board at all times and will be there for students to match up where we are in the text visually so they can make the correlation to the literary text if they don’t automatically understand the imagery. When working on activities or short assignments about themes within the text, all students will be required to look at LitCharts’ interactive website that displays a color coded depiction of where each theme occurs in the text in every chapter or section. For the ESL students who are struggling with more basic grammatical functions, the movie segment website activity will be provided to solidify their understanding on the passive language within the text. Lastly, the App source is completely optional for students. It will be mentioned to them so they can access the game for more experience with the story outside the classroom or in downtime after content is covered within the class.