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Samantha Sarantakis
English 611
Unit Title: Making Literary Connections and Confronting Real-Life Situations in Young Adult Literature
Section 1: Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, and Responding to Thematic Scenarios
Section 2: Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher, and Defining Connections
Section 3: Final Essay- Making Connections/Confronting Literary and Real-Life Situations
Grade Level: Lower or UpperLevelUndergraduateCollege Course/ High School Advanced Placement Course (would need to be adapted further)
Duration: 5-7 weeks, roughly two class days a week (broken down, it will be 1 hour and 15 minute sessions).
Unit Objectives: Students will be able to read and write critically by drawing upon self-reflective exercises that get students to explore the significance and impact of both personal and societal expectations in regards to real life situations and the connections the students bring to literary studies. This unit will break down first impressions (or their misreading of a text) and will challenge students to utilize their reflective viewpoints to define and respond to literature as a catalyst for addressing real world concerns/situations, and vice versa. The students will participate in group discussions that may result in verbal disagreements, yet this aspect will be important to the development of the class; students will be asked to consider what their peers have said and to use their peers’ responses in the self-reflection process throughout the unit. This self-reflection aspect will not only challenge students’ original conceptions of any given situation, it will also demand students learn to reference the texts and their peers’ responses to justify their claims—in other words, students cannot merely rely on their own opinions, but must provide credible evidence that should both support and refute their ideas. Students, at the end of the unit, will be able to participate in a conversation between two texts and between two worlds, literary and real life.
Reasoning: The unit requires students to read two Young Adult fiction novels, Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson and Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, that deals with various social and personal situations that students, regardless of their academic level, can relate to in some shape or form; additionally, students will come to recognize how their experiences with similar situations shape their responses to the novels. Cristina Bruns’s Why Literature explores the concept of immersion through self-reflection: “While a reflective stance towards texts may at times threaten an immersive one, my paper-writing experiences suggest that the worlds of some texts can only be fully recreated and experienced with a significant measure of intentional reflection” (65). The unit is broken into three sections, two of the sections will include comprehensive reading and writing exercises culminating in the third larger section where students will draw connections between the reading and writing exercises done previously. The final essay will ask students to compare and contrast, not merely the plot or themes of the novels, but their responses and the changes (if any) that occurred as they read. This essay will encourage students to make connections between the literary (fictional) world and the real (their own) world, and to confront their (mis)judgments about both worlds; in other words, the students will ask themselves how does literature become symbolic of the read world, and vice versa, and how can students use the experiences they already have to challenge their readings of literature and the world around them?
The various social and personal situations and implications in the novels will present scenarios where disagreement will occur, produce confusion as they attempt to understand the scenarios presented to them and their interpretations of said scenarios, and yield a conversation that may or may not have a “correct” answer. The goal of the unit is not to force students to adhere to a generic right or wrong answer, but to explore, through their confusion, social and personal experiences/expectations in relation to their reading and writing processes. Ultimately, this confusion will lead to the realization that literary studies, like real life, is not black and white, as Sheridan Blau writes in The Literature Workshop, “confusion represents a necessary starting point for any act of interpretation” (22). Through their confusion, students will explore Young Adult fiction literature as a catalyst for exploring and making sense of real life situations—from death to life, gender stereotypes, interpersonal relationships, et cetera.
Evaluations/Assessments: There will be informal work (i.e. group work) that will count towards their peer responding grade, several charts that students will fill out before, as, and after they read, and grading rubrics for the two informal papers and the formal paper. There will be one or two pop quizzes for this unit. Here is a list of where the grading falls for the unit:
- Group Work, graded on a scale of 1-3: 8 points (4 points each)
- Peer Responding, in conjunction with group work: 8 points (4 points each)
- Two mini-papers, 2-3 pages: 10 points (5 points each)
- Pop Quizzes: 4 points (2 points each)
- Final Paper for unit: 20 points
Total Points for Unit: 50
Hesitations/Questions: I am sure there may be a few students who have read one or both of these novels, so should I add a disclaimer that students should not spoil the novels?
Note about Lesson Plan: There may be lessons that are “missing,” as in I only included certain lessons due to constraints. For example, you may notice that it goes from Lesson 2 to Lesson 5, and so on.
Unit Title: Making Literary Connections and Confronting Real-Life Situations in Young Adult Literature
Section 1: Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, and Responding to Thematic Scenarios
Lesson 1: Introducing Speak, with a poem, “Listen,” by Anderson.
Objectives:Without giving students the authors name or the reason behind the poem, students will simply read the poem and discuss the implications of the poem as an introduction to the novel (also without knowing—if they have not read it—what the novel is about). The conversation will then move on to defining what the titles of both the poem and the novel could mean, therefore developing students’ voice in the classroom. For this lesson, the assessment will depend on student participation in a conversation both in groups and as a class.
Reasoning: Although it could be easier to introduce the book by having a photocopy of the cover of the book for students to write down their assumptions about what the novel may address, I was intrigued by a poem written in a later edition of the novel that I purchased for a friend who expressed an interest (my older copy, I will admit, is slightly worn) in reading the novel. The poem consists of a series of snippets from letters and emails from, and conversations the author had with, the readers and their responses to the novel—I decided this was the most appropriate gateway into the novel. The novel addresses some heavy handed concepts (rape, for instance), but what the poem shows is that these concepts are merely the backdrop to other “minor” issues. As Blau writes, in regards to the process of understanding the text: “We learn the text when we have to construct our own reading of it and when we articulate that reading” (152). Students will first explore their reading of the poem and what it means, and then consider what the poem suggests about the novel, therefore producing a conversation that asks them to consider their first impressions.
Materials: Copy of poem, “Listen;” white/chalkboard or overhead projector; pen/pencil; and dedicated notebook for class.
Procedure:
- Popcorn Reading: after handing out the poem to the class and they have read the poem to themselves then we will read the poem out loud where students can jump in at any time. (10 minutes)
- Students will write down anything they noticed about the poem: What did they find interesting? What raised questions for them? Why? (5-7 minutes)
- Students will get into groups (groups of three, four if needed) to discuss what they noticed. Students will write down what their peers say about the poem so that they have a record of what others thought. (5-7 minutes)
- On a board or overhead projector, there will be a “chart” that will help direct the conversation. In one column students will address the concept of “you” and in the other column students will address the concept of “me.” Still in their groups, students will consider the following: Why is the poem broken up into stanzas that appear almost conversational (i.e. “you,” and “me”)? What is the significance of this format? What role do the “you” and “me” play? How do you, as the reader, fit into the poem? (10-15 minutes).
- A third column will be added to “chart” on the board/overhead projector that is titled “us,” where the students’ responses will be recorded. As a whole class, one member of each group will list two or three things that their group noticed about poem. Another member of the group will pick one of the other two columns to discuss what the group came up with and the last group member will discuss the last of the columns. (30-35 minutes)
- For the remainder of class, students will consider what the title of the poem, “Listen,” and the title of the novel, Speak, means to them. Questions to consider: Define “listen” and “speak” in your own words. How do the titles/definitions compliment each other? How do the titles/definitions differ? Although you know what “Listen” is about, you should write down what you think Speak will be about. (10-15 minutes)
Homework/Continuing the conversation: Students will continue to work on the questions about the titles and will start reading Speak pages 1-46, the section titled “First Marking Period.” The questions will develop into the students’ interpretations of the first section of the novel, and they will discuss how their original impression of the title may or may not have clouded their reading experience. Were the students able to “listen” to the novel?
Hesitations/Questions: I was afraid to introduce this section with a poem that hit upon the same concepts as the novel, also written by the same author, in fear that the poem may yield a negative response to the novel. I hope that the poem would serve as a catalyst for a conversation centered around the idea that the premise behind the novel and the poem is that anything—rape, bulling, art class, whatever—can happen to anyone, to you, to me, to them; in essence, I wanted to draw a connection to the students and to elicit a response even if that response is negative. Would it have been better to just give the copy of the cover of the novel for the students to explore instead? Would the responses have been limited to just an explanation of the image, rather than an explanation of the students’ response to the cover, that may not speak to everyone?
Handout 1: Copy of “Listen” by Anderson.
Listen
You write to us
from Houston, Brooklyn, Peoria,
Rye, NY,
LA, DC, Everyanywhere USA to
my mailbox, My
Space Face
Book
A livejournal of bffs whispering
Onehundredthousand whispers to
Melinda and
Me.
You:
I was raped, too
sexually assaulted in seventh
grade,
tenth grade, the summer after
graduation,
at a party
i was 16
i was 14
i was 5 and he did it for three
years
i loved him
i didn’t even know him.
He was my best friend’s brother,
my grandfather, father, mommy’s
boyfriend,
my date
my cousin
my coach
i met him for the first time that
night and —
four guys took turns, and —
i’m a boy and this happened to
me, and —
… I got pregnant I gave up my
daughter for adoption …
did it happen to you, too?
U 2?
You:
i wasn’t raped, but
my dad drinks, but
i hate talking, but
my brother was shot, but
i am outcast, but
my parents split up, but
i am clanless, but
we lost our house, but
i have secrets – seven years of secrets
and i cut
myself my friends cut
we all cut cut cut
to let out the pain
… my 5-year-old cousin was
raped –
he’s beginning to act out now …
do you have suicidal thoughts?
do you want to kill him?
You:
Melinda is a lot like this girl I
know
No she’s a lot like
(me)
i am MelindaSarah
i am MelindaRogelio i am MelindaMegan, MelindaAmberMelindaStephenTori
PhillipNavdiaTiaraMateoKristinaBeth
it keeps hurting, but
but
but
but
this book cracked my shell
it keeps hurting I hurt, but
but your book cracked my shell.
You:
I cried when I read it.
I laughed when I read it
is that dumb?
I sat with the girl —
you know, that girl —
I sat with her because nobody sits with
her at lunch
and I’m a cheerleader, so there.
speakchanged my life
cracked my shell
made me think
about parties
gave me
wings this book
opened my mouth
i whispered, cried
rolled up my sleeves i
hate talking but
I am trying.
You made me remember who I
am.
Thanks.
P.S. Our class is gonna analyze this thing to death.
Me:
Me:
Me:weeping
Lesson 3: Themes in Speak
Objectives: In this lesson, students will elaborate on the themes they have encountered in three of the four sections in the novel. The students will use an organizational chart that they will fill out and then use to converse in groups; the chart is designed to have students fill in three to four themes they have come across as they read, to find a quote from the text that pertains to the theme they listed, and then explain the relevance of the theme and quote they chose to the sections they have read. Students will then make note of and comment on their peers’ discussion of the themes they noticed and the relevance of the theme.
Reasoning: After reading Constructing the Innocence of the First Textual Encounter, by Professors Alex Mueller, Cheryl Nixon, and Rajini Srikanth, I was intrigued by the concept of letting the silence reign, to not fill the silence in with my “knowledge,” but to instead allow students the chance to see that not even I know everything, even though I am assigning the text; “The questions the instructor poses, the comments s/he makes that are offered in a spirit of shared exploration, the “perhapses,” and “maybes” that constitute the interpretative footholds—all these can position the instructor as equally “baffled” by the text as the student but eager to embark on a textual journey” (5). This is where my lesson comes in, as I allow students to develop their own ideas, to fill their own silence, without my interference. Although I will read the worksheets completed in class and will provide feedback, I am hoping that by allowing students to recognize that their “textual innocence” is a strength rather than a weakness, and that by giving them an opportunity to use their innocence to go on a “textual journey,” that they will be able to continue the process of developing their own ideas without fearing they are wrong (5).
Materials:Speak, by Anderson; pen/pencil; dedicated class notebook; and Worksheet 1-two sided.
Procedure:
- Students will have read up to the third section titled “Third Marking Period,” and will have taken notes on or written in the margins of the text about what they noticed as they read. This will help them find quotes as they work independently and then in a group on a worksheet provided. I will be walking around and occasionally participating in the conversation if needed, but I want the work to be done by the students and not discouraged or guided by me at this time. The handout is to be handed in at the end of class for an informal grade, on a scale of 1-3, for group work.
- Hand out Worksheet 1, Side A: Students will fill in the boxes designated for “Themes;” then find a quote from the text that makes this theme apparent, making sure to cite the page number that they found the quote on; and then, in their own words, explaining why that theme is relevant to the whole novel so far and explaining the significance of the quote. (25-30 minutes)
- Working in groups of three or four, students will discuss the themes they have written and on Worksheet 1, Side B, students will write down any themes that their peers mention and that they have not already written on Side A. They will not need to write a quote for this part of the exercise, but they should make note of the significance of the theme according to their peers. Students should also offer suggestions to their peers about anything that the others may not have considered in their support of the theme they chose, and if there are any questions, students should feel free to ask them after everyone has spoken (so make sure to write your questions down!). (25-30 minutes).
- Open Discussion—this discussion, while facilitated by me, will mostly be led by the students as they discuss their thoughts and questions to the whole class: What do you make of the ending of the third section? Did anyone notice any themes in the ending of this section, and if so, what were the themes you noticed? Any other themes you want to discuss or have questions about? (15-20 minutes)
Homework: Finish Speak. Continue taking notes and/or writing in the margins whenever anything interests you or when you have a question about the novel. As you finish the novel, consider two to three themes from the novel that interests you the most, as this will help you with your final paper for this unit and for the mini-paper coming up.