Creating Suspense Lesson 1: Analyzing Literary Devices in Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death"

Lesson Content

• Lesson Plan Template:

  General Lesson Plan

• Learning Objectives: What should students know and be able to do as a result of this lesson?

  
  

  Students will be able to:

  • cite appropriate and thorough textual evidence to support their analysis
  • make inferences about the text
  • determine the meaning of unknown words and phrases
  • analyze the impact of specific words and phrases on mood

• Prior Knowledge: What prior knowledge should students have for this lesson?

  
  

  Students should be familiar with:

  • The narrative technique of mood analysis of diction to create mood the literary techniques of imagery, foreshadowing, and setting
  • How to use context clues to determine the meaning of unknown words

• Guiding Questions: What are the guiding questions for this lesson?

  
  
  • What strategies can we use to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words in the story?
  • How does Poe utilize specific words and phrases to create a suspenseful mood?
  • How does Poe utilize imagery, foreshadowing, and setting to create a suspenseful mood?

• Teaching Phase: How will the teacher present the concept or skill to students?

  
  
  1. To begin, review the definition of mood with students.
     • Mood is the atmosphere of a piece of writing; it’s the emotions a selection arouses in a reader through diction, figurative language, and other choices.
  2. Tell students that in this lesson we will be reading a short story, "The Masque of the Red Death" by author Edgar Allan Poe.
  3. Review the guiding questions for the lesson with students. You might want to keep these guiding questions posted on the board for students to refer to throughout the lesson.
  4. Before beginning the story, review with students the literary devices they will analyze in Poe's story. The devices to review are: setting, diction, imagery, foreshadowing.
  5. Be sure all students have a copy of the short story (attached). Distribute the Analysis and Vocabulary handout (attached) to each student.
     • Note- the definitions for these words and comments about the words in the context of the story are provided in the teacher vocabulary handout. (attached)
  6. To model fluency and strategies that a reader uses to make sense of a new text as they read, conduct a read-aloud/think-aloud to get students started with this story. Read the first paragraph aloud, pointing out specific aspects of the text such as vocabulary, literary devices, and connections to the mood.
  7. Model for students through thinking aloud how you might determine the meaning of the words and decide how they create the mood in the first paragraph.
     • “This word pestilence is an odd-sounding word. With how it is placed in the sentence, it seems like it is a thing. So, I am going to guess that the word is a noun. The narrator says the ‘pestilence’ had never been so fatal or hideous. I know fatal means deadly. I know hideous means horrible or frightful. So pestilence is deadly and horrible. The pestilence can kill people and it sounds like the dying process is pretty awful. Perhaps this word means illness. [Give students time to write some of your thoughts down on their vocabulary handout under the side labeled “preliminary definition of the word.”] When I look up the definition it says this is a deadly epidemic or disease.” [Have students write down the final definition.]
     • “Part of this disease causes people to feel sharp pains, then they get dizzy, and then they experience profuse bleeding at the pores. If I read a little further, the narrator describes scarlet stains, which I think come from blood, all over the victims’ bodies and especially on their faces. In the sentences before this, the narrator says the disease is characterized by redness and the horror of blood. It sounds like there is lots of blood everywhere on these victims when they get sick. Perhaps profuse bleeding means lots of bleeding. [Give students time to write some of your thoughts down on their vocabulary handout under the side labeled ‘preliminary definition of the word.’] When I look up the definition, it says profuse means abundant or a great amount. So this disease must make its victims bleed a lot all over their body.” [Have students write down the final definition.]
     • “I know the prefix ‘dis’ is Latin for apart or away. I know using context clues that this dissolution is a part of what victims are experiencing when they contract this disease because it says they experience sharp pains, dizziness, they bleed a lot at the pores, ‘with’ dissolution. The word ‘with’ makes it seem this is part of the disease. Something might be happening to each victim’s body because of this disease that is pulling it apart. [Give students time to write some of your thoughts down on their vocabulary handout under the side labeled “preliminary definition of the word.”] When I look up the definition in the dictionary, it says dissolution means breaking up or disintegrating.’This might mean that their skin or their body parts start to break up or decay as part of this disease.” [Have students write down the final definition.]
  8. Tell students that as you read the second paragraph aloud, they should circle or highlight any words or phrases that create a suspenseful mood in the story.
     • After reading this paragraph aloud, ask students what words and phrases they circled or highlighted that create a suspenseful mood. Help them with any additional words or phrases they missed. Provide feedback where needed.
  9. Continue this strategy with reading paragraph two.
     • Make sure to give students time to write notes on their handout Use the teacher handout to help you with the definitions and meanings in context and discuss how the words and phrases in this section create a suspenseful mood.
  10. Follow the same procedures for paragraphs three and four.
      • Have students circle or highlight any words or phrases that create a suspenseful mood as the paragraphs are read aloud
      • Read the paragraph aloud and conduct a think-aloud using the notes in the teacher handout for the text
      • Ask students what words they circled or highlighted that evoke a suspenseful mood. Provide clarification or correction where needed
      • Then model a think-aloud for determining the meanings of any unknown words and how words and phrases create a suspenseful mood, providing time for students to take notes on their handout

• Guided Practice: What activities or exercises will the students complete with teacher guidance?

  
  
  1. Put students into partners or small groups. Each partnership or group should continue with paragraphs 5-8 and work together to determine meanings of unknown vocabulary and discuss how the words and phrases within these paragraphs create a suspenseful mood.
  2. Students will repeat this process until they have completed the story through paragraph #8. As students work, the teacher should circulate and provide assistance where needed.
  3. When students are ready, bring them back together to discuss their findings and answer any questions students may have regarding the first 8 paragraphs. Use the teacher copy of the handout (attached) to help with this discussion. Allow students to correct their work as needed.

• Independent Practice: What activities or exercises will students complete to reinforce the concepts and skills developed in the lesson?

  
  
  1. Students will repeat the same process as in the guided practice activity, but for the remainder of the story (paragraphs #9-14) students will independently read the last of the text. and complete their handout.
  2. Students will then review their handout and prepare a brief oral presentation to answer the following question:
     • How does Poe utilize setting, diction, imagery, and foreshadowing to create the suspenseful mood?
  3. To prepare for their brief presentation, students will independently complete the Creating Suspense handout (attached) and highlight their best example from each section of the handout as they answer the presentation question.

• Closure: How will the teacher assist students in organizing the knowledge gained in the lesson?

  
  
  1. Divide the class into four quadrants.
     • Setting
     • Diction
     • Imagery
     • Foreshadowing
  2. Within their quadrant, students will orally share their examples from that section of the handout and the group will determine which examples to share with the class. Note: each student should have an example to share.
  3. Provide time for each group to share their findings.
  4. Close by revisiting the guiding questions from the beginning of the lesson.

• Summative Assessment

  
  

  Students will independently complete the Creating Suspense handout for this lesson.

• Formative Assessment

  
  

  The teacher can collect the Analysis and Vocabulary Handout from each student to determine their progress. Before the lesson begins, teachers may wish to assess students' prior knowledge and understanding of the following terms:

  • foreshadowing
  • setting
  • diction
  • imagery
  • mood

  During the lesson:

  • After students have read in partners or small groups paragraphs #5-8, and filled in the Analysis and Vocabulary handout for the words and phrases that create a suspenseful mood from that section of the story, the teacher will have the students come back together as a whole group. Through discussion and having students share their answers, the teacher will be able to determine if students are able to use various strategies to correctly determine the meanings of selected vocabulary words from the story, as well as if they are able to identify words and phrases that create a suspenseful mood.
  • After students have independently read the remainder of the story and completed the Analysis and Vocabulary handout, the teacher will check in with students through a class discussion as before. By having students report out their answers, teachers will be able to determine if students need correction or any additional modeling before they begin the next part of the lesson.

• Feedback to Students

  
  

  Students will receive verbal feedback from the teacher on their ability to identify and analyze Poe's use of foreshadowing, setting, diction, imagery, and how they create mood (in particular- suspense) as well as feedback on their use of various strategies to determine the meanings of selected words from the story (found on the Analysis and Vocabulary student handout).

  • Teachers will stop and provide verbal feedback on these skills and concepts after students have read paragraphs #5-8. Students can apply this feedback as they complete the remainder of the story on their own.
  • Teachers will provide verbal feedback on students' work after they have completed the story.

• Florida’s B.E.S.T. Benchmark Alignment Notes

  
  

  For multi-day/part lessons, the focus and supporting benchmarks may change for each part depending on the task students are engaged in and content covered.