| Code |
Description |
| ELA.7.R.1.1: | Analyze the impact of setting on character development and plot in a literary text. |
| ELA.7.R.1.2: | Compare two or more themes and their development throughout a literary text.Clarifications:
Clarification 1: For the purposes of this benchmark, theme is not a one- or two-word topic, but a complete thought that communicates the author’s message.
Clarification 2: Students should continue to work with the concept of universal themes, although mastery isn’t expected until 9th grade. A universal theme is an idea that applies to anyone, anywhere, regardless of cultural differences. Examples include but are not limited to an individual’s or a community’s confrontation with nature; an individual’s struggle toward understanding, awareness, and/or spiritual enlightenment; the tension between the ideal and the real; the conflict between human beings and advancements in technology/science; the impact of the past on the present; the inevitability of fate; the struggle for equality; and the loss of innocence. |
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| ELA.7.R.1.3: | Explain the influence of narrator(s), including unreliable narrator(s), and/or shifts in point of view in a literary text.Clarifications:
Clarification 1: An unreliable narrator is one who lacks credibility. Because all information is being conveyed through this untrustworthy source, readers have to use inferencing to establish what is likely to be true. Narrators can be unreliable for many reasons including purposeful dishonesty, a lack of information or background knowledge about what that information means, mental illness, or self-deception.
Clarification 2: "Shifts in point of view” refers to a change in the narrator’s point of view done for effect. Changes can be in degree and/or person: for example, a shift from third-person limited to third-person omniscient or from first-person limited to third-person limited.
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| ELA.7.R.1.4: | Analyze the impact of various poetic forms on meaning and style.Clarifications:
Clarification 1: Poetic forms used for this benchmark are sonnet and villanelle. Clarification 2: Instruction in this benchmark should focus on how the structure of each poetic form affects its meaning.
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This cluster includes the following access points.
Vetted resources educators can use to teach the concepts and skills in this topic.
| Name |
Description |
| Comparing Universal Themes in Shakespeare’s "Sonnet 18": | Study William Shakespeare's "Sonnet 18" to determine and compare two universal themes and how they are developed throughout the sonnet. |
| How Form Contributes to Meaning in Shakespeare’s "Sonnet 18": | Explore the form and meaning of William Shakespeare's “Sonnet 18.” In this interactive tutorial, you’ll examine how specific words and phrases contribute to meaning in the sonnet, select the features of a Shakespearean sonnet in the poem, identify the solution to a problem, and explain how the form of a Shakespearean sonnet contributes to the meaning of "Sonnet 18." |
| A Giant of Size and Power – Part Two: How the Form of a Sonnet Contributes to Meaning in "The New Colossus": | Continue to explore the significance of the famous poem “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus, lines from which are engraved on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.
In Part Two of this two-part series, you’ll identify the features of a sonnet in the poem "The New Colossus." By the end of this tutorial, you should be able to explain how the form of a sonnet contributes to the poem's meaning.
Make sure to complete Part One before beginning Part Two.
Click HERE to launch "A Giant of Size and Power -- Part One: Exploring the Significance of 'The New Colossus.'" |
| Analyzing the Beginning of The Red Umbrella – Part Two: How Setting Influences Characters: | Continue to examine how setting influences characters in excerpts from The Red Umbrella by Christina Diaz Gonzalez with this interactive tutorial.
This is part 2 in a two-part series. Make sure to complete Part One first. Click HERE to launch "Analyzing the Beginning of The Red Umbrella -- Part One: How Setting Influences Events." |
| A Giant of Size and Power -- Part One: Exploring the Significance of "The New Colossus": | In Part One, explore the significance of the famous poem “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus, lines from which are engraved on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.
This famous poem also happens to be in the form of a sonnet. In Part Two of this two-part series, you’ll identify the features of a sonnet in the poem. By the end of this tutorial series, you should be able to explain how the form of a sonnet contributes to the poem's meaning. Make sure to complete both parts!
Click HERE to launch "A Giant of Size and Power -- Part Two: How the Form of a Sonnet Contributes to Meaning in 'The New Colossus.'" |
| Analyzing the Beginning of The Red Umbrella – Part One: How Setting Influences Events: | Explore excerpts from the beginning of the historical fiction novel The Red Umbrella by Christina Diaz Gonzalez in this two-part series. In Part One, you'll examine how setting influences events. In Part Two, you'll examine how setting influences characters.
Make sure to complete both parts! Click HERE to launch Part Two. |
| Name |
Description |
| "A Retrieved Reformation" by O. Henry -Comparing Themes: | Students will read O. Henry's "A Retrieved Reformation" and an additional O. Henry selection to compare the themes of love and redemption. They will identify supporting details of the themes in each text and use them to support their analysis in a short written response. |
| Comparing Themes in "A Christmas Memory": | In this lesson, students will read the autobiographical story "A Christmas Memory" by Truman Capote and view a teacher-approved film version of the same story to compare the themes of “nostalgia fosters self-reflection,” and “the love between two friends cannot be easily forgotten.” Students will then write an extended paragraph comparing how the two themes interact within each of the modes. |
| Setting and Plot in "The Devil's Arithmetic": | Students will have read chapter 1 of The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen. Throughout the reading of chapters 2-4, students will analyze why and how the setting supports characterization and plot development. |
Vetted resources students can use to learn the concepts and skills in this topic.
| Title |
Description |
| Comparing Universal Themes in Shakespeare’s "Sonnet 18": | Study William Shakespeare's "Sonnet 18" to determine and compare two universal themes and how they are developed throughout the sonnet. |
| How Form Contributes to Meaning in Shakespeare’s "Sonnet 18": | Explore the form and meaning of William Shakespeare's “Sonnet 18.” In this interactive tutorial, you’ll examine how specific words and phrases contribute to meaning in the sonnet, select the features of a Shakespearean sonnet in the poem, identify the solution to a problem, and explain how the form of a Shakespearean sonnet contributes to the meaning of "Sonnet 18." |
| A Giant of Size and Power – Part Two: How the Form of a Sonnet Contributes to Meaning in "The New Colossus": | Continue to explore the significance of the famous poem “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus, lines from which are engraved on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.
In Part Two of this two-part series, you’ll identify the features of a sonnet in the poem "The New Colossus." By the end of this tutorial, you should be able to explain how the form of a sonnet contributes to the poem's meaning.
Make sure to complete Part One before beginning Part Two.
Click HERE to launch "A Giant of Size and Power -- Part One: Exploring the Significance of 'The New Colossus.'" |
| Analyzing the Beginning of The Red Umbrella – Part Two: How Setting Influences Characters: | Continue to examine how setting influences characters in excerpts from The Red Umbrella by Christina Diaz Gonzalez with this interactive tutorial.
This is part 2 in a two-part series. Make sure to complete Part One first. Click HERE to launch "Analyzing the Beginning of The Red Umbrella -- Part One: How Setting Influences Events." |
| A Giant of Size and Power -- Part One: Exploring the Significance of "The New Colossus": | In Part One, explore the significance of the famous poem “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus, lines from which are engraved on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.
This famous poem also happens to be in the form of a sonnet. In Part Two of this two-part series, you’ll identify the features of a sonnet in the poem. By the end of this tutorial series, you should be able to explain how the form of a sonnet contributes to the poem's meaning. Make sure to complete both parts!
Click HERE to launch "A Giant of Size and Power -- Part Two: How the Form of a Sonnet Contributes to Meaning in 'The New Colossus.'" |
| Analyzing the Beginning of The Red Umbrella – Part One: How Setting Influences Events: | Explore excerpts from the beginning of the historical fiction novel The Red Umbrella by Christina Diaz Gonzalez in this two-part series. In Part One, you'll examine how setting influences events. In Part Two, you'll examine how setting influences characters.
Make sure to complete both parts! Click HERE to launch Part Two. |
