Cluster 2: Craft and StructureArchived

This formative assessment asks students to analyze Langston Hughes' poem "Minstrel Man" and Jacob Lawrence's painting "Tombstone" as they respond to several short-answer questions and develop a follow-up essay. A scoring rubric is included for teachers to evaluate student responses.

Type: Formative Assessment

This lesson is the third in a series of three based on O. Henry's short story "The Gift of the Magi." The previous lessons provide instruction in using context clues to determine word meanings and in analyzing the significance of literary devices in a short story. In this final lesson, students will apply their knowledge of context clues from lesson one while also working to analyze irony across two texts, "The Gift of the Magi" and "The Shivering Beggar," a poem by Robert Graves.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will analyze the contribution of point of view, setting, allusion, plot, and irony to the development of theme in O. Henry's classic short story, "The Gift of the Magi." Students will write an extended paragraph explaining how one device contributes to the theme. This lesson is the second in a series of three based on "The Gift of the Magi." The previous lesson provides instruction in using context clues to determine word meaning.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will analyze Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery." Students will first view the thrilling movie trailer to hook them into the lesson. Students will then read the short story, work to determine the meaning of selected vocabulary words from the text, and answer guided reading questions. In the summative assessment, students will become newspaper reporters and write an article to describe the events of the lottery, as if they were present on the day the lottery took place. This lesson will take students to a different time period - when winning the lottery felt more like losing! Included with the lesson are guiding questions and an answer key, as well as a writing checklist and rubric.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will read the poem "The War After the War" by Debora Greger and examine the three different speaker perspectives within the poem. This lesson provides an opportunity for students to examine and analyze figurative language and perspective, as well as craft their own poem using multiple perspectives and figurative language. Graphic organizers, answer keys, and a poem writing rubric have been included with the lesson. 

Type: Lesson Plan

This close reading lesson focuses on an excerpt from Markus Zusak's novel The Book Thief. Students will close read the text multiple times to discover Zusak's powerful writing style, as well as the power of words through the eyes of Liesel, the novel's protagonist. As students consider Zusak's style, they will build their comprehension of the text and write an analytical essay to demonstrate final interpretations and understandings.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson focuses on similes, metaphors, personification, irony, imagery and allusion in Richard Connell's short story, "The Most Dangerous Game." Students first create a "Silly Sheet" study aid for these literary devices, and then they engage in a "scavenger hunt" where they find examples of these devices in the story. Students then work in small groups to interpret the meanings of these devices within the context of the story. Finally, students will individually write an essay analyzing the effect that these devices have on the story as a whole. The "scavenger hunt" handout and answer key, two PowerPoints, and the directions for the essay with a planning sheet and rubric are included.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will conduct close readings of several extended text excerpts from Frankenstein in which the creature is the narrator. The students will utilize a text-coding strategy during the first reading of the text and follow up with an analysis of selected vocabulary words from the text. During the second close reading, students will answer text-dependent questions about the text that focus on how the creature changes and what causes those changes. Students will then participate in a Socratic Seminar. As a summative assessment for the lesson, students will write extended paragraph responses for three questions.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this close reading lesson, students will read William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" one chunk at a time to examine elements of plot, culture, setting, and point of view that contribute to the mystery and suspense that lead to its dark, even terrifying, ending.

Type: Lesson Plan

There's more to plot than identifying the series of events in a story. After viewing a PowerPoint presentation on plot structure, students will read and analyze the plots of three different short stories (as a class, in small groups, and individually). Then, they will use an online interactive plot structure tool to diagram the plot lines. This lesson also includes a writing assessment with rubric.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students often have difficulty envisioning and making sense of a story that is set in a markedly different time or circumstance than their own. This two-day activity introduces students to the dystopian society of 1984 by George Orwell. By analyzing Orwell's carefully chosen words, details, repetitions, and characterizations in these first few pages, students can construct a strong understanding of some of the key features of this society that will give them a solid framework for comprehending the rest of the novel. Doing this kind of close reading work also reinforces to students that authors do not randomly select the details they include in a text; they choose words carefully to create a mood or construct a particular image of a character or place in a reader's mind. The overriding question that students should be able to answer at the end of this exercise is: What can we understand about Winston Smith and the society he lives in based on the descriptive details George Orwell includes in the first few pages of 1984?

Type: Lesson Plan

A study of Charlotte Perkins Gillman's short story, "The Yellow Wall-Paper", this lesson touches upon literary elements such as setting, characterization, symbol and narration, in addition to addressing the social and historical aspects of the author and her times. There is a preceding lesson at the same location that speaks to a woman's role in society during the early part of the 20th Century.

Type: Lesson Plan

The focus of this lesson is to have students rewrite the ending of All Quiet on the Western Front. The newly created ending must include some form of irony in order to stay with the ironic elements of the book. Students will then peer edit each other's ending, and then revise their final draft. Finally, students will create a new cover for the book in which they will reveal their new title to the text.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will explore poetic expression, both written and spoken, and evaluate its significance as a medium for social commentary. Students will also examine literary devices including metaphor, simile, symbolism, and point of view.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students learn about the usefulness of annotation in making diverse connections with a text that lead to deep analysis. They then make, revise, and publish annotations for a short piece of text.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson (part 2 of 2 in a unit), students will read and analyze literary devices in Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery." Students will practice text-coding the story to note uses of characterization and references to tradition. Students will complete a handout where they will analyze how Jackson creates suspense through the use of setting, imagery, diction, and foreshadowing. Students will also compare/contrast a short (ten minute) film version of "The Lottery" to Jackson's story. Students will also participate in a Socratic Seminar covering topics such as Jackson's use of irony, tone, theme, and symbolism. For the summative assessment, students will write an essay comparing and contrasting Edgar Allan Poe's use of suspense with Jackson's, making a claim as to which author more successfully creates a suspenseful mood.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will read and analyze literary devices used in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death." They will read the first part of the story with support and modeling from the teacher, the next part in small groups, and the final section on their own. Students will examine Poe's use of imagery, foreshadowing, simile, personification, symbolism, and characterization. Students will also use various strategies to determine the meaning of selected vocabulary within the context of the story, as well as work to identify word choices that evoke a sense of time and place for the setting of the story. In the summative assessment, students will be able to explain how Poe creates suspense in his story, and they will be able to determine a theme from the story with support from the text. 

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will review the key terms: diction, denotation, and connotation. Working in groups, they will determine denotative and connotative meanings of various words and discuss how this choice of diction relates to author's meaning and tone. The lesson culminates with a short creative writing activity in which students use connotative diction to convey a particular tone.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson supports the implementation of the academic standards in the 9-10 classroom. It includes the literary text as well as templates for organization and links to pertinent materials. The purpose of this lesson is for students to read, understand, and analyze poetry. Students will analyze the poem, "To an Athlete Dying Young" for use of figurative language, word choice, imagery, tone, style, and theme.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will conduct a close reading of a short story, "My Watch: An Instructive Little Tale," by Mark Twain. For the first reading, students will focus on story elements and selected academic vocabulary. In the second reading, students will analyze the structure of the text and the effects that are created by that structure. In the final reading, students will analyze figurative language used in the story and how it impacts meaning and tone. Graphic organizers to help students for the second and third reading are provided, along with completed organizers for teachers to use as possible answer keys. The summative assessment, in the form of an extended response paragraph, will require students to determine the central idea of the text and how it is shaped throughout the story. 

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson supports the implementation of the academic standards in the 9-10 classroom. It includes the literary text as well as templates for organization and links to pertinent materials. The purpose of this lesson is for students to read, understand, and analyze poetry through the use of close reading and scaffolded learning tasks. Students will learn the format of a villanelle and analyze how that format contributes to the tone of the poem. At the conclusion of the unit, students will write an essay that prompts students to use textual evidence to support their claim.

Type: Lesson Plan

The goal of this lesson is that students will be able to analyze and interpret two pastoral poems, "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" by Christopher Marlowe and "Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd" by Sir Walter Raleigh, with an emphasis on the theme of love and its expression. The analysis will culminate with the students creating modern interpretations of the two poems. Hand-outs of the poems, questions to aid analysis, and a model modern interpretation are provided.

Type: Lesson Plan

I Declare War Part 2 is an extension of Part 1; therefore, the lessons must be done in sequential order. In Part 2, students will use the TPC(F)ASTT analysis chart to analyze "Dulce Et Decorum Est" by Wilfred Owen and write a comparative analysis of Owen's views on war versus Lincoln's views and examine the strategies they use to bring their viewpoints across. The poetry analysis of "Dulce Et Decorum Est" can be used for pre-AP preparation or to introduce AP Literature students to literary analysis at the beginning of the year before they attempt more complex poems.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson (the third in a three-lesson unit), students will analyze an excerpt from Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried. Working collaboratively and independently, students will explore the diction, images, details, language and syntax of the text. The summative assessment requires students to write an essay analyzing how the author uses language and literary techniques to convey the experience of the soldiers in the Vietnam War. Supporting handouts and materials are provided.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is lesson two of a three-part unit. This lesson should take approximately 2-3 class periods. In this lesson, students analyze poems from the Brave New Voices series. They will identify literary devices such as symbolism, imagery, and figurative language and find textual evidence to support analysis of these devices as well as each poem's title, theme and tone. To accomplish this, students will complete a close reading of three poems using the T-SIFTT (Title, Symbols, Imagery, Tone, Theme) pre-Advanced Placement strategy from College Board.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson provides students with an opportunity to read, analyze and interpret William Shakespeare's "The Seven Ages of Man." Students are then asked to compare and contrast the different ages of man identified in the monologue and those that they developed as a class prior to reading the text.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson (part one of three in a unit), students will work in small groups to analyze the language of Emily Dickinson's poem, "Tell all the truth but tell it slant". Student interests will generate research on Emily Dickinson's poetry, her time, and audiences to better understand the recursive nature of writing that authors practice. While individually developing language skills, students will practice a close reading of the poem "The Soul Selects her own Society" and create a re-envisioned poem using language resources and vocabulary development exercises. Class discussions will center on evaluating the effectiveness of the Dickinson poems studied. The culminating activity will include a response paper that examines the recursive nature of writing as experienced through the small group, research, individual exercises, and class discussion.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson teaches students to identify and analyze conflict, suspense, and sequence within a text using the short story "The Sniper" by Liam O' Flaherty. Students will complete a Vocabulary Chart to learn new vocabulary used throughout the text. Students will also complete short responses to comprehension questions to analyze conflict and suspense.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson introduces four simple, easy-to-identify context clues intended to teach students to use them as they read challenging texts independently. Denotative and connotative meanings are explained and illustrated in the context of the story. Students apply their learning from the beginning of this lesson to a first reading of the beloved story "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry. This short context-clues lesson and the accompanying quiz, activity, and chart are easily adaptable to use as a segue to the first reading of any challenging novel, short story, or play where vocabulary may be especially difficult and a need to teach and/or review context clues is essential.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson (lesson one in a two-part unit), students will read Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.'s short story "Harrison Bergeron" examining the usage of literary elements in order to develop an objective summary describing how the author uses language to portray characterization, impact tone and mood, and develop the central ideas of the text. Students will be able to remark upon/critique the author's criticism of society through his combination of the above elements.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will analyze character motivation, dialogue, and theme by performing a close reading of a scene from Macbeth. By breaking down the Shakespearean language and rewriting the text in modern day language, students will input their new dialogue into an internet based program called GoAnimate to transform their new version of the text into an anime cartoon movie. Students will use this cartoon in a formal presentation to the class where they will point out literary elements from the story and describe the motivations and actions of the characters.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson (part 2 in a 2-part unit), students will review crucial details present/omitted in a film treatment (2081) of Vonneguts's "Harrison Bergeron," using a Venn diagram to record their observations. Students will use their diagram to compose a one to two page objective summary of their findings, drawing parallels between the original work and the film in regard to literary elements, author's purpose, audience, etc. and their effects on the overall meaning of the works.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this 4 day lesson, students will be completing a comprehension instructional sequence (CIS). Using Robert Frost's "The Road not Taken" and Shakespeare's "The Seven Ages of Man," students will read, code text, decode difficult vocabulary, and engage in deep academic discussion regarding both authors' views on fate. At the end of the lesson, students will complete an extended writing assignment using the knowledge built from the previous 3 days.

Type: Lesson Plan

The goal of this lesson is that students will be able to analyze and interpret the ways in which an author's style (use of literary devices) develops the author's purpose, tone, and theme found in complex and challenging texts. Close-reading skills culminate in paragraph writing (Lesson 2) and then a style analysis essay (Lesson 3) in which students analyze how an author creates meaning through deliberate choices of devices of language.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson is part one of a 3-part unit. The goal of Lesson 1 is that students will be able to identify and explain the effect of literary devices and what they reveal about the author's purpose, tone, and theme found within a specific passage. In Lesson 2, students will write paragraphs based on the devices found in the passage and their meaning. In Lesson 3, students will write an essay based on the prompt in Lesson 1 and using the activities of both Lessons 1 and 2.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will compare and contrast the tone and theme of two poems about death. Students will annotate text, complete a directed note taking organizer and essay organizer, and will write a compare/contrast essay.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will conduct several close readings of an excerpt from the prologue of The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. For the first close reading, students will focus on identifying the narrator and select academic vocabulary. In the second reading, students will analyze different examples of figurative language within the prologue. They will focus on how the word choices impact the tone of the novel and what effect it has on the reader. During the final close reading, students will explore the persona of the narrator. The summative assessment is a two-paragraph writing assignment which will require students to discuss how Zusak's use of figurative language enhances the story. Students will also examine how the structure of the text sets the tone for the rest of the novel.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will read the O. Henry short story "Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen." Through scaffold learning tasks, the students will analyze the two main characters and their interactions throughout the story. Students will practice using various strategies to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words in context. Students will also analyze the author's word choice, including his use of figurative language, and its impact on the tone of the story. These activities will build toward students' participation in a Socratic Seminar as the summative assessment for the lesson. The text of the story, reading comprehension questions, a teacher guide to assist with discussion, a vocabulary handout, and Socratic Seminar questions are all included within the lesson.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson is the first of three interrelated lessons in a unit which use both literary and informational text, and fine arts (photography and paintings) to convey the theme(s) of immigration, shared American ideals, and civic responsibilities in a democracy. The first lesson asks students to analyze "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus. Students' understanding of text and earlier waves of immigration will be fostered by viewing photographs of immigrants to Ellis Island.

Type: Lesson Plan

Interrupted reading is a close reading technique that consists of dividing a passage of text into short chunks and pausing the reading after each section in order for the student to consider possible responses. This type of reading helps students connect with the text by requiring that they summarize, look for devices, make predictions, etc., as they are reading. This technique helps students to build confidence as they are forced to slow down and notice detail, and it is a tool to help build analysis and commentary skills. Passages from Annie Dillard's From an American Childhood, Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried and Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain are utilized in this lesson.

Type: Lesson Plan

Explore and explain multiple points of view in the story "The Overcoat" by Nikolai Gogol, which is set in 19th century St. Petersburg, Russia. In this interactive tutorial, you'll also observe the culture of this society from multiple angles. 

This is the second tutorial in a two-part series. Before completing this tutorial, click here to launch Part One.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Learn multiple points of view in the story "The Overcoat" by Nikolai Gogol. In this two-part interactive tutorial, you’ll study excerpts from this story set in 19th century St. Petersburg, Russia. By the end of this tutorial series, you should be able to explain how the multiple points of view within the story allows readers to observe the culture of this society from multiple angles.

Make sure to complete both parts of this series! Click here to launch Part Two. 

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Practice analyzing word choices in "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe, including word meanings, subtle differences between words with similar meanings, and emotions connected to specific words. In this interactive tutorial, you will also analyze the impact of specific word choices on the meaning of the poem.

This is Part Two of a two-part series. Part One should be completed before beginning Part Two. Click HERE to open Part One.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Practice analyzing word choices in "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe in this interactive tutorial. In this tutorial, you will examine word meanings, examine subtle differences between words with similar meanings, and think about emotions connected to specific words. You will also analyze the impact of specific word choices on the meaning of the poem.

This tutorial is Part One of a two-part series on Poe's "The Raven." Click HERE to open Part Two.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Practice using textual details and connotative meanings to determine a speaker's/narrator's tone in this two-part interactive tutorial. You'll also analyze the impact of word choices on the meaning and tone of the text in excerpts from Ayn Rand's dystopian novella Anthem.

Make sure to complete Part One before you begin Part Two. Click HERE to open Part One.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Practice using textual details and connotative meanings to help you determine a speaker's/narrator's tone in this two-part interactive tutorial. You'll also analyze the impact of word choices on the meaning and tone of a text. This tutorial series features excerpts from Ayn Rand's dystopian novella Anthem.

Part One should be completed before beginning Part Two. Click HERE to launch Part Two.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Examine the use of hyperbole and personification in the prologue of the novel The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. In this interactive tutorial, you'll practice identifying examples of hyperbole and personification within the text. You'll also learn how these two types of figurative language help authors convey their intended meaning.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Learn to identify figurative language within poetry, including the use of similes, metaphors, and personification. In this interactive tutorial, we'll analyze William Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” and William Shakespeare’s “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” to discover how figurative language contributes to the meaning of each poem.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Learn to identify how authors create mystery, tension, and suspense within a story. In this interactive tutorial, you will learn how Richard Connell used exposition, foreshadowing, pacing, and the manipulation of time to build tension and suspense in the short story "The Most Dangerous Game."

Type: Original Student Tutorial

This tutorial is Part One of a two-part series. In Part One, you'll learn about the use of plot twists and their impact on a text. In this interactive tutorial, you'll examine two ways authors often create plot twists within a story. Reading excerpts from the short story "The Interlopers," you'll analyze and explain how the author creates several plot twists in the story by purposely setting and disrupting expectations for readers. 

After completing Part One, click HERE for Part Two.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Students read a high-interest short story. A PowerPoint mini-lesson explains the difference between freewriting and summary writing helping students distinguish between the two. An additional PowerPoint mini-lesson on writing thesis statements for literary analysis is provided. Students progress from freewriting to generating thesis statements to writing an outline for a literary analysis essay.

Type: Teaching Idea

Students pretend that they have just landed a job with a local music magazine, and their first assignment is to write a short article in which they interpret the lyrics of a popular song.

Type: Teaching Idea

At TEDYouth 2011, performance artist Carvens Lissaint shows how to use language, metaphor and imagery to express a powerful idea -- as in this spoken word performance, a stirring plea to make college education more accessible.

Type: Teaching Idea

Students are given a picture and asked individually to describe the picture in one sentence of less than twenty words. Afterward, the class analyzes syntax, imagery, and meaning in a chosen one-sentence poem by a canonical author to decide what makes it a poem. Students return to their own descriptive sentence to decide whether it is, is not, or could be a poem, justifying their reasoning. This exercise encourages students to dissect an established poem while defining the characteristics of the genre of poetry. Students then apply their knowledge during reflection upon their own work.

Type: Teaching Idea

Students will use teaching strategies as they read and discuss Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel's memoir Night. Everyone in the classroom takes a turn assuming the "teacher" role in a reciprocal teaching activity, as the class works with four comprehension strategies: predicting, question generating, summarizing, and clarifying.

Type: Teaching Idea

A great way to understand literature from epic poetry to literary series is to understand what makes a hero. In this very engaging animated video from TEDed, you will learn about the hero cycle, a common literary trope that can been found in many works like Harry Potter, The Hunger Games and even The Odyssey!

Type: Tutorial

In this animated video from TEDed, you will learn about the power of metaphors in your reading and in your writing. The video explores questions like: "How do metaphors help us better understand the world?", as well as "What makes a good metaphor?"

Type: Tutorial

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

Students use art and poetry to explore and understand the major historical, societal, and literary characteristics of the Romantic period in eight high-interest, collaborative lessons. After reviewing paintings from the Romantic Period and using William Wordsworth's poetry, students write an essay showing their understanding of Romanticism.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

In this animated video from TEDed, students will learn about the modern day relevance of Shakespeare's plays. They will also examine how Shakespeare's skillful metaphors in Romeo and Juliet were particularly effective and romantic.

Type: Video/Audio/Animation

This video (6:24) illustrates how the language of Shakespeare, particularly his use of insults, created mood, atmosphere, and relationships. The ancillary quiz and extension activities enhance the lesson.

Type: Video/Audio/Animation