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Analyze how key elements enhance or add layers of meaning and/or style in a literary text.
Standard #: ELA.10.R.1.1
Standard Information
Standard Clarifications
Clarification 1: Key elements of a literary text are setting, plot, characterization, conflict, point of view, theme, and tone.

Clarification 2: For layers of meaning, any methodology or model may be used as long as students understand that text may have multiple layers and that authors use techniques to achieve those layers. A very workable model for looking at layers of meaning is that of I.A. Richards:
Layer 1) the literal level, what the words actually mean
Layer 2) mood, those feelings that are evoked in the reader
Layer 3) tone, the author’s attitude
Layer 4) author’s purpose (interpretation of author’s purpose as it is often inferred).

Clarification 3: Style is the way in which the writer uses techniques for effect. It is distinct from meaning but can be used to make the author’s message more effective. The components of style are diction, syntax, grammar, and use of figurative language. Style helps to create the author’s voice.

General Information
Subject Area: English Language Arts (B.E.S.T.)
Grade: 10
Strand: Reading
Standard: Reading Prose and Poetry
Date Adopted or Revised: 08/20
Status: State Board Approved
Related Courses
Related Access Points
  • ELA.10.R.1.AP.1 # Explain how key elements increase understanding of literary text and/or style
Related Resources
Lesson Plans
  • Fahrenheit 451: Key Elements and Impact on Style # This lesson is intended to supplement the study of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Students will read the first three chapters of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and analyze emerging themes, symbolism, and references to civic engagement. There are four lessons that can be used to complement a study of Fahrenheit 451 and allow for a new perspective by merging ELA skills with civics knowledge. This resource uses a book that is on the Florida Department of Education's reading list. This book is not provided with this resource.
  • Fahrenheit 451: Citizen Influence and Real-World Contexts # In this lesson, students will re-read portions of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and analyze the relationship between citizens and the government depicted in the novel, and they will explore how these dynamics mirror real-world scenarios. Students will develop a deeper comprehension of the ways citizens can influence government decisions and policies. There are four lessons that can be used to complement a study of Fahrenheit 451 and allow for a new perspective by merging ELA skills with civics knowledge. This resource uses a book that is on the Florida Department of Education's reading list. This book is not provided with this resource.
  • Fahrenheit 451: Informed Citizens # This lesson is intended to supplement the study of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Students will read Part 1: The Hearth and the Salamander of the text and analyze Captain Beatty’s explanation of how a society devalued literacy and information over time, paying attention to the actions of the citizens and evaluating how and to what degree the citizens acted responsibly. There are four lessons that can be used to complement a study of Fahrenheit 451 and allow for a new perspective by merging ELA skills with civics knowledge. This resource uses a book that is on the Florida Department of Education's reading list. This book is not provided with this resource.
  • You've Just Won "The Lottery"! # In this lesson, students will analyze Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery." 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.
  • An Abridged Hero: The Archetypal Hero's Journey in Novella and Poem # The hero's journey is an archetypal plot structure found in modern novels and can also be found in popular poetry. After students have read the novella Anthem by Ayn Rand, they will examine the poem "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley for elements of the Hero's Journey. Students will work collaboratively to decide whether or not all aspects of the hero's journey are demonstrated efficiently in this variety of texts.
  • Monster or Not? Three Excerpts from Frankenstein #

    In this lesson, students will read three extended text excerpts from Frankenstein in which the Creature is the narrator and view several clips from film adaptations of the Creature. The students will annotate during the reading of the text and determine the meaning of selected vocabulary words from the text. Students will engage in discussion on how the Creature changes and what causes those changes. As a summative assessment for the lesson, students will write an extended argumentative response with a claim about whether the Creature is monster-like or not.

  • Culture, Character, Color, and Doom: Close Reading Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" # 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.
  • Creating Suspense Lesson 2: Analyzing Literary Devices in "The Lottery" # 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 setting, imagery, diction, and foreshadowing. Students will complete a handout where they will analyze how Jackson creates suspense through the use of setting, imagery, diction, and foreshadowing. 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.
  • Creating Suspense Lesson 1: Analyzing Literary Devices in Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death" # In this lesson, students will examine the figurative language and 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 with a partner or in small groups, and the final section on their own. Students will also use various strategies to determine the meaning of selected vocabulary within the context of the story and identify which of those words and phrases create the suspenseful mood in the story. In the summative assessment, students will share their analysis and provide textual examples of how Poe creates suspense in his story.
  • Analyzing Diction # 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 the tone and author's attitude. The lesson culminates with a short creative writing activity in which students use connotative diction to convey a particular tone.
  • Author's Style: “My Watch: An Instructive Little Tale” by Mark Twain # In this lesson, students will read "My Watch: An Instructive Little Tale," by Mark Twain. Students will analyze how Twain’s use of figurative language creates style. Students will present their analysis in an oral presentation.
  • Universal Themes in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck # Students will review the first three chapters/sections of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men to analyze character traits as they support the universal themes of anxiety and fear in this lesson. They will then compare the two themes using their analysis.
  • I Declare War: Part III # 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.
  • "The American Puritan Tradition: Part III" # This lesson is part three of a three-part unit that will explore and analyze how different authors convey American Puritanism. In this lesson, students plan to write and then complete an essay to explore how two different authors and texts portray American Puritanism, Jonathan Edwards in “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” and Arthur Miller in “The Crucible.”
  • Fair is Foul and Foul is Fair: Analyzing Language and Mood in Macbeth #

    This lesson is a culminating activity for Shakespeare’s Macbeth. By breaking down the Shakespearean language and paraphrasing the text to modern day language, students will use their new dialogue to transform their new version of the text into a short video. Students will deliver an oral presentation to the class to explain the choices they made in their new version of the scene.

  • The American Puritan Tradition: Part II # This lesson is part two of a three lesson unit that will explore and analyze how different authors convey American Puritanism. In lessons two of this unit, students will analyze key literary elements and Miller’s use of rhetoric to create mood in the play, "The Crucible."
  • Protagonists and Antagonists # In this lesson, students will analyze the character development of protagonists and antagonists from literature read over the course of the school year. Students will complete a note-taking activity as well as a graphic organizer to use as they answer an analysis question about the characterization of protagonists and antagonists across various genres of literature.
  • Exploring Immigration and America: Part 1 # This lesson is the first of three interrelated lessons in a unit which use 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.
  • Literary Analysis and Written Response # Students will be practicing close reading and literary analysis skills, annotating, and writing an analysis of texts. During the class discussion, students will practice listening skills and use explicit examples from a text to support their analysis in this lesson. Suggested excerpts from Annie Dillard's From an American Childhood, Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried, and Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain are referenced in this lesson.
  • Teaching Characterization through The Hunger Games # Students will review elements and types of characterization and will analyze the various characters in the novel The Hunger Games or any appropriate novel of the teacher's choosing.
  • What You Say: Language Context Matters # In this lesson students will read and analyze three texts: Amy Tan's "Mother Tongue," Richard Rodriguez's "Se Habla Espanol," and Zora Neale Hurston's "How it Feels to be Colored Me" looking at how the language in each expresses a specific tone and author’s style. Students will choose one of the three texts and write an analysis of how the author uses language to create tone and style.
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