Standard #: LAFS.910.RL.1.2 (Archived Standard)

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 as they support the theme of Love and Sacrifice. In this final lesson, students will apply their knowledge of context clues from lesson one and their analysis of theme from lesson two as they consider the use of irony in the texts: "The Gift of the Magi" and "The Shivering Beggar," a poem by Robert Graves.

This is lesson two in a three-part series on “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry. In this lesson, students will analyze the development of the theme of love and sacrifice in O. Henry's classic short story, "The Gift of the Magi." Students will write an extended paragraph analyzing how point of view, setting, or plot contributes to the theme.

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.

Students will analyze protagonist, antagonist, conflict, resolution, and hubris in three classic myths: "Odysseus and Polyphemus," "Athena and Arachne," and "Echo and Narcissus." They will write an essay explaining the message of each myth using examples from the myths and discuss the impact of the recurring theme of hubris on the ancient Greek audience.

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.

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.

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.

The goal of this lesson (lesson 3 in 3-part unit) is for students to 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 a literary analysis essay in which students analyze how an author creates meaning through deliberate choices of language devices.

From the resource:
"From personal computers to the latest electronic gadgetry for the home or entertainment, Americans seem to have fallen in love with just about anything that will make our high-tech lifestyles more comfortable, convenient, and enjoyable. Students first complete a survey to establish their beliefs about technology before using a literary elements map to explore the role of a fictional technology in a novel such as 1984, Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451, REM World, or Feed. Next, students discuss and debate what they believe the story's author is saying about technology. By exploring the fictional technology, students are urged to think more deeply about their own beliefs and to pay attention to the ways that technology is described and used. This lesson plan can also be completed with short stories, video games, films, and other fictional resources that examine issues related to science and technology and their possible effects on society."

This lesson is the 3rd lesson of a unit on Immigration and America. In this lesson, students will analyze the and make thematic connections to the previous works studied. The culminating activity is students' oral presentation of a digital presentation in which they compare the works in terms of theme. They will need to support their ideas with textual evidence.

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.

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.

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.

In this lesson, students will explore books 13-23 of The Odyssey through text coding and analysis of both character development and theme. For the summative assessment, students will write a short response analyzing characterization and universal themes of Courage and Perseverance in the text and drawing conclusions, supported by textual evidence, about the nature of the Epic Hero.

Students will read and analyze the poem, "To an Athlete Dying Young" for the figurative language of metaphor and imagery and how each works together to create both a somber mood and support the universal theme of death.

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.

Students will review the format of a villanelle and analyze how it contributes to the defiant tone of the poem. At the conclusion of the lesson, students will write a short response to answer the question: “How does Dylan Thomas’s use of metaphor and imagery create a defiant tone and support the universal theme of death?”

Students will 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 universal 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.

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 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 outline 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 to introduce students to literary analysis at the beginning of the year before they attempt more complex poems.

This is the culminating lesson in a three-part series designed to support students as they embrace poetry analysis. The purpose of this lesson is for students to reflect on the poems they analyzed in lessons one and two. Students will then create a digital presentation to share with the class that explains their analysis of the use of symbols, imagery, mood, and theme in poetry.

This is Part 2 of a poetry unit designed to support students as they embrace the study of poetry. Part One focuses on universal themes. In this lesson, students read and analyze two poems for their use of imagery as it supports the mood of each.

This lesson is designed to prepare students for reading I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak. Students will learn a notetaking strategy, strategies for determining character development, tracking key events happening during a chapter, and determining the central idea of a chapter.

The overarching goal of this series of three lessons is for ninth-grade students to be able to read works of literature, write their own theme statements and provide text-based supporting details and thorough analysis proving their theme statements. Lesson One includes instruction and practice with writing theme statements and including primary support details with a series of three texts from Aesop's Fables. *Lesson two presents students with a longer and more challenging children's story titled One. Students will draft their own theme statements and support and analyze the text using a literary analysis paragraph structure titled TIQA*. Finally, lesson three has students returning to Aesop's Fables and writing a TIQA paragraph, a longer literary analysis paragraph supported by not only textual evidence or quotes, but also strong literary analysis. Through collaborative discussions and repeated reading, responding, writing and analyzing, students will learn to consistently craft correct theme statements and support them with relevant textual details and analysis.

*The bolded section is relevant only to this lesson, which is the 2nd in a series of 3.

In this lesson, students will summarize and analyze Petrarch's love sonnets (including "Sonnet 18", "Sonnet 159" and "Sonnet 104") and then do the same with Shakespeare's love sonnets (including "Sonnet 18", "Sonnet 130" and "Sonnet 106"), comparing Shakespeare's themes and approach to Petrarch's themes and approach. The summative assessment is an essay in which students will summarize and analyze Shakespeare's "Sonnet 27" and describe how that poem reflects and diverges from Petrarch's themes and style.

The overarching goal of this series of three lessons is for ninth-grade students to be able to read works of literature, write their own theme statements, provide text-based supporting details/evidence, and thorough analysis, proving their theme statements. *Lesson One includes instruction and practice with writing theme statements and including primary supporting details with a series of three texts from Aesop's Fables.* Lesson two presents students with a longer and more challenging children's story titled One. Students will draft their own theme statements and support and analyze the text using a literary analysis paragraph structure titled TIQA. Finally, lesson three has students returning to Aesop's Fables and writing a TIQA paragraph, a longer literary analysis paragraph supported not only by textual evidence or quotes, but also including strong literary analysis. Through collaborative discussions and repeated reading, responding, writing and analyzing, students will learn to consistently craft correct theme statements and support them with relevant textual details and analysis.

*The bolded section is relevant only to this lesson, the first in a series of three.

Upon reading “The Masque of the Red Death,” students will analyze the universal theme of humans trying to escape death and will create a one-page visual summary of their analysis in this lesson.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 will write a compare/contrast essay.

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.

Students will read the short story, "Harrison Bergeron," and analyze the universal themes as they relate to dystopian literature in this lesson.

Study "Leisure," a poem by Amy Lowell, to determine a theme of the poem and craft a thematic statement. At the end of this interactive tutorial, you'll use what you've learned throughout this two-part series to compare and contrast a theme in "Leisure" by Amy Lowell and a theme in "Leisure" by W. H. Davies and how these themes are developed.

Make sure to complete Part One before beginning Part Two. Click HERE to launch Part One.

Learn to determine a theme of a poem, craft a thematic statement, and write a summary of the poem "Leisure" by W. H. Davies.  

This interactive tutorial is Part One of a two-part series. In Part Two, you'll study "Leisure" by Amy Lowell to determine a theme of the poem and craft a thematic statement. By the end of this series, you will compare and contrast a theme in each poem and how these themes are developed. 

Click HERE to launch Part Two.

Explore the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay in this tutorial series. This tutorial is Part Three of a three-part series. In Part Three, you’ll study her poem "Recuerdo." You'll identify the topic of the poem, determine a theme of the poem, and explain how the theme is developed through specific words and phrases.

You're encouraged to complete the previous tutorials in this series before beginning Part Three.

Click HERE to launch Part One. 

Click HERE to launch Part Two.

Explore the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay in this tutorial series. This tutorial is Part Two of a three-part series. In Part Two, you’ll study her short poem "Second Fig." You'll identify the topic of the poem, determine a theme of the poem, and explain how the theme is developed through specific words and phrases.

Make sure to complete all three parts!

Click HERE to launch Part One.

Click HERE to launch Part Three.

Explore three short poems by the famous American poet Edna St. Vincent Millay and practice determining a theme for each poem in this three-part interactive tutorial series. In Part One, you’ll identify the topic of the short poem “First Fig.” Then, you’ll select words and phrases from the poem that address the topic of the poem. Finally, you’ll determine a theme in the short poem. By the end of this series, you should be able to explain how a theme is developed and supported by specific words and phrases throughout a short poem. 

Make sure to complete all three tutorials in this series! 

Click HERE to launch Part Two.

Click HERE to launch Part Three.

Examine some of the various topics and themes present in the American classic To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. In this interactive tutorial, you'll read excerpts from the novel and examine the development of the main character, Scout. You'll analyze how her words and actions help develop the important themes of the novel. You'll wrap up the tutorial by creating your own theme statement based on the text.

Learn how to determine the theme of a fictional text using excerpts from Book 12 of Homer's The Odyssey. In this interactive tutorial, you'll learn how to determine the theme of a text based on the characters and events of the story. You'll also practice distinguishing between themes and topics in a work of literature. Finally, you'll create your own theme statement for The Odyssey using details from the text.

Are your students having trouble understanding Kurt Vonnegut's short story "Harrison Bergeron"? Use this resource from EDSITEment! to select videos that describe Vonnegut's America, dig into the character of Harrison Bergeron, and examine the satire in the story. Discussion questions are included for extended analysis.

This teaching idea addresses the pros and cons of discussion by analyzing the concept of utopia in a satire. Students collaborate in small groups to create a Discussion Web that addresses the question, "Are people equal?" Students engage in meaningful discussions analyzing all sides of their initial response, form a consensus, and present it to the class. Students then read "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. and use supporting details to complete another Discussion Web that examines whether or not the people in the story are equal. Web-based graphic organizers, assessments, and extension activities are included.

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.

Things That Are features a mystery: How can a 17-year-old girl who is blind and learning how to deal with her disability help an elusive fugitive wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)? In this unit, students learn how this teen manages her own life, including finding her way in the community, keeping on top of school work, and, more importantly, nurturing a special relationship, as they work to cite textual evidence to support text analysis, participate in collaborative discussions to determine and analyze its theme and how complex characters are developed, and give a presentation of their findings and supporting evidence.

Study "Leisure," a poem by Amy Lowell, to determine a theme of the poem and craft a thematic statement. At the end of this interactive tutorial, you'll use what you've learned throughout this two-part series to compare and contrast a theme in "Leisure" by Amy Lowell and a theme in "Leisure" by W. H. Davies and how these themes are developed.

Make sure to complete Part One before beginning Part Two. Click HERE to launch Part One.

Learn to determine a theme of a poem, craft a thematic statement, and write a summary of the poem "Leisure" by W. H. Davies.  

This interactive tutorial is Part One of a two-part series. In Part Two, you'll study "Leisure" by Amy Lowell to determine a theme of the poem and craft a thematic statement. By the end of this series, you will compare and contrast a theme in each poem and how these themes are developed. 

Click HERE to launch Part Two.

Explore the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay in this tutorial series. This tutorial is Part Three of a three-part series. In Part Three, you’ll study her poem "Recuerdo." You'll identify the topic of the poem, determine a theme of the poem, and explain how the theme is developed through specific words and phrases.

You're encouraged to complete the previous tutorials in this series before beginning Part Three.

Click HERE to launch Part One. 

Click HERE to launch Part Two.

Explore the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay in this tutorial series. This tutorial is Part Two of a three-part series. In Part Two, you’ll study her short poem "Second Fig." You'll identify the topic of the poem, determine a theme of the poem, and explain how the theme is developed through specific words and phrases.

Make sure to complete all three parts!

Click HERE to launch Part One.

Click HERE to launch Part Three.

Explore three short poems by the famous American poet Edna St. Vincent Millay and practice determining a theme for each poem in this three-part interactive tutorial series. In Part One, you’ll identify the topic of the short poem “First Fig.” Then, you’ll select words and phrases from the poem that address the topic of the poem. Finally, you’ll determine a theme in the short poem. By the end of this series, you should be able to explain how a theme is developed and supported by specific words and phrases throughout a short poem. 

Make sure to complete all three tutorials in this series! 

Click HERE to launch Part Two.

Click HERE to launch Part Three.

Examine some of the various topics and themes present in the American classic To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. In this interactive tutorial, you'll read excerpts from the novel and examine the development of the main character, Scout. You'll analyze how her words and actions help develop the important themes of the novel. You'll wrap up the tutorial by creating your own theme statement based on the text.

Learn how to determine the theme of a fictional text using excerpts from Book 12 of Homer's The Odyssey. In this interactive tutorial, you'll learn how to determine the theme of a text based on the characters and events of the story. You'll also practice distinguishing between themes and topics in a work of literature. Finally, you'll create your own theme statement for The Odyssey using details from the text.