LAFS.910.RL.1.3Archived Standard

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.

Type: Lesson Plan

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.

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

From the resource:

After reading a play, students create a resume for one of the characters. Students first discuss what they know about resumes, then select a character from the play to focus on and jot down notes about that character. Next, they search the internet for historical background information. Students then explore the play again, looking for both direct and implied information about their characters and noting the location of supporting details. Finally, students draft resumes for their characters and search a job listing site for a job for which their character is qualified.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson allows students to explore characters and their traits through a series of exercises using text evidence. Both printed materials and online organizers are provided. The final culminating activity asks students to "become" a character and describe himself/herself as well as describing other characters. Students then guess which character is being described.

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

How would the story have changed if Romeo had received the letter? This lesson encourages students to pick a turning point in a tragedy and show how the action of the play would have been significantly altered had a different decision been made or a different action taken. Students use a graphic organizer to analyze the plot of the play. They identify a turning point in the play, alter the decision that the characters make, and predict the characters' actions throughout the rest of the play. Students create a plot outline of their altered play and present their new stories to the class. Teachers can test students' content knowledge and understanding of conflicts within the play while also challenging their creativity and their understanding of plot. This lesson focuses on Shakespearean tragedy, but it can be used with any tragedy that students have read or as a book report alternative.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this second lesson out of a three-lesson unit, students will continue analyzing the characteristics of an Epic Hero as they read books 1-10 of The Odyssey. Students will analyze characteristics by looking at the ways in which characters are developed through the decisions they make and/or fail to make.

Type: Lesson Plan

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.

Type: Lesson Plan

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.

Type: Lesson Plan

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.

Type: Lesson Plan

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.

Type: Lesson Plan

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.

Type: Lesson Plan

The purpose of this lesson is to provide students with an opportunity to analyze what the main character thinks, says, and does in order to support a multi-paragraph character analysis that incorporates textual evidence. The example text is Terry Trueman's Inside Out in which the main character, Zach, suffers from schizophrenia. Other suggested titles are provided.

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 engage in class discussion and will complete short responses to questions to analyze conflict and suspense.

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

This lesson provides secondary students with opportunities to analyze a character's motivation in an excerpt from a work of literary nonfiction.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will create story boards to show their analysis of plot, characters, and setting in Act One of Romeo and Juliet. Students will then use the information analyzed with the the reading of Act One and the story board creations to answer a short response question.

Type: Lesson Plan

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.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson (part one of a three-part unit), students will analyze the characteristics of a Greek hero and explain how these characteristics are developed in the myth of "Perseus." Students will closely read the text, and ask, and answer text-dependent questions as they read the story. These skills will then culminate in later lessons (parts two and three) with a product in the form of an essay or written speech about "Perseus."

Type: Lesson Plan

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.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will read the O. Henry short story "Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen." and analyze the two main characters and their interactions throughout the story. Students will also analyze the author's word choice, including his use of figurative language, and its impact on the tone of the story.

Type: Lesson Plan

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.

Type: Lesson Plan

Explain how Edmond Dantès’ overall transformation takes the plot in a new direction as you continue to examine how the main character is reborn from a prisoner into a newly freed man in a chapter from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas.

You should complete Part One and Part Two before beginning Part Three.

• Click HERE to launch Part One.
• Click HERE to launch Part Two. 

Type: Original Student Tutorial

As you continue to study a chapter from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, you'll examine how the main character, Edmond Dantès, is reborn from a prisoner into a newly freed man, identify his key character traits or strengths, and examine how he begins to transform as he works to secure his freedom.

This is part 2 of a three-part interactive tutorial series. Make sure to complete all three parts!

• Click HERE to launch Part One.
• Click HERE to launch Part Three. 

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Study a chapter from one of the most popular adventure stories of all time: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. In this interactive tutorial, you will identify key character traits or strengths of Edmond Dantès and determine how he draws on these strengths as he struggles to survive and avoid recapture.

This is part 1 of a three-part series. Make sure to complete all three parts!

• Click HERE to launch Part Two. 
• Click HERE to launch Part Three. 

Type: Original Student Tutorial

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.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Analyze a complex character’s development in text excerpts from the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. In this interactive tutorial, you'll analyze how the main character is described and developed through his interaction with other characters.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Understanding Julius Caesar Through Diaries allows students to read and understand Shakespeare's Julius Caesar by getting involved in an on-going project that promotes engagement throughout the play. Instead of simply reading the work, students become actively involved with plot and characterization. At the beginning of the unit, each student chooses a character that they want to be throughout the duration of the play. At the end of each act students complete diary entries for this character, so in addition to documenting the major action in the play, they also report it from the viewpoint of one specific character.

Type: Project

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.

Type: Teaching Idea

This lesson invites students to explore the things relevant to a character from Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun, such as Mama's plant, to unlock the drama's underlying symbolism and themes. Students explore character traits and participate in active learning as they work with the play. Students use an interactive drama map to explore character and conflict, and then write and share character-item poems.

Type: Teaching Idea

Students use an online chart to match the character traits of a character in a book they are reading with specific actions the character takes. Students then work in pairs to "become" one of the major characters in a book and describe themselves and other characters, using Internet reference tools to compile lists of accurate, powerful adjectives supported with details from the reading. Students read each other's lists of adjectives and try to identify who is being described.

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

This is an online resource that is great for students to develop critical thinking with regard to character development and using source material to infer qualities that characters might have. It links to a facebook-type profile template for literary characters.

Type: Teaching Idea

In this very engaging animated video from TEDed, you will learn about antiheroes. Antiheroes can be hard to distinguish from typical heroes. However, through this video you will be able to identify what an antihero is and understand how these complex characters with often unclear motivations play such important roles in great literature.

Type: Tutorial

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

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.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

The Running Dream is the story of Jessica, a 16-year-old star runner who loses her leg in a bus accident. She learns to look beyond the disability and discover the real person inside as she becomes friends with Rosa, who has cerebral palsy. In this unit, students examine the issues and challenges of coping with a disability and its effect on relationships and self-esteem as they analyze how complex characters develop over the course of the story, and write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

This lesson asks students to explore the motivation behind characters' actions in To Kill a Mockingbird. Students first engage in a free-write activity. They then do research and creative thinking to design a poster and plan a presentation representing a psychological profile for a selected character, while determining what specific factors (such as family, career, environment, and so forth) have the greatest influence on the characters' decision making throughout the novel. The groups present their findings to the class by assuming the persona of their character and explaining the psychological factors influencing their behavior in the novel.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence