Curriculum  /  ELA  /  9th Grade  /  Unit 1: Me, Myself, and I: Examining Personal Identity in Short Texts  /  Lesson 12

Me, Myself, and I: Examining Personal Identity in Short Texts

Lesson 12
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ELA

Unit 1

9th Grade

Lesson 12 of 20

Objective

Analyze how an author's choice of narrative perspective, structure, and tone contribute to overall meaning in a story.

Readings and Materials

  • Excerpt: How Beautiful the Ordinary: Twelve Stories of Identity  pp. 7 – 21 — Short Story: “A Word from the Nearly Distant Past” by David Levithan

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A Note for Teachers

The reading today references suicide.

Target Task

Discussion & Writing Prompt

How does the story's structure contribute to its meaning? Provide specific evidence from the text and carefully explain your thinking.

Sample Response

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Key Questions

Close Read Questions

  • Who is the narrator of the story? What do we learn about their collective and individual identities?

  • What does the gay prom symbolize in the story?

  • What is the tone of the story, and how what words, phrases, or moments in the story contribute to that tone?

Vocabulary

Text-based

abstraction

n.

(p. 10)

the quality of dealing with ideas rather than events

gravitas

n.

(p. 11)

dignity, seriousness, or solemnity of manner

freight

v.

(p. 14)

to be ladened or burdened with

inherent

adj.

(p. 17)

existing in something as a permanent, essential, or characteristic attribute

mundane

adj.

(p. 18)

lacking interest or excitement; dull

inalienable

adj.

(p. 19)

unable to be taken away from or given away by the possessor

Homework

  • Excerpt: One Good Story, That One by Thomas King 

While reading, answer the following questions.

  • How old was the narrator when his sister Laetitia moved to Salt Lake City? How old is he when his mother says they are going to visit?

  • Why does the mother want to wear a dress for their trip?

  • What does the mother respond each time the border guards ask her for her citizenship?

  • How does Inspector Pratt try to reason with the narrator's mother?

  • Who introduced the idea of Salt Lake City to Laetitia?

  • How do the mother and her son spend their time stuck at the border?

  • Who is Mel, and how does he feel about their experience at the border?

  • What stories does the mother share with her son the second night they sleep in the car?

  • Who arrives on the scene, and how does that change the outcome of their border crossing?

  • What does Laetitia tell her mother at the end of their visit?

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Standards

  • RL.9-10.4 — Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).
  • RL.9-10.5 — Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise.

Supporting Standards

L.9-10.1
L.9-10.6
RL.9-10.1
RL.9-10.2
RL.9-10.10
SL.9-10.1
SL.9-10.1
SL.9-10.6

Next

Analyze how the mother's character reveals an important message from the story.

Lesson 13
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