English 11: Visible Thinking: McCarthyism and The Crucible

As we begin to explore ideas for the research topic, Hysteria in America, we watched the following video after reading Act II of The Crucible.

Students were asked to write down ten things they SAW/HEARD in the video and then share them with a member of their group.

After they shared what they saw and heard, I asked them to THINK about three other situations to which the ideas in the video could relate.

They also had to come up with three things they WONDER about what they have seen and heard in the video, and what they have read in The Crucible.

Each student had a colored PostIt (three colors, one for each: See/Think/Wonder), and then we shared the students’ ideas.

After sharing, students then chose ONE possible idea regarding Hysteria in America (outside The Salem Witch Trials, McCarthyism /The Red Scare, and the H1N1 vaccine) and write a three chunk paragraph about how that idea also relates to what they have read in Arthur Miller’s play.

This is going to be the basis for their research papers.

 

English 10R: Persuasive Argument in To Kill a Mockingbird

To begin work with analyzing Atticus Finch’s closing arguments in the Tom Robinson case from To Kill a Mockingbird, students read chapter 20 and then watched a clip from the film. The audio version of this film clip can be heard here:

Closing Remarks Close Reading  this is the document that goes with the information here:

Atticus Finch’s Closing Remarks: Close Reading

Each group was assigned a portion of Atticus Finch’s closing remarks in the Tom Robinson trial in To Kill a Mockingbird (from Chapter 20); students had to RHA their assigned portion:

• Your task is to read the section closely, and then, with your group members, determine which rhetorical device (ethos, pathos, or logos…remember those??) Atticus is using most effectively in that section.
• Once you have determined WHICH device he is using, you must then highlight at least two ways in which he is doing so IN YOUR SECTION.
• You must then annotate in the margin HOW the highlighted section is an example of your chosen rhetorical device.
• On your Post-It note, write the rhetorical device on the top line, and then write your two examples and your explanation on the remaining lines (write SMALL)

 

Group Assignments:

Part 1: Group 4                                  Part 4: Group 1

Part 2: Group 3                                  Part 5: Group 2

Part 3: Group 6                                  Part 6: Group 5

 

The text of Atticus’ speech can be found here (complete with the group breakdown):

Atticus’ Argument

As the students worked, they had to share their Post-Its, placing them on the board under the property rhetorical device in the row corresponding to the section they had been assigned.

Posts Supporting Ethos

Posts supporting Logos

After we had discussed the entire speech (this took one and a half classes), the students began using the information on the front board to complete an Organized Evidence-Based Claim form.

This is the annotated version containing instructions:

Organizing EBC Worksheet (2 Pts) CLOSING REMARKS IN TOM ROBINSON TRIAL

They were also given instructions for an essay, which used the same writing prompt as the EngageNY Module for English 10 (“Letter From a Birmingham Jail” by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.):

Analyze how Atticus Finch develops and refines his claims to advance his purpose.

essay format ATTICUS’ CLOSING REMARKS

Like we did with the MLK letter, we broke down the writing prompt for clarity:

From our discussions, we already know that:

• his “purpose” is to persuade the jury to find Tom Robinson “not guilty”
• “how” he persuades is either through ethos, pathos, or logos (he does use all of them at different points, but you must focus on ONE)
• focusing on only one type of persuasion will act as a thread running through your essay to hold it together, and will help with how he “develops and refines his claims”.
• this “analysis” is an explanation of HOW Atticus persuades; it is NOT a summary of events in Maycomb or what Atticus said ABOUT those events.

English 10R: Thematic Posters (To Kill a Mockingbird)

Each group is making a Thematic Poster that supports evidence from Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. As there are several components to your posters, the students needed to segment their poster paper into the FIVE categories.

These are the themes from which each group could choose:

The Coexistence of Good and Evil

The Importance of Moral Education

The Existence of Social Inequality (Classes)

The Importance of Perspective (Point of View)

The Loss of Innocence

True Courage

The Existence of Racial Inequality

A.   SILENT DIALOGUE about Theme (each group selected one theme taped to the front board and tape it to the top of your poster as a heading): This first portion of the activity is done silently, THEN discussed as a group before moving on to the next part. Each person takes a turn SILENTLY adding a sentence in an effort to explain the selected theme. One person starts, and then the next must respond to what the previous person wrote by adding some additional insight/idea spurred by what was written. All comments must be text-based (not necessarily quotes, but simply referring to significant events as support). Here are ideas for sentence starters:

This might be true, but it’s also true that ________________.

I agree with this because _______________________.

I disagree with this because ________________________________.

While those may be Lee’s words, I believe she really means ___________________.

B.   Explain how the quotation (selected by your group from those taped to the front board and tape it onto your poster) supports the group’s theme (see above). Again, each person adds one sentence to the written response. Be sure to refer to events in the text when responding.

 C.   “The quote and/or theme reminds me of…” Each person will write two sentences that begin with that sentence starter: the first sentence makes the connection to something OUTSIDE the text (current or life event, or something from another piece of literature), and the second explains the connection between the two.

 D.   Share your answer from one of your homework questions (each group is sharing one of the homework question choices, which are taped slips of paper to the board; go take one and tape it onto your poster). Each person must add a sentence to the written response from his/her homework; however, the response has to work together to create a cohesive whole.

E.   Vocabulary: Each person selects a new CHALLENGING word from the text (NOT from your vocab list already provided) and defines it (NO NOUNS…CHOOSE STRONG ADJECTIVES, VERBS OR ADVERBS). Also, the word needs to be used correctly in a sentence on your poster.

These are examples of some of the student posters, which each group had to present to the class while the rest took notes. In this way, each student ended up with notes about all of the selected themes for their class.

True Courage

The Importance of Perspective (Point of View)

The Existence of Social Inequality

The Existence of Racial Inequality

The Co-Existence of Good and Evil

Loss of Innocence