Final Product:
You are the writer of book reviews, tasked with reviewing a novel for Goodreads.com. In order to do this, you will read a book independently and write a literary analysis.
Prompt:
Requirements:
Prompt:
- How well does the author of your novel use literary elements to engage readers?
Requirements:
- 5 paragraph essay
- Cite evidence from the text
- MLA format
- Submit on Turnitin.com
Essential Questions:
- Why is it important for me to look deeper than the surface of what I see or read?
- What strategies can I use to be a critical reader?
- What does it mean to "analyze" something?
Workshops in this Unit:
- Close reading
- Making inferences from the text
- Analysis Practice
- Thesis writing
- Collecting evidence
- Citations
- Writing claims and supporting them with evidence and explanation
- Etiquette for literary group discussion
- Etiquette for literary social networking sites (like Goodreads.com)
Standards ASSESSED in this unit:
ALL UNITS:
READING/SPEAKING:
WRITING:
- Grammar: demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing. (Resolve issues of complex or contested grammar usage). (LF.1.b)
- Revising and Editing: develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience. (W.5.a)
- Respect: listen to those who are speaking, follow class rules and policies, demonstrate classroom decorum.
- Responsibility: come to class prepared, stay organized, do your share of group work, turn assignments in on time.
- Collaboration: contribute to group discussions, contribute to group work in a way that is not domineering or lazy, share your ideas and respect the ideas and opinions of others.
- Communication: speak in English. Speak clearly and audibly when you are required to do so.
READING/SPEAKING:
- Following the Development of Ideas: Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details. (RL.2.a)
- Following the Development of Characters: Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme. (RL.3.a)
- Summarize: Provide an objective summary of the text. (RL.2.b)
- Discuss: Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9–10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly. (LS.1.a)
WRITING:
- Evidence: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. (W.9.a)
- Clarity & Cohesion: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (W.4.a)
- Citing Evidence: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. (RL.1.a)
- Formatting: Write and edit work so that it conforms to the guidelines in a style manual (e.g., MLA Handbook, Turabian’s Manual for Writers) appropriate for the discipline and writing type. (LF.3.a)
- Technology: Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically. (W.6.a)