Unit+1+Literary+Elements+and+The+Short+Story

Overview:

 * All students entering high school arrive with varying degrees of preparation; this unit is structured to enable students to develop a common understanding of important literary elements, as well as a shared vocabulary for discussing them. Each story may be used to focus especially on a particular element, such as “point of view” or “symbolism." Teachers should choose stories that best suit the needs of their students.

Focus Standards:

 * **RL.9-10.1:** Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
 * **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.
 * **W.9-10.2:** Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
 * **SL.9-10.1:** 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 and persuasively.
 * **L.9-10.5:** Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.

Student Objectives:

 * Identify and explain plot structure (i.e., exposition, rising action, crisis/climax, falling action, resolution) in stories read.
 * Understand and explain why plots in short stories usually focus on a single event.
 * Analyze how authors create the setting in a short story.
 * Define the concept of theme and identify the theme(s) in stories read.
 * Identify and explain characterization techniques in short stories.
 * Identify and explain the use of figurative language in short stories.
 * Analyze how authors create tone in short stories.
 * Identify the point of view in a short story and analyze how point of view affects the reader’s interpretation of the story.
 * Write a coherent essay of literary analysis with a clear thesis statement, at least three pieces of evidence from texts, and a strong introduction and conclusion.

Suggested Texts:
Short Fiction:
 * //Points of View: An Anthology of Short Stories// (James Moffett and Kenneth L. McElheny, eds.) (1968 edition)
 * "Eleven" (Sandra Cisneros)
 * "Ambush" (Tim O'Brien)
 * "Thank You M'am" (Langston Hughes)
 * "Story of an Hour" (Kate Chopin)
 * "Reunion" (John Cheever)
 * "The Golden Kite, the Silver Wind" (Ray Bradbury)
 * "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" (Joyce Carol Oates)
 * "Harrison Bergeron" (Kurt Vonnegut)
 * “[|The Gift of the Magi]” (O. Henry) (E)
 * “[|The Overcoat]” (Nikolai Gogol) (EA)
 * “[|The Most Dangerous Game]” (Richard Connell)
 * “[|The Kitchen Boy]” (Alaa Al Aswany)
 * “[|The Secret Life of Walter Mitty]” (James Thurber) (EA)
 * “[|The Cask of Amontillado]” (Edgar Allan Poe) (EA)
 * “[|The Black Cat]” (Edgar Allan Poe) (EA)
 * “[|The Tell-Tale Heart]” (Edgar Allan Poe) (EA)
 * “[|The Scarlet Ibis]” (James Hurst)
 * “[|Everyday Use]” (Alice Walker) (EA)
 * “[|The Minister's Black Veil]” (Nathaniel Hawthorne) (EA)
 * “[|How Much Land Does a Man Need]?” (Leo Tolstoy)
 * [|Drinking Coffee Elsewhere: Stories] (ZZ Packer)