Journal Entry 10/14/14 Think about… Sometimes in life, or in books and stories that we read, unexpected things happen; things we did not anticipate the twist or surprise in the end. Write about… In your journal, briefly explain an event in your life, in a story, or in book that you read that turned out unexpectedly or surprised you. Day 1 – 10/14 After students write independently, ask them to share with a partner. Call on 2 or three to share what their partner discussed. Introduce the story by reading the author’s background and discuss how sometimes when we read something we did not predict what was about to happen. Authors will sometimes surprise us with plot twits or ironies to develop unique reading experiences. In the same way, movies with twists and ironies interest us.

A Close Reading of “The Wife’s Story” By Ursula Le Guin Day 1 – 10/14 Today we will read a very good story with unexpected twist! I think you will be surprised at how the author crafted this story to trick her readers into thinking one way until the very end. What I want you to watch for are the details she includes in her story. You may miss some of these the first time through.

“The Wife’s Story” Write your heading in the top right corner of your story. With a black pen or pencil number the paragraphs. There are 20. Write “STOP” after these paragraphs: Paragraph 1 Paragraph 5 Paragraph 8 Paragraph 16 Paragraph 20 Day 1 – 10/14

Closely Read “The Wife’s Story” Take out a colored pen or colored pencil and write “a hint that something bad is going to happen” at the top of the story. As you read, circle, in one color, “a hint that something bad is going to happen” With your partner, compare notes at each stopping point. Be ready to share what you discussed at the end of each stopping point. Day 1 and 2 – 10/14 and 10/16 Model how you would read and then mark on the story (display on the projector and use the mouse and typing features to add annotations).

Closely Read “The Wife’s Story” Take out a different colored pen or colored pencil and write “describes the husband” at the top of the story. Revisit the text and underline, in the second color, anything that “describes the husband”. With your partner, compare notes at each stopping point. Be ready to share what you discussed at the end of each stopping point. Day 2 – 10/16

Closely Read “The Wife’s Story” Take out a third colored pen or colored pencil and write “Events in the story” at the top of the page. With your partner, write in the margin, in the third color, each event you encountered as you read the story. Be ready to share what you and your partner wrote in the margins. Day 3 – 10/21

“The Wife’s Story” As you write your answers support them with textual evidence. After Paragraph 1 What words does the narrator use to describe her husband? What did you learn about her character? After Paragraph 5 How has the narrator’s relationship with her husband changed? After Paragraph 8 What happens between the father and the child? Why does the narrator scold her child? After Paragraph 16 What transformation has taken place? What assumptions had you made about the characters that had to be changed? After Paragraph 20 How has the narrator’s feelings changed toward her husband? Day 3 – 10/21 Have students revisit the text to answer these questions. Be sure to show them an example of an answer that uses textual evidence. Explain that all questions need to have textual evidence in order to be completely answered.

Journal Wrap-Up “The Wife’s Story” Le Guin purposely misleads her reader as to the true identity of the narrator. How does this technique help the reader understand the motivation behind the narrator’s actions? Cite text evidence in your response. Day 3 – 10/21